WASHINGTON — Personal e-mails at the center of the brewing scandal for New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie might have remained secret, had the public and media relied solely on the state’s open records law.
E-mails disclosed last week show a top aide to Christie asking the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey to shut down three lanes on the George Washington Bridge, resulting in major backups for days in September. Those e-mails were leaked to reporters last week, even though one newspaper requested them nearly a month ago, only to be told they didn’t exist.
The use of private e-mails adds Christie’s administration to a growing list of those that use private e-mail accounts and other digital services to conduct official business. In turn, state and federal officials, regardless of political party, have sidestepped public records laws meant to keep government activities transparent.
It’s unclear why the governor’s office didn’t turn over e-mails from the Yahoo Mail account of Christie’s former deputy chief of staff, Bridget Anne Kelly. She used the service to send messages to David Wildstein, a Christie-appointed Port Authority official, who ordered the bridge lanes closed. Representatives in Christie’s office did not return messages seeking comment Friday.
Public records laws, which can vary widely from state to state, govern how officials’ documents and correspondence should be stored and released. But those laws largely have been slow to catch up to the digital age.
The result creates a gray area for how state and federal employees can use electronic services, such as personal e-mail accounts and phone text messages, to conduct their business.
New Jersey law says officials can be disciplined and fined up to $5,000 for violating the open-records act, and that agencies have to reimburse a requestor’s attorney fees if the state loses an open-records lawsuit.
Other examples
Kathleen Sebelius: The Associated Press found last year that some of President Barack Obama’s political appointees, including the Health and Human Services secretary, used secret, unpublished e-mail accounts at work. Jon Corzine: Christie’s Democratic predecessor had fought to keep secret e-mails he exchanged with his ex-girlfriend, a former union leader. The state’s highest court ruled in 2009 he could keep those messages private.Andrew Cuomo: The New York governor responded to an AP request under the state’s Freedom of Information Law by saying the governor has never written an e-mail — state or personal — for public business. Instead, he uses an untraceable Blackberry message system. Cuomo, a Democrat, later called it a way to prevent hacking. His office didn’t reply when asked Friday whether he still uses that approach.
