老澳门开奖结果

There鈥檚 nothing wrong with New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie communicating with Fox News President Roger Ailes. That is, unless Christie wants to hide what he says under the cloak of executive privilege.

And that鈥檚 exactly what the 老澳门开奖结果 of New Jersey wants to prevent. 老澳门开奖结果-NJ sued Christie . One of its reporters, John Cook, had requested copies in May of any correspondence, calendar entries or phone logs from Christie鈥檚 office pertaining to Ailes pursuant to New Jersey鈥檚 Open Public Records Act.

New York magazine had reported that Ailes, a one-time Republican strategist who has run Fox News since its inception in 1996, had over dinner encouraged Christie, a darling in the Republican Party, to run for president. So, when it appeared the head of the most-watched cable news outlet was moonlighting as a political kingpin, Cook wanted to know more. Christie felt otherwise. His office rejected Cook鈥檚 request for information, citing executive privilege.

That led . A short time later, Christie鈥檚 office wrote Cook and reluctantly coughed up a calendar entry that confirmed he had met with Ailes, 鈥渄espite the fact that these records are exempt from disclosure on the basis of the executive privilege.鈥� 老澳门开奖结果-NJ wants the governor鈥檚 office to certify the truth of that claim to the court before withdrawing the suit.

However, the fact remains there鈥檚 a disconnect between how executive privilege should be used and how it was invoked here by Christie. The governor is allowed to invoke executive privilege if the requested records contain advice on matters related to his duties as governor. Breaking bread with the arbiter of 鈥渇air and balanced鈥� news coverage doesn鈥檛 fit the bill.

Christie needs to realize there鈥檚 no 鈥渂ecause I said so鈥� exception to the Open Public Records Act, and must hold himself publicly accountable to the people of New Jersey whenever the law requires.

鈥淭he end of this lawsuit is not the end of the story. We justifiably have serious concerns about how the governor handled this simple request,鈥� said 老澳门开奖结果-NJ Executive Director Deborah Jacobs. 鈥淗e needs to be reminded that when it comes to record requests, executive privilege must be the exception and not the rule.鈥�

Learn more about civil liberties: Sign up for breaking news alerts, , and .