With Christie out of race, will his NJ expenses go up?

From Mark Lagerkvist

As a presidential candidate, Gov. Chris Christie could bank on campaign funds to pay for his meals, travel and entertainment on his many travels.

Out of the race, he is likely to spend more of the $95,000 a year state expense account he receives in addition to his $175,000 annual salary. In the state budget, it 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 residence, for other expenses.”

Last year, the governor used just $13,191 of that allowance and returned $81,809 to the state, according to Treasury records. The big reason: Christie was traveling outside the state on all or part of 261 days in 2015 – and when he was gone, it was usually funded by his campaign committee or other political entities.

In contrast, he spent $92,284 from the allowance during 2010. And during his first five-plus years as governor, Christie charged nearly $300,000 to the state for food and alcohol purchases.

It’s the same expense account Christie tapped to pay for food and drink concessions at MetLife Stadium.

On 82 occasions, Christie used a debit card in 2010 and 2011 to pay a total of $82,594 to Delaware North Sportservice, which operates the concessions at the home field for Giants and Jets. The governor’s office did not provide any receipts, business reasons or names of individuals entertained, but defended the expense.

On another front, taxpayers may find good news in that former candidate Christie is less likely to take out-of-state trips that require State Police protection details to travel with him.

Since Christie took office in 2010, travel expenses for the Executive Protection Unit have totaled $1.57 million. Of that amount, $1.33 million was charged to American Express cards for unspecified expenses.

The story by investigative reporter Mark Lagerkvist is now online at NJ Spotlight – http://www.njspotlight.com/stories/16/02/10/will-governor-s-expenses-go-up-now-that-christie-s-out-of-presidential-race/#

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Mark Lagerkvist is a veteran investigative reporter who previously worked for CNBC, News 12, Asbury Park Press, New Jersey Watchdog, and other news outlets. His work has won more than 60 journalism awards, including honors from National Press Club, Scripps Howard Foundation, and Investigative Reporters & Editors (IRE). He can be reached at Mark@Lagerkvist.net

NJ Watchdog: Christie promises to 'tell it like it is,' but hides truths in NJ

Chris Christie declared his candidacy for president Tuesday, promising America that he would “tell it like it is.” But his track record in New Jersey shows the governor has often gone to great lengths to hide the truth from taxpayers.

“We are going to tell it like it is,” Christie proclaimed in a gymnasium packed with supporters at Livingston High School. “The truth will set us free.”

In contrast, New Jersey Watchdog and other news outlets have gone to court on numerous occasions to try to win release of public records the governor and his administration have refused to disclose.

Judge Mary C. Jacobson is deciding whether to order Christie to turn over nearly $1 million in American Express bills racked up the governor’s state police security team. Christie’s office is arguing that records of those past expenses would reveal secrets that could put the governor at risk in the future.

“I’m not convinced it is essential to the governor’s security to withhold details,” said Jacobson during a hearing last month in Mercer County Superior Court.

Christie is also fighting the judge’s order to turn over a copy of a high-tech media list that his office assembled at taxpayers’ expense. The list is an integral cog in a publicly-funded publicity machine that launched him into the national spotlight and towards a probable run for the White House in 2016.

The Christie’s administration’s biggest secret may be its failure to fully investigate or pursue allegations of a $245,000 pension fraud that implicated Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno. The controversy began when Guadagno was Monmouth County sheriff in 2008, the year before she first ran for lieutenant governor as Christie’s running mate.

As sheriff, Guadagno allegedly made false and conflicting statements that enabled her chief officer, Michael Donovan, to improperly collect an $85,000 a year pension in addition to his $87,500 salary, as first reported by New Jersey Watchdog in 2010.

In May 2011, the attorney general’s Division of Criminal Justice began a criminal investigation at the request of a state pension board. But the probe was riddled by a major conflict of interest. Though Guadagno is a former deputy director of DCJ, Christie did not use his constitutional power to appoint a special investigator or independent prosecutor.

Stonewalled by DCJ and the governor’s office for nearly two years, New Jersey Watchdog sued the state in 2013 for records of the investigation and its outcome.

The investigative news site won a partial victory in the trial court last year when Jacobson ordered DCJ to reveal some of the documents it sought.

The disclosures showed that DCJ only generated six pages of investigative records before closing the case in June 2012. The probe appeared to be virtually non-existent; there were no records of interviews or statements from Guadagno or witnesses.

However, Jacobson also ruled DCJ was allowed to keep the findings of the investigation secret. After reviewing the documents in private, the judge determined the state’s interest in keeping the records confidential outweighed the public’s right to know.

New Jersey Watchdog appealed Jacobson’s decision to the State Appellate Division. A date for oral arguments has yet to be scheduled.

Other news organizations have had court battles over public records with the Christie administration. At one point last year, Christie’s administration was a defendant in roughly two dozen public records lawsuits in Mercer County Superior Court.

