By Mark Lagerkvist | New Jersey Watchdog
Re-printed in NJ Spotlight
September 9, 2015
Full article here.
Gov. Chris Christie lost another court battle in his attempt to keep secret a key cog in his taxpayer-funded publicity machine.
Superior Court Judge Mary C. Jacobson denied the New Jersey governor’s plea for a stay pending a possible appeal of her order to release a copy of a strategic list of 2,500 media contacts to New Jersey Watchdog.
In an eight-page decision, Jacobson concluded it is “unlikely (the governor’s office) will succeed on the merits of the case.”
As a result, Christie has until Sept. 16 – coincidentally, the date of the Republican presidential debate on CNN – to convince a state appellate court to grant emergent relief on the premise that release of the record would cause “irreparable harm” to the state.
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, New Jersey Watchdog found.
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