Exposed! NJ Watchdog reveals Gov. Christie's 'valuable asset'

For nine months, Chris Christie fought hard to keep a public record secret – even though it contained no real secrets, confidential information or anything likely to endanger anyone. It’s a “valuable asset,” the New Jersey governor’s lawyers claimed – one that would “cause irreparable harm to the state” if released.

Judge for yourself! New Jersey Watchdog is publishing Christie's prized media list, obtained under court order. The until-now-secret record and underlying story of how the governor uses his office to further his ambitions are online at http://watchdog.org/241975/watchdog-reveals-christie-asset/.

NJ Watchdog: NJ debt nears $200 billion for benefits

By Mark Lagerkvist | New Jersey Watchdog

Guard your wallets, New Jersey taxpayers! The deficit in state pension and health benefit plans for public employees is fast approaching $200 billion.

The unfunded liabilities have reached a staggering $194.5 billion, according to a New Jersey Watchdog analysis of State Treasury records. The shortfall has increased by $19 billion – or roughly 10 percent – in the past year.

Here’s a breakdown of bad news that seems certain to result in higher taxes, decreased retiree benefits or both:

• New Jersey’s public pensions are underfunded by $113.1 billion. The state bears $80.5 billion of that burden. Local governments are responsible for the remaining $32.6 billion.
• State and local governments are also on the hook for $81.4 billion in unfunded health benefits for retired and active workers. The state owes $65 billion; the local share is $16.4 billion.
• The total shortfall is $194.5 billion – more than $60,000 per household. The figure is nearly six times higher than New Jersey’s total annual budget, currently $33.8 billion.
• At the present pace, those unfunded liabilities will exceed $210 billion next year.

“The situation is not only getting worse, but is fast approaching a point at which it will be beyond remedy,” warned the governor’s bi-partisan, blue-ribbon Pension and Health Benefit Study Commission in a report released in February.

The complete story is online at http://watchdog.org/237832/nj-benefit-debt-200b/.

NJ WATCHDOG: Christie challenges court order to release public record

I have little doubt that the Christie administration is one of the most secretive and corrupt gubernatorial administrations in NJ's long history of political corruptness. - MM

Gov. Chris Christie is challenging a court order for his office to release a high-tech media list, assembled at taxpayers’ expense, as a public record.

In a bizarre appeal, Deputy Attorney General Daniel M. Vannella argued the list is a “valuable asset” that would give New Jersey Watchdog an “unfair competitive advantage” over other media outlets. In his brief, Vannella cited a law that allows the state to withhold inside information from contractors who bid on government jobs.

New Jersey Watchdog does not bid on government contracts. It is a non-profit investigative news site that freely shares its content with other news outlets.

Superior Court Judge Mary C. Jacobson ordered the governor’s office to turn over a copy of the list to New Jersey Watchdog by June 12. But instead of complying, the state attorney general filed a last-minute motion on the governor’s behalf, asking Jacobson to reconsider her decision.

Release of the media list “would be an unprecedented release of proprietary press information…that would provide an unfair competitive advantage to plaintiff,” wrote Vannella.

In reality, the list gives Christie a competitive advantage over his rivals and competitors in the political arena. It 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.

It contains contact information for roughly 2,500 reporters, producers and editors, subdivided into categories, which enables Christie and his staff to selectively target efforts to promote their political ambitions.

The 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.

It has 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.

Vannella likened the media list to “trade secrets and proprietary commercial or financial information.” That exclusion in the public records statute was intended to protect confidential information that private businesses are required to share with state regulators.

That argument suggests the governor has a proprietary, or ownership interest in the list. But the governor’s office is not a private business. And while the media list may be a valuable asset for his political future, it is a governmental record, not Christie’s property.

“Gov. Christie should let the sun shine in, acknowledge the judgment of the court, and make this government-prepared information public,” said Prof. Charles Lewis, executive editor of the Investigative Reporting Workshop at American University.

“It's the law,” added Lewis, an advocate for transparency in government. “Honestly, he should know better.”

The report is online at http://watchdog.org/225235/christie-challenges-court-order/.

NJ WATCHDOG: Court orders Chrisite to reveal air travel records

For immediate release:

Gov. Chris Christie's hide-and-seek game over his state travel expense records continued with mixed results last week in Mercer County Superior Court.

Judge Mary C. Jacobson ordered the governor’s office to provide documentation of air travel expenses, including costs and itineraries. She awarded legal fees to a New Jersey Watchdog reporter and instructed the state to turn over the records within 10 days.

But Jacobson also ruled the names of hotels where Christie stayed at taxpayers’ expense should be kept confidential for security reasons. In evidence submitted to the court under seal, the administration argued that revealing the governor's lodging locations in 2012 and 2013 could somehow put him in future danger.

Then the judge threw the rest of the reporter’s public records lawsuit out of court on narrow technical grounds.

The reporter sought records of state “Travel Cards” used to pay for expenses. However, since those words were capitalized in the request – “Travel Cards” not “travel cards” – Jacobson ruled against release of documents from an American Express credit card account that paid for the governor’s travel.

The judge also decided the request for “travel vouchers” only included records of expenses for which employees were reimbursed, but did not encompass “payment vouchers” for travel expenses paid directly by the state.

“This is just about semantics,” complained the reporter’s attorney, Donald M. Doherty Jr. “The governor’s office knew exactly what my client wanted.”

The full story is now online at http://watchdog.org/179348/christie-travel-records-3/.

NJ WATCHDOG: 'Christie slept here' is state secret

For immediate release:
8/25/14


“Chris Christie slept here” is not a historical marker. It’s a state secret in New Jersey, according to the governor’s lawyers.

The attorney general’s office is trying to block release of records that identify which hotels Gov. Christie stayed while traveling on state business at taxpayers’ expense. The lodging receipts are among the documents sought by a New Jersey Watchdog reporter in a public records suit against the governor’s office filed in Mercer County Superior Court.

“In the opinion of the State Police, releasing that information could put the governor’s physical safety in danger,” argued Deputy Attorney General Todd Wigder last week in a brief to Judge Mary C. Jacobson.

How could records of past trips from 2012 and 2013 possibly jeopardize Christie’s present and future safety? Well, those reasons are also secret, detailed in a hush-hush certification by Kevin Cowan, acting State Police captain.

Cowan’s statement will “reveal exactly the tactical decision-making that cause them to deem this information confidential in the first place,” wrote Wigder. “This can only be done under seal, for the court’s eyes only.”

Concealing the records from the public could hide possible abuses by Christie, who has argued that he is exempt from his administration’s travel rules for state officials.

Wigder is asking Jacobson to accept the Cowan certification as evidence without allowing the plaintiff a chance to review it and respond. The judge is tentatively slated to consider the motion in court on Sept. 19.

Before taking office as New Jersey governor, Christie already had a reputation as a high-rolling traveler when taxpayers are footing the bill.

The full story is now online at http://watchdog.org/166913/christie-travel-secret/.