State Republican chairman Tom Wilson is taking his battle over Gov. Corzine's e-mails to the state Supreme Court, re-inserting a political thorn in the governor's side.

Wilson has sued to force Corzine to release e-mails the governor exchanged with former labor leader Carla Katz, the governor's one-time girlfriend, during contract negotiations (The two dated before Corzine became governor). Corzine has said executive privilege allows him to keep the e-mails private and an appellate court recently ruled unanimously in his favor (an earlier court decision went Wilson's way).

"Executive privilege wasn't meant to be used to hide improper conduct, but that's exactly what he's doing," Wilson said in a statement today announcing his decision to appeal to the state's top court.

Corzine has said he is protecting executive privilege, which is aimed at letting some officials keep communications private to effectively govern.

"I want to make sure, as I have from the beginning, that the principle that private conversations of the governor - not just me, but future governors - are firmly established to be protected under executive privilege," Corzine recently told the Associated Press.

The Supreme Court will decide whether it takes up the case. Either way, the situation presents a political problem for Corzine because the story will live on well into this election year. With no information on what is actually in the e-mails, Wilson and other Corzine critics will try to spin a narrative of secret deals and a cover up.

Democrats argue that the public really doesn't care about the issue, though.

We'll see if they're right, because the Corzine-Katz stories, a volatile piece of the 2005 gubernatorial campaign, will continue to drag out. This cartoon in this morning's Star-Ledger captured the situation well: http://blog.nj.com/njv_shenemans_sketchpad/2009/01/the_katz_came_back_1.html#more

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