New York, NY —

New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine's office is the latest to be subpoenaed by the US Attorney. WNYC's Kathryn Herzog reports.

The grand jury subpoenas are part of an investigation into how the state budget has been developed since 2004 - spanning the last 3 governor's offices of Corzine, Codey and McGreevey. The requested documents' relate to grants typically placed in the budget without public review just before the budget is adopted.

The grants, commonly known as “Christmas tree items,” stem from lawmakers, but the governor approves them when signing the budget legislation. The current $30.8 billion state budget, adopted last July, contained numerous last-minute add-ons. Corzine allowed them after a budget dispute that closed state government for a week.

Earlier this month, federal investigators subpoenaed documents from legislative leaders from both parties on how the last 3 budgets have been finalized. For WNYC, I'm Kathryn Herzog.