The secret e-mails about Mark Zuckerberg’s $100 million donation to Newark schools
A detail that got buried on the day that Newark Mayor Cory Booker (D) announced he would not challenge Gov. Chris Christie (R) next year was the news that a judge had ordered the release of secret e-mails involving the Booker administration’s dealings involving Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg’s $100 million donation to city schools. City officials complied late on Christmas Eve by sending dozens of the e-mails to the Star-Ledger, apparently hoping the news would be buried by Santa. A refresher: Zuckerberg donated $100 million to Newark schools in 2010 after striking up a friendship with Booker. The two men went on the Oprah Winfrey show, along with Christie, to announce the donation and Christie’s decision to give to Booker some control of the school system, which has been run by the state for years. Zuckerberg’s donation — which called for matching gifts — came at the very same time as the release of the film “The Social Network,” the story of his founding of Facebook that portrays him in a negative light. (Coincidental timing?)
It is worth noting that city officials spent some time denying the e-mails existed, but the