TRENTON, N.J. (AP) - A New Jersey appeals court has denied a public records request made of a nonprofit group run by a former aide to Republican Gov. Chris Christie.
The lawsuit, filed by Alexis Serringer, sought records from Choose New Jersey, a group headed by Michele Brown, who worked under Christie when he was U.S. attorney and who later led New Jersey’s Economic Development Authority.
Choose New Jersey, funded by donations from corporations and individuals, drew scrutiny in 2015 when it was revealed it paid for Christie’s trade trips to Mexico, England and Canada.
While the trips were billed as efforts to encourage investment in New Jersey, they also provided Christie with a chance to build his foreign policy resume while he considered a run for the Republican nomination for president. The trips included meetings and photo ops with world leaders as well as speeches.
In Friday’s ruling, the appeals court wrote that while a nonprofit can be considered a public agency if it is “created, controlled or funded by the government,” that was the not the case with Choose New Jersey.
“We reject plaintiff’s argument that the existence of a ’close working relationship’ transforms the private party in a public-private partnership into a public agency,” the judges wrote.
Serringer is the daughter of former Secaucus Mayor Dennis Elwell, who was convicted of bribery in 2011 in a case brought while Christie was U.S. attorney. Her lawsuit included a request for all correspondence between Choose New Jersey and Michele Brown from January 2013 to April 2015. A trial judge upheld the group’s denial of the request.
Christie ran for the GOP presidential nomination, but dropped out early in 2016 after a poor showing in the New Hampshire primary.
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