Christie Administration slaps back, says it’s a violation of the law
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For the second time, Save Jerseyans, a Bergen judge is insisting that there’s probable cause for a citizen’s complaint alleging official misconduct on the part of Governor Chris Christie to proceed.
Judge Roy McGeady ruled similarly in October but a Superior Court Judge had overturned that ruling and ordered today’s hearing.
McGeady’s ruling comes despite the fact that the Bergen Prosecutor’s office declined to take up the case. The Superior Court already ruled that the complainant, William Brennan, cannot act as prosecutor himself.
The Christie Administration immediately pushed back against the ruling with strong language.
“This judge has once again violated the Governor’s constitutional rights and intentionally ignored the earlier ruling by Assignment Judge Mizdol. The judge is violating the law, pure and simple,” Brian Murray, Press Secretary for Governor Chris Christie, opined in an official statement. “This concocted claim was investigated for three months by the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office, which summarily dismissed it, after concluding that the very same evidence relied upon again by this judge was utter nonsense. That is exactly what it is. The law requires this judge to have done the same. This is a complete non-event.”
The complaint’s fate may hinge on whether the N.J. Supreme Court takes up the matter of whether to appoint a special prosecutor.
Christie is scheduled to appear in court on a criminal summons on March 10th.
This particular complaint’s likelihood of success is close to zero, but today’s ruling keeps the ball in the air at a sensitive time when the Governor is reportedly lobbying for a future role in the embattled Trump Administration.
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