Christie's office refuses to release $800,000 in credit card bills

Gov. Christie's staff has refused to release almost $800,000 in American Express card bills being sought by New Jersey Watchdog which has written that the governor's travel is costing taxpayers a lot of money. Last week, the investigative web site reported Christie's State Police bodyguard costs have grown by 1,800 percent since Christie became governor. State records showed those costs were $959,856 -- not including unreleased expenses -- for the last quarter of last year.

"Last year, Christie traveled out-of-state more than 100 days while visiting 36 states, Mexico and Canada, primarily to help raise $106 million in campaign contributions as chairman of the Republican Governors Association. This month, Christie's trips to Dallas Cowboys football games raised questions on his gifts from team owner Jerry Jones, plus the public expense protecting the governor wherever he goes," wrote reporter Mark Lagerkvist.

In its denial, the Governor's Office cited security, "because the monthly statements indicate the names of the of the Executive Protection Unit members, the number of Executive Protection Unit members and the location of these members on a day-to-day basis."

Reporter Lagerkvist responded, "rather than black out the names of the officers, Christie's office seeks to withhold all of the American Express records from public disclosure."

In an earlier court case, a Superior Court rejected Christie's security argument n ordering release of past trips. But Judge Mary C. Jacobson allow Christie to keep the names of the hotels he stayed in secret.