Cowboys tickets prompt questions on gift disclosure rules

Cowboys tickets prompt questions on gift disclosure rules

January 8, 2015, The Philadelphia Inquirer

Covington partner Rob Kelner is quoted regarding gift disclosure under ethic laws:

"For the five years he has held office, Gov. Christie has not declared any gifts on his annual financial disclosure forms." 

"The governor's office says Christie has complied with an executive order he issued in 2010 requiring disclosure of gifts of a certain value, but it won't say who paid for Christie's travel and ticket to a September 2013 Dallas Cowboys-New York Giants game in Texas, where he was seen in the owner's box with Jerry Jones."

"Christie's 2010 executive order says the governor may accept gifts paid for by "personal friends," though the rules don't define that term."

"That exception is "broadly written," said Rob Kelner, chair of the Election and Political Law Practice Group at Covington & Burling in Washington. 

"It leaves a lot open to question," he said. "Whether somebody you met while you were governor would qualify as a personal friend, I don't think the answer to that is clear."