Meanwhile, after announcing his White House run on Tuesday, Christie travelled to New Hampshire for five days of campaign events. His schedule includes a “Telling it Like it Is” town hall meeting.

“I mean what I say and I say what I mean – and that’s what America needs right now,” said Christie.

The story is online at http://watchdog.org/226723/christie-hides-truths/

NJ WATCHDOG: Christie has no receipts for quarter-million dollars in expenses

Our governor had at work with your tax dollars!

Details of New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie’s $82,000 spending spree at NFL games remain a mystery – despite a release of expense account receipts by the governor’s office.

Receipts for Christie's purchases at New York Giants and Jets home games during the 2010 and 2011 seasons are missing from 597 pages of receipts New Jersey Watchdog obtained through an Open Public Records Act request.

The governor’s office does not have documentation for more than $247,000 in expenses – two-thirds of the $360,000 Christie has spent from his state expense allowance since he took office in 2010, according to a New Jersey Watchdog analysis.

“We have produced to you all of the receipts/invoices/bills that we located,” stated Heather Taylor, the governor’s records custodian and chief ethics officer. “We are not withholding any records based on an OPRA exemption.”

“Every dollar of expenses associated with the discretionary fund has been tracked and accounted for in full,” added Kevin Roberts, Christie’s press secretary, in a prepared statement.

As New Jersey Watchdog previously revealed, Christie’s debit card was used 58 times during the 2010 and 2011 seasons to charge $82,594 to Delaware North Sportservice, operator of the food and beverage concessions at MetLife Stadium. The expenses did not include his free use of luxury boxes, traditionally available to governors at the state-owned venue.

To avoid embarrassment, Christie turned to the New Jersey Republican Committee. The committee reimbursed the state in early 2012 for Christie’s bills at MetLife, plus additional charges the governor racked up at Izod Center. Since then, he has refrained from using his expense account at sporting venues.

The full report – with links to copies of the receipts released by the governor’s office – is online at http://watchdog.org/222152/christie-no-expense-receipts/.

NJ Watchdog: Christie buys $300K of food & booze with expense account

Big appetite: Christie buys $300K of food & booze with NJ expense account

Chris Christie's expense account tells a story of appetite and ambition, one that pits government waste versus the New Jersey governor's waistline.

Christie spent $360,000 from his state allowance during his five years in office. More than 80 percent of that money, or $300,000, was used to buy food, alcohol and desserts, according to a New Jersey Watchdog analysis of records released by the governor’s office.

The full story is online http://watchdog.org/217942/christie-nj-expense-account.

By Mark Lagerkvist | New Jersey Watchdog

Chris Christie’s expense account tells a story of appetite and ambition, one that pits government waste versus the New Jersey governor’s waistline.

Christie spent $360,000 from his state allowance during his five years in office. More than 80 percent of that money, or $300,000, was used to buy food, alcohol and desserts, according to a New Jersey Watchdog analysis of records released by the governor’s office.

In addition to his $175,000 a year salary, the governor receives $95,000 a year in expense advances, paid quarterly by the state. In the state budget, it 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 residence, for other expenses.”

While Christie returns surplus funds to the state each year, Treasury officials say he does not submit receipts or accounting for the public monies he spends. The governor’s ledger, obtained from Christie under the Open Public Records Act, offers a rare, if partial glimpse of a controversial expense account shrouded in secrecy.

Christie’s most notable spending spree occurred during the 2010 and 2011 NFL football seasons at MetLife Stadium, where the New York’s Giants and Jets play their home games. New Jersey’s governor traditionally enjoys free use of luxury boxes for games and other events at the government-owned venue, but food and beverages cost extra.

On 58 occasions, Christie used a debit card to pay a total of $82,594 to Delaware North Sportservice, which operates the concessions at MetLife. The governor’s office did not provide any receipts, business reasons or names of individuals entertained, but defended the expense....

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/.

NJ Watchdog: Christie keeps $95k expense account secret

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie defended his failure to report any of his $95,000 annual entertainment allowance on tax returns, arguing the money isn’t income because he has accounted for it.

Just don’t ask him to make those records available to the public. Through his press secretary, Christie rejected New Jersey Watchdog’s request to disclose how he spent the cash.

Government-transparency advocates and tax specialists fired back.

“If it’s not public, then you’re not being accountable because it’s the public who decides whether or not you have a job,” said Bill Allison, senior fellow at Sunlight Foundation, a non-profit advocate for transparency in government. “I don’t know how they can be saying these are not public records and can’t be disclosed.”

“To hold your public officials accountable, you have to know what they’re spending money on,” said Sheila Weinberg, CEO of Truth in Accounting, a non-profit watchdog for fiscal responsibility in government. “The public has a right and a need to know.”

The full story is online at http://watchdog.org/212497/christie-expense-account-secret-2/.