NJ Watchdog: Gifts to Gov. Christie are not 'gifts,' rules AG

Gifts to Gov. Christie are not 'gifts,' rules NJ attorney general

In New Jersey, a gift is not a gift – particularly if you’re the governor and your subordinates interpret ethics rules in your favor. For example:

• Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones flew Gov. Chris Christie and his family to Texas on a charter plane to be his guests in a VIP luxury box at a football game in January.
• Billionaire casino owner Sheldon G. Adelson provided a private jet to fly the New Jersey governor and his clan to Israel in 2012.
• King Abdullah of Jordan picked up a $30,000 hotel tab for Christie and his entourage during the same trip.

Yet none of those favors are considered “gifts” the governor is required to publicly report – thanks to a pretzel-logic legal opinion issued last week by his political appointee, Acting Attorney General John J. Hoffman.

The opinion enabled Christie to report he received no gifts during 2014 – just as he has since taking office in 2010.

The governor and other state officials are supposedly required to disclose all sources of income, including “honoraria, lecture fees, gifts and other gratuities (cash or non-cash) and other miscellaneous sources of income” in annual financial statements filed with the State Ethics Commission, as required by Executive Order 24.

But according to a six-page opinion from Hoffman, a gift does not have to be reported unless it is a gratuity – such as “money received for performing a service” or “items received in return for performing some service, such as speaking at an event.”

The bottom line, strange but true: Christie does not have to report the favors as gifts unless it can be shown he did something in exchange for them.

The full story is online at http://watchdog.org/220132/christie-gifts-nj/.

NJ Watchdog: Bill requiring Christie to disclose $95K expense account hits Assembly

Two State Assembly members plan to introduce legislation today to force the governor to publicly reveal how he spends his $95,000 annual expense account.

The allowance, which Gov. Chris Christie receives in addition to his $175,000 a year salary, is not expressly subject to reporting under current state law. Last month, the governor’s office refused to release the expense records to New Jersey Watchdog.

The bill sponsored by Troy Singleton, D-Burlington, and Vince Mazzeo, D-Atlantic, would require the governor to provide receipts and expenditure details. In the state budget, the account is listed as “an allowance of funds not otherwise appropriated and used for official receptions on behalf of the state, the operation of an official resident, for other expenses.”

“This proposal further heightens the fiscal transparency requirements that the citizens of our state demand of its public officials,” said Singleton. “By mandating that the details of this allowance be part of the public record, we will enable the people of New Jersey to hold this governor and all future governors accountable.”

The report, due on July 15 each year, would be posted on the State Ethics Commission web site.

“New Jersey taxpayers have every right to know where their hard-earned money goes,” said Mazzeo (D-Atlantic). “Any governor who makes a responsible and appropriate use of this expense account should have no objection to complying with what’s required under this bill.”

The payments from the state were not reported on Christie’s federal income tax returns from 2010 to 2013. A spokesman for the governor said the allowance does not have to be counted as income under IRS regulations because Christie can account for how the money is spent.

The Singleton-Mazzeo bill would require the governor to be accountable to New Jersey taxpayers, as well as the IRS.

The story is online at http://watchdog.org/216296/christie-expense-account/.