A New Jersey court is standing by its order to force Gov. Chris Christie to reveal a key cog in his taxpayer-funded publicity machine – a multi-tiered, high-tech list of 2,500 media contacts.
Judge Mary C. Jacobson denied Christie’s motion for reconsideration during a hearing Friday in Mercer County Superior Court. She ordered the governor’s office to release the record by Aug. 17 and pay for New Jersey Watchdog’s legal fees.
“The media strategy of the governor seems to me to be something that is of general public interest,” said Jacobson, rejecting the state’s reasons why the list be should be kept secret.
In response to a direct question, press secretary Kevin Roberts would not confirm or deny whether the governor's office has shared the supposedly confidential list with Christie's PAC, the state Republican Party or other political entities.
“Given that this issue is still the subject of pending litigation, we cannot comment," said Roberts in a prepared statement that hints Christie may appeal Jacobson's ruling. Technically, unless there is an appeal, the case is over.
The media list was created by the governor’s communications staff, which consists of 16 full-time state employees paid $1.36 million in salaries last year, New Jersey Watchdog found.
It helped the governor score countless national television appearances, not to mention 8,761,511 views on YouTube, 176,955 likes on Facebook and 6,810 tweets to 489,000 followers on Twitter during his first five years in office. The media campaign helped turn Christie into a national figure and set the stage for run for the White House.
The full story is online at http://watchdog.org/233312/christie-media-list/.
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