Subject: FW: Powell Story and his focus on Gov Christie From: Michael Dnewniak Sent: Monday, October 14, 2813 16:56 AM To: 'public@nytimes.com' Subject: Powell Story and his focus on Gov Christie Dear Ms. Sullivan. I am press secretary to GOvernor Christie, and I'm compelled to contact you about the New York Times story which ran Thursday, ?The Quashing of a Case Against 3 Christie Ally? by Michael Powell. 1 had discussed this very local controversy at least six months ago with Michael, offering salient counter?points and remarks which I hoped he would include. During our long conversation, he was adamant in his views and opinions about the strength of the "facts" he was building his story around and was detectably uninterested in the completely plausible counterwnarrative. This struck me as odd and then troubling "when he told me he was writing it as a large takeout on the news side, versus in his well-known persona as a New York/New Jersey opinion writer in the ?Gotham? column. Michael has written consistently critical, often caustic opinion pieces about Governor Christie (see below), in which he reveals fully both his distaste for the Governor?s policies, politics and personality, and Michael?s own polar?opposite political ideology. That would be perfectly fine, and something we are very familiar with from the New York Times. But for him to then be allowed by the Times and its editors to switch to the news side for purposes of this story is questionable and unsettling in terms of his ability or desire to be fair and impartial. I think any reasonable person or media watcher would come to the same conclusion. 0n the story itself which ran in its full glory on A?l Friday and jumped inside to take up an entire page there is this critical contradiction: The headline reads ?The Quashing of a Case Against a Christie Ally.? Yet just six inches into the story we get this: ?There is no evidence that Mr. Christie ordered the dismissal of the charges against Sheriff Trout.? The entire story strains to make tenuous connections and allegations between an odd cast of characters between the Sheriff?s Department and a rural county prosecutor?s office which itself was embroiled in controversy and internal strife that long predated. the dismissal of the indictment in question. Remarkably, none of that makes its way into the story, including that the holdover county prosecutor who was superseded, J. Patrick Barnes, was the subject of numerous complaints, including an alleged ?head?butting? incident with a detective and expensive lawsuits and settlements from longtime staff under his direction. All of which could provide a very reasonable basis for the state Attorney General?s Of?ce to move in and replace a prosecutor, who was also a holdover from the prior administration. This also would have undercut the preferred narrative that took up so much space in Powell's story. As I felt myself climbing uphill against Michael?s pre-set narrative in our conversation, I asked that two points be included in the story from me, if nothing else. One he did, the other he didn?t, and that was that Governor Christie had never recalled meeting or talking with a single one of these oddball characters? particularly Sheriff Trout, which the paper nevertheless and without support dubs his "ally" was completely unfamiliar with the local, oftenspetty machinations unfolding in Hunterdon County, and had no knowledge whatsoever of the case in question, its prosecution or ultimate dismissal by a judge. This very long story, its placement and timing is deeply troubling in terms of fact selection and gross omissions, - unsubstantiated leaps of faith in connecting people and events, innuendo and a strained effort to lay it at the feet of a sitting Governor weeks away from Election Day. 1 venture to say that it is all reasonably explained by the insurmountable bias of a columnist who has documented a serious dislike for the Governor being allowed to write such a story on the front page of The New York Times. Thank you in advance for your anticipated attention to this serious matter. Here are just a few examples of Michael?s opinions about the Governor, which I turned up with a simple search: January 3, 2013: "He can be rude and petty and play a mean game of politics.? (Michael Powell, ?Christie Takes a Swing at His Party, Possibly Hurting His Political Future,? City Room September 10, 2012: ?So the Governor, fresh from his me?me?glo-riousvme keynote address at the Republican National Convention (Michael Powell, ?Christie Talks of a Comeback, but Jobs Data May Say Otherwise,? City Room ?He tends to talk of public workers as so many anchors on the state's economy. Cut away enough of them, and the state economy eventually will set sail. There's remarkably little evidence for his assertion.? August 15, 2012: ?Little Candor From Christie Before Keynote? (Michael Powell, ?Little Candor From Christie Before Keynote." ?If the Governor is in a mood for genuine candor about the economy, he could make one hell of a speech. His once prosperous state has lately become a national lagg'ard." October 5, 2011: "in fact, Mr. Christie has presided over nothing like a New Jersey miracle. It's a scripted mirage.? (Michael Powell, ?Evidence of Christie?s Un?nished Business? Visit a New Jersey City." August 14, 2011: r. Christie's ?ngers are particularly sticky, as he claims a billion or two to repair, expand and otherwise tend his state's highways.? (Michael Powell, "Tax?Cap Tales,? City Room. July 12, 2011: ?The Governor regularly insists that he can "feel" the economy picking up, but that's not evident.? (Michael Powell, "In New Jersey, Ally One Day, 'Pun-k? the Next." June 21, 2011: ?Gov. Chris Christie, the congenitally pugilistic Republican (Michael Powell, ?In New Jersey, ?Shared Sacri?ce? for Public Workers, Not the Rich." played bulldog for the wealthiest ?Mr. Christie, for whom bluster and intimidation are life's blood January 1, 2011: ?Governor Christie Talked About Tough Choices This Past Year Then Skipped The State's Required $3.1 Billion Payment." (Michael Powell, ?Public Workers Face Outrage as Budget Crises Grow." Michael Drewniak Press Secretary to NJ Governor Chris Christie email: Press Of?ce: 609-777-2600 Blackberry: