Gov. Chris Christie kicks off new year of fact-checks for PolitiFact New Jersey

After Chris Christie led PolitiFact New Jersey’s first year in frequency of fact-checks, it only seemed fitting that the governor kick off our second year Monday with an interesting claim.

In case you missed it, PolitiFact New Jersey released an analysis Sunday of its first year of fact-checks and gave Christie a False on Monday for a claim about prosecutions he made as New Jersey’s US Attorney.

One-year analysis

The Truth-O-Meter checked 220 claims from politicians and organizations between its inaugural publication date of June 10, 2011 and June 7, 2012. Among the highlights of our analysis, we found that both Democrats and Republicans are pretty even when it comes to truthful claims and false ones.

For the timeframe specified, the Truth-O-Meter fact-checked statements from Democrats 97 times and from Republicans 92 times. Gov. Chris Christie represents 39 of the Republican fact-checks. If Christie is removed from the Republican total, the Truth-O-Meter fact-checked statements by Democrats nearly twice as often as Republicans.

Christie claim

During a town hall meeting Wednesday in Piscataway, Christie claimed that during his seven years as US Attorney for New Jersey, his office put 10 percent of the state Legislautre in jail. Not quite, the Truth-O-Meter found.

The state Legislature has 40 members in the Senate and 80 in the Assembly. During his time as US Attorney, 185 people served in either chamber. Five sitting legislators were charged during Christie’s tenure, amounting to less than 3 percent of all the people who served prison time.

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