NEWARK, N.J., Aug. 24 (UPI) -- The mayor of New Jersey's largest city says the ACLU is trying to get publicity by suing Newark over a donation to its schools from Mark Zuckerberg.
Zuckerberg, the founder of Facebook, gave $100 million last year. The American Civil Liberties Union filed an Open Public Records lawsuit Tuesday seeking any correspondence between Zuckerberg, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and Newark Mayor Cory Booker, The Star-Ledger of Newark reported.
Booker said at a news conference the donation was completely transparent.
"The ACLU has not gone after the Prudential Foundation which gives tens of millions of dollars. They've not gone after the Victoria Foundation which gives tens of millions of dollars," Booker said. "They're using Mark Zuckerberg and me to attract publicity to themselves."
Laura Baker, who has a grandchild in the Newark schools, said she originally filed an OPRA request for the correspondence because parents have a right to know if there are any strings attached to the gift that might hurt students. The lawsuit was filed because the city rejected the request.
Booker described the request as too broad and said any of his correspondence is protected by executive privilege. He also said he has been open about his dealings with Zuckerberg.
"These documents that they're asking for do not exist," he said.
