Assemblyman Guy Gregg

GREGG: SCARINCI STORIES RAISE NEW QUESTIONS ABOUT HIS WORK FOR ASSEMBLY DEMOCRATS

SCARINCI EARNED $20,000 FROM ASSEMBLY DEMOCRATSSeptember 28, 2006
Assemblyman Guy Gregg/973-584-5422
Assembly Republican Office/609-292-5339

GREGG: SCARINCI STORIES RAISE NEW QUESTIONS ABOUT HIS WORK FOR ASSEMBLY DEMOCRATS

SCARINCI EARNED $20,000 FROM ASSEMBLY DEMOCRATS

Assemblyman Guy Gregg, who a little more than a year ago called for Assembly Democrats to remove Donald Scarinci from their payroll, today said the latest scandal in which Scarinci is accused of threatening an FBI informant with the loss of a government contract if he did not do a "favor" for then-Congressman Bob Menendez, raises questions about his work for the Assembly.

"Was Mr. Scarinci being paid by the Assembly Democrats so that he could perform the same 'duties' for them that he apparently carried out for Senator Menendez?" Gregg asked. "What exactly did Mr. Scarinci do in his role as a paid employee of the Assembly Democrats?"

Scarinci, a politically connected Democrat fundraiser with close ties to Menendez was also on the payroll of the Assembly Democrats through last year earning at least $20,000 in taxpayer money in that job.

Just over a year ago Gregg had called on the Assembly Democrats to remove Scarinci from their payroll after it was reported that in 2002 Scarinci had communicated with Governor McGreevey’s then-chief of staff, Gary B. Taffet, and told him that it was "very important" that the State Parole Board reconsider its decision to deny organized crime figure Angelo Prisco parole. Two weeks later Prisco was granted parole.

In today's Philadelphia Inquirer and Record of Hackensack it is reported that a North Jersey psychiatrist says he was pressured by Scarinci in 1999 to hire a doctor favored by Menendez or risk losing $1 million in government contracts. Failing to hire the doctor could result in "the law of the jungle," Scarinci says on the tape.

Gregg said that the Assembly Democrats should document what work Scarinci did for them to earn his $20,000 paycheck.

"In light of this most recent story, the taxpayers will likely be interested to learn what job they were paying Scarinci to do for the Democrats," Gregg said. "Maybe this type of behavior is why the Democrats removed him from their payroll after last year. They should let us know."

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