N.J. Gov. Chris Christie must really think you’re stupid. How else could his release of a single calendar entry, under the threat of lawsuit from Gawker and the NJ ACLU, qualify as providing the public with the information they need to believe that that’s the extent of his dealings with Fox News propagandist Roger Ailes? And why, if that is the extent of it, would he hide the response until legal papers were filed?
From Gawker’s John Cook:
Hours after we filed our complaint, Christie’s office sent me what they call a “supplemental response” to my initial request: “[D]espite the fact that these records are exempt from disclosure on the basis of the executive privilege… this office has reviewed its records to identify any records that may be responsive to your request. We are providing you with a record indicating a schedule entry for a private dinner attended by the Governor and Mr. Ailes.”
The schedule entry merely shows a 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. dinner attended by Christie and his wife in “REDACTED, New York” on September 11, 2010.
Christie’s office insists that the schedule entry is the only responsive record it has. Our attorneys have responded asking Christie’s office to certify as to the truth of that claim in court. If it does, we’ll withdraw the complaint.
We have no earthly idea why Christie would go so far as to invoke executive privilege to keep one lousy schedule entry, concerning a dinner that had already been reported, secret.
John’s mistake there is presuming that Christie acts as you’d expect a morally upstanding leader to act. But he doesn’t. He was shielding that (and potentially more) information because he could. Because he’s an arrogant prick who stands to lose a bunch of credibility if it’s alleged and/or proven that he’s a Palin-esque lapdog, suckling at Ailes’s white-rage teet.
Christie has managed to build a watchdog reputation out of a job where he handpicked cases to keep a high winning percentage going. It’s only logical to presume he knows how to shield his dealings with Fox News at a time when his magical popularity tour is waning as quickly as his ability to see his own feet without a mirror did.