Report: Christie Security Detail Cost NJ Taxpayers $600,000 Through 2015
TRENTON, N.J. (CBSNewYork/AP) -- New Jersey taxpayers paid more than $600,000 to cover the cost of a security detail that traveled with Gov. Chris Christie as he sought the Republican presidential nomination, according to a published report.
Citing administration documents, The Record reports the bill for state police protection in 2015 brings Christie's total security costs to $1.769 million since 2010, his first year in office.
A large portion of those costs have come in his second term, as he traveled heavily as chairman of the Republican Governors Association and in preparation for his White House campaign.
According to The Record, Christie spent $193,890 during the last three months of 2015, when Christie was campaigning heavily throughout the year's final quarter.
The newspaper obtained the documents through an Open Public Records Act request.
Christie threw his support behind GOP front-runner Donald Trump shortly after suspending his own campaign for the Republican presidential nomination in February.
The governor received considerable backlash following the endorsement, with local media outlets and lawmakers calling for Christie's resignation.
On March 1, six local New Jersey media outlets used the word "arrogant" to describe Christie in a joint editorial urging the governor to resign following his endorsement of Trump:
"We're fed up with Gov. Chris Christie's arrogance. We're fed up with his opportunism. We're fed up with his hypocrisy. We're fed up with his sarcasm. We're fed up with his long neglect of the state to pursue his own selfish agenda. We're disgusted with his endorsement of Donald Trump after he spent months on the campaign trail trashing him, calling him unqualified by temperament and experience to be president," the op-ed reads.
Another editorial published by the Star-Ledger editorial board expressed concerns over Christie's shifting political views and the governor continuing to leave the state in order to campaign for Trump— furthering the notion that the governor was not doing enough to address local issues, like fixing the transit system or New Jersey's fiscal crisis.
Christie said he does not intend to resign from his position.
"I intend to be here until Jan. 16, I believe it is, 2018 and then I intend to leave to go to the private sector," Christie said. "There is nothing that will change that."
Though Christie said he does not plan on being a full-time campaigner for Trump, he does plan to continue to leave the state throughout the primaries in support of the New York City businessman, The Record reported.
The state police's executive protection unit has been required to provide full-time security for New Jersey governors since 1984.
(TM and © Copyright 2016 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2016 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
