For Immediate Release:
COURT ORDERS CHRISTIE ADMIN TO REVEAL PENSION PROBE SECRETS
A New Jersey court may force Gov. Chris Christie's administration to reveal information about a hush-hush state pension probe involving Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno and a quarter-million dollar double-dipping scheme.
Superior Court Judge Mary C. Jacobson ordered the attorney general's Division of Criminal Justice to submit an index of its investigatory records for release to a New Jersey Watchdog reporter.
The stakes are high for Christie, who eyes a 2016 campaign for the presidency, and Guadagno, who could become governor if her boss quits to run for the White House.
Jacobson's decision was a stunning setback for the state, which sought an order entirely dismissing the reporter's public records lawsuit. The attorney general argued that all of its 770-plus pages of records should be exempt from disclosure.
Instead, the judge will require DCJ to argue its need for secrecy on a document-by-document basis. Release of the index opens the door for specific arguments on whether the public interest in release of the records outweighs the state's interest in keeping the information confidential.
"The public has an indisputable and overriding interest in knowing about the integrity of government and the conduct of elected officials in their governance," stated the reporter in a certification filed with the court.
DCJ began its criminal investigation in May 2011 at the behest of a pension board, according to a certification by a state pension official. Christie, Guadagno and DCJ officials have declined comment. In court papers, the state refused to acknowledge whether the case is open or closed.
The controversy began with an investigative report by New Jersey Watchdog in 2010 detailing how false statements by Guadagno enabled one of her top aides to improperly collect $227,000 in pension checks from the Police and Firemen's Retirement System.
The story is online at http://newjersey.watchdog.org.
2 comments:
Let me get this straight: Our motor-mouth Governor, Chris 'Corruption Fighter' Christie has "no comment? This can't be true. This is a politician who is pleasured by the sound of his own voice. Mike, tell me it is not so. The governor had to make some bully comment from his bully pulpit.
When Christie talks...hold on to your hats. When he is quiet, hold on to your wallets.
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