Gov. Chris Christie Spent $300K On Food, Alcohol, NFL Concessions Using N.J. Taxpayer Money

Gov. Chris Christie has spent $360,000 from his state allowance during his five years in office -- more than 80 percent of which, or $300,000, was used to buy food, alcohol and desserts, according to a New Jersey Watchdog analysis of records released by the governor’s office.

Some of Christie’s most notable expenses happened during the 2010 and 2011 NFL football seasons at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, where the Giants and Jets play their home games. Christie used a debit card, on 58 occasions, to pay a total of $82,594 for concessions at MetLife, according to the report.

The governor’s office wouldn’t provide any receipts or records for the expenses to New Jersey Watchdog, but defended the governor’s spending practices.

“The official nature and business purpose of the event remains the case regardless of whether the event is at the State House, Drumthwacket or a sporting venue,” said Christie’s press secretary Kevin Roberts in a prepared statement.

The New Jersey Republican State Committee reimbursed the state three years ago for Christie’s concession purchases at MetLife, and the governor has stopped using his expense account at such sporting venues.

The report comes from a website that is part of a national chain called Watchdog.org, which targets government spending, waste and corruption. The New Jersey site is operated by prominent investigative journalist Mark Lagerkvist, a former special projects reporter at The Asbury Park Press who also worked at CNBC.

The governor’s spending practices and gift-taking practices have come under fire before. In 2012, Sheldon G. Adelson, the billionaire casino owner and supporter of Israel, lent Christie his private plane so the governor could go on a trade mission to Israel, according to The New York Times.

Lagerkvist’s latest report, released Monday, noted Christie gets a $175,000-a-year salary as well as $95,000 a year in expense advances paid quarterly by the state, according to the report.

The governor has used the account to buy $102,495 worth of groceries and alcoholic beverages from retail stores. That spending mostly occurred at Wegmans Food Markets, where he spent $76,373 during 53 shopping visits; ShopRite, where he spent $11,971; and ShopRite’s liquor stores, where he spent $6,536.

New Jersey Watchdog is suing Christie in Mercer County Superior Court to compel the governor to release the Amex records of his charges.

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