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TRENTON A Democratic group with ties to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton today filed another complaint against Gov. Chris Christie over his recent trip to Dallas to root for the Cowboys.

American Democracy Legal Fund charges Christie knowingly violated federal criminal law and wants the U.S. attorney to investigate the governor for accepting gifts from Cowboys owner Jerry Jones. The request for a criminal complaint against the governor comes after the group last week filed a complaint with the New Jersey State Ethics Commission over the trip.

The group claims Christie violated federal law that prohibits extortion that interferes with interstate commerce, arguing the governor accepted gifts in return for his influence. They argue the flight and seats inside the owners luxury box at NFL games violated state rules because Jones is a part-owner of a hospitality company Legends Hospitality that was awarded a lucrative Port Authority of New York and New Jersey hospitality services contract, according to published reports.

If your office's investigation confirms that Governor Christie accepted gifts from Mr. Jones in violation of federal criminal law, it should prosecute the alleged violation and all other violations discovered as a result of your investigation to the fullest extent permitted by law, wrote Brad Woodhouse, treasurer for American Democracy Legal Fund, in the letter.

Woodhouse is also the president of American Bridge, a group that conducts opposition research on Republican officials. American Democracy Legal Fund and American Bridge were founded by Clinton ally and Media Matters founder David Brock.

The governors office didnt immediately respond for comment, but dismissed American Democracy Legal Fund s earlier complaint with the states ethics commission as partisan politics.

Is anyone surprised pro-Hilary PACs like American Bridge and partisan organizations like the DNC are using the governors support of a football team for a political hit? Maria Comella, Christies spokeswoman, said last week.

American Bridge has gone after Christie several times before. In June 2014, the group criticized the governor for using the state helicopter to get to a town hall event located a short drive to Trenton about 40 minutes without traffic.

Matt Arco may be reached at marco@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @MatthewArco. Find NJ.com Politics on Facebook.

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Group with ties to Hillary Clinton files another complaint over Chris Christie's Dallas trip