JERSEY CITY — A judge on Friday denied a motion by the city to dismiss criminal contempt proceedings in a battle for public records requested by Kushner Companies, run by the family of President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, and instead ordered it to turn over thousands of emails originally requested more than a year ago.

Arguing before a new presiding judge in the case, an attorney for the the city tried to vacate criminal contempt proceedings and remove Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop and City Clerk Robert Byrne as defendants entirely.

But Superior Court Judge Joseph Isabella — who has taken over the case from Judge Francis B. Schultz, who has retired — denied the motion, and instead set August deadlines for the city to turn over thousands of emails and communications from Fulop, city council members and other officials working on tax abatement applications in City Hall to the Kushner firm.

“There’s no reason not to turn these over. We’ve been stonewalled at every step of the way (and) we have had to engage in ridiculous litigation and spend an enormous amount of time for no reason,” Joseph B. Fiorenzo, attorney for Kushner Companies, said before Isabella’s ruling. “We have been jerked around ... (and) this suggests to me there is something there that no one wants the public to see.”

The dispute stems from a court case originally ruled on by Schultz in December — which the city is now appealing.

Kushner Companies had, in September, filed a complaint against the city after it told them their document request made via the Open Public Records Act was “overly broad” and that fulfilling the request would have ground the city’s operations to a halt.

The firm had asked the city for documents related to, among other things, applications for tax abatements sought by the previous owners of the One Journal Square site, emails between Fulop and council members about tax abatement requests, and all executive orders regarding abatements. It is believed the documents are being sought for a separate lawsuit Kushner Companies has filed against the city in federal court alleging “political animus towards President Trump” has stalled development of the property.

Kushner Companies purchased the One Journal Square site in 2014, when Jared Kushner was still running the company, and later applied for a tax abatement to develop the property. Jared Kushner stepped down from the post after Trump became president.

The lot has been vacant for decades.

Schultz ruled in the developer’s favor in December. But by April, the city had not delivered any documents to the company, and Schultz ordered the city again to begin fulfilling the OPRA requests.

In June, criminal contempt proceedings were initiated after attorneys said the city was willfully ignoring the OPRA request.

The city in its defense today said that it would take "1.79 years" for them to go through all of the emails. But Isabella didn't buy it.

“There’s 5,000 documents,'' he said, adding he was “not buying” the city’s reasoning behind not releasing them. "If they’re not relevant, who cares? If there’s privileged information, redact them. That’s not rocket science.”

Attorneys for Kushner Companies had said that the city handed over 12 emails out of 5,500 emails from Fulop regarding 27 tax abatements over a four-year period, and Fiorenzo called it “ludicrous to suggest” that there are only 12 emails regarding 27 tax abatement applications to the town.

"Twelve out of 5,500? You want me to buy that? I'm not buying it," Isabella said.

He gave the city until Aug. 12 to produce all of Fulop’s 5,500 emails regarding tax abatement applications; until Aug. 19 for communications within the tax abatement office; and until Aug. 26 for City Council members’ emails regarding tax abatement applications.

Fulop, in a January tweet, said that “the taxpayers should not be required to subsidize a pointless fishing expedition that will require an extraordinary amount of time in their attempt to find a conspiracy that doesn’t exist.”

The Kushner’s sense of entitlement is embarrassing for them as they are so detached from reality that they think they can bully a city into giving them money. It is absurd and isn’t going to happen in Jersey City. The taxpayers should not be required to subsidize a pointless 1/2 https://t.co/YTL1BFYKwZ — Steven Fulop (@StevenFulop) January 2, 2019

Kimberly Wallace-Scalcione, the spokeswoman for the city, did not immediately respond to a request for comment on today’s hearing.

“This sequence of events is inexplicable to me except for one thing,” Fiorenzo said, “that the mayor is intent on not having the exposure of what they have done with the tax abatement policy in Jersey City and I suspect there’s a reason for that.”

Corey W. McDonald may be reached at cmcdonald@jjournal.com. Follow him on Twitter @cwmcdonald_. Find The Jersey Journal on Facebook.