After reviewing secret evidence, Judge Mary C. Jacobson dismissed a public-records suit filed by the New Jersey Watchdog. The court ruled that releasing the details of Chris Christie’s travels would potentially put the governor’s safety at risk.
“The court finds the general interest of the public to have a breakdown pales in comparison,” Jacobson said. This will allow Christie to keep the details of some $1 million worth of expenses from the public’s eye.
Suspicion regarding Christie’s expenses focuses on the dramatic rise in expenses that has occurred while he has been in office, and while he has been campaigning for president.
Last year, Christie spent $494,420 in travel expenses, an amount 22 times higher than what was spent in 2009 under then-Governor Jon Corzine, according to NJSpotlight.
The thrust of Jacobson’s decision to keep the records confidential is based on testimony from the head of Christie’s Executive Protection Unity (EPU), Kevin Cowan.
“He unequivocally swears in that certification that release of the information would increase the risk of harm to the governor,” Jacobson said.
Christie is very unpopular as a politician and his popularity has only been in decline the longer he is in the spotlight. According to a poll performed by Monmount University, 58 percent of New Jersey residents felt that Christie was neither trustworthy nor honest.
