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Hackett, Steele, Rivera, others charged with taking bribes to influence public contracts; Christie decries "brazen greed"
U.S. Attorney Christopher Christie continues his war on corruptionU.S. Attorney Christopher Christie today announced indictments against eleven current and former public officials on bribery charges, including Assembly Deputy Speaker Alfred Steele, Assemby State Government Committee Chairman (and Orange Mayor) Mims Hackett, Passaic Mayor Sammy Rivera, and Pete Callaway, a member of a prominent and controversial Atlantic County political family.
Read More >Ethics committee will reexamine Coniglio complaint
State Sen. Joseph Coniglio is the target of a federal corruption investigationThe Joint Legislative Committee on Ethical Standards will revisit a complaint filed against State Sen. Joe Coniglio that they had previously dismissed.
Bogota Mayor Steve Lonegan had filed a complaint to the committee earlier this year, accusing Coniglio of helping Hackensack University Medical Center, which had recently hired him as a plumbing consultant, lobby for state aid. The complaint was dismissed after Coniglio said he did not make any requests for the grants and merely voted on them.
Read More >Another legislator in court next week, but not on a criminal matter
Assemblyman Craig Stanley will appear in Superior Court on September 11th to contest the results of the June Democratic primary in the 28th district. He lost to Cleopatra Tucker, the widow of the late Assemblyman/Newark City Councilman Donald Tucker, by 127 votes.
"We have identified numerous anamolies," Stanley said.
Read More >Schaer: Passaic deserves honest government
City Council President Gary S. Schaer said that he became aware of the arrests of Mayor Sammy Rivera, Councilman Marcellus Jackson and former Councilman Jonathan Sorto this morning.
“I have been in contact with the Administration and Business Administrator and I am confident that the business of the City will continue without interruption," Schaer said in a statement. "As City Council President, the Council and I will make every effort to ensure that Passaic residents will continue to receive the City services that they have come to expect.”
Read More >McCullough says Callaway has ties to Whelan
Jim Whelan's campaign says that the arrests of five current or former Pleasantville Board of Education members today helps his campaign, but GOP State Senator James "Sonny" McCullough disagrees. Among the eleven arrested was Maurice "Pete" Callaway, the brother of jailed ex-Atlantic City Councilman Craig Callaway.
"Whelan’s been fighting these Callaway factions," said Raiyan Syed, spokesman for Whelan, a Democratic Assemblyman and former Atlantic City Mayor who is running for the Senate. "Craig Callaway’s locked up in jail and Jim Whelan’s going to be the next state senator."
McCullough says that the Callaway organization has worked on behalf of Whelan and the local Democratic Party.
Read More >Orange councilman stunned
The arrest today of three-term Assemblyman and three-term Orange Mayor Mims Hackett, Jr., caught at least one member of the Orange City Council unawares.
"I just saw him at a city council meeting on Tuesday night," said West Ward Councilman Hassan Abdul-Rasheen. "Are you kidding, or something?"
Read More >Let's give a warm New Jersey welcome to Hillary Clinton
Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton is scheduled to address the New Jersey Democratic State Committee's Annual Conference in Atlantic City on Friday -- the day after two Democratic Assemblymen, the Democratic Mayor of Passaic were arrested on federal corruption charges. She comes to New Jersey the week that her state campaign leader, Governor Jon "Hold Me Accountable" Corzine is dealing with the revelation that he gave a $15,000 cash gift to the brother-in-law of his former girlfriend, CWA President Carla Katz, and amidts news that one of her senior state campaign advisors, lobbyist Harold Hodes, has retained legal counsel in the federal corruption probe of State Senator Joseph Coniglio.
Read More >Eleven arrested in bribery scandal
Rev. Alfred Steele is the Assembly Deputy Speaker and the Passaic County UndersheriffThe list of eleven public officials arrested today by FBI agents: Assemblymen Alfred Steele and Mims Hackett, Passaic Mayor Sammy Rivera, Passaic City Councilman Marcellus Jackson, former Passaic City Councilman Jonathan Soto, Keith Reid, the Chief of Staff