Gov. Dannel P. Malloy and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie may be fond of trading barbs on national television, but that didn’t stop the state from loaning a trooper from Malloy’s security detail to help keep Christie safe during his recent trip to Connecticut.
Christie was in the state Monday to campaign for Republican U.S. Senate candidate Linda McMahon. At a Waterbury rally, CT Mirror’s Mark Pazniokas caught a familiar face in the foreground of a picture of McMahon and Christie: Trooper Dan Rybacki from Malloy’s security detail.
The governor’s senior communication adviser Roy Occhiogrosso largely refrained from weighing in on Christie’s visit and said he couldn’t discuss security matters. However, State Police spokesman Lt. J. Paul Vance confirmed that a trooper was assigned to assist Christie’s security detail. He wouldn’t say which one.
“It’s a courtesy afforded to any visiting governor in our state just as if our governor went to New Jersey,” Vance said.
Vance said the state isn’t typically reimbursed for the cost of providing security for visiting governors. In this case, the trooper assigned to Christie worked his typical nine hour workday, plus two hours overtime.
Christie’s visit may have been pure politics but Vance said the same courtesy would have been extended regardless of what the New Jersey governor was doing here.
“I mean, he could have been going to a doctors’ appointment,” Vance said.
