So much for 'Freedom of Information' when it comes to Chris Christie's new style of "transparent" governing ...
Chris Christie Faces Mounting Suits Over Public Records
by Jill Colvin, huffingtonpost.com; AP -- 08/16/2014
[...]
"The quality of the denials are getting dumber," said lawyer Walter Luers, who specializes in such cases [requests for public records]. "They're just kind of making reasons to not give us stuff."
Christie on Friday insisted that his administration was as transparent as he said it would be. "You guys want everything. You're not entitled to everything. So we give you what you're entitled to under the law. And I think that's fair."
[...]
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie took into office promising "a new era of accountability and transparency." Yet after he won a second term last year and as he explores a run for president, his administration stands accused of routinely stonewalling even the most basic requests for public records.
[...]
Heckuva Job there, Christie!
Way to keep your promises on "accountability and transparency."
-- NOT.
"You're not entitled to everything." -- signed Gov. Chris Christie
Lawyers Say Christie Administration Stonewalling Records Requests
Michael Booth, New Jersey Law Journal, njlawjournal.com -- July 30, 2014
Lawyers representing government watchdogs and media outlets are claiming that the administration of Gov. Chris Christie has adopted a stance in which requests for information made under the state's Open Public Records Act are being routinely denied out of hand, leading to an increasing number of court fights.
[...]
Those OPRA requests have ranged from asking the Division of Fish and Wildlife what happened to a deer that was taken from someone's backyard to demanding text messages and emails from the governor's office relating to last fall's lane closures to the George Washington Bridge.
[...]
Jennifer Borg, the vice president and general counsel for the North Jersey Media Group, which publishes The Record newspaper, said she "can only guess" as to why the Christie administration seems to be slamming the door on nearly every OPRA request [NJ Open Public Records Act].
[...]
It has gotten to the point, she said [Jennifer Borg who currently has five pending OPRA lawsuits], that in some matters the administration will not even identify the custodian of records who is denying a particular request.
[...]
Here are a few summary 'stats' from the MN
Star Tribune, who've picked up the NJ stonewalling story:
[...]
In the first six months of 2013, records show, the governor's office [Chris Christie] received 98 open records requests. The number more than doubled to 231 during the same period in 2014.
As of July 24, there were at least 22 open records complaints pending before the Trenton judge who handles the cases, according to a list compiled by her chamber and first reported by the New Jersey Law Journal. She declined to discuss the cases through a clerk.
And another one of those Open Record Requests that "
we're not entitled to" according to Christie is:
Who has been paying for his on-going Presidential-Ambitions Tour?
Chris Christie Wins Lawsuit to Exempt Himself From New Jersey's Open Records Laws
by David Sirota, IBTimes.com -- August 01 2014
Chris Christie is traveling around the country in advance of a possible 2016 presidential run. Who's picking up the tab for all these trips? He doesn't have to tell. The New Jersey governor's office this week won a court ruling allowing it to exempt itself from disclosure rules, and it's permitted to conceal state records documenting which private interests are financing his nationwide political tour.
The case against Christie revolved around New Jersey Watchdog's request for records about more than "60 unofficial out-of-state trips Christie has taken since 2012." New Jersey Watchdog is a journalism project of the conservative Franklin Center for Government and Public Integrity.
According to New Jersey rules, private third parties "may agree to pay for participation at an event by state employees," but documentation of those payments must be "retained with the department's or agency's records."
[...]
Any guesses on who is picking up Christie's Presidential-Ambitions travel tab?
Sheldon Adelson, The Kochs, or maybe perhaps it's simply the "deep-pockets" of the RGA? (of which Christie is conveniently the Chairman.)
Just another golden brick, in Gov/Pres-Wantabee's Stonewall ...
SOOOO ... Don't Ask!
(Because: 'We can't handle the Truth,' at least according to Chris.)