Court Backs Public Right To Know, Orders Christie To Reveal Pension Probe Docs
What? Could it be that there was a double-dipping lieutenant governor under possible 2016 GOP savior Chris Christie’s nose all this time? This isn’t going to look too good for the currently-popular Republican come the Iowa Caucuses, if you catch my drift!
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 presidential campaign, 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.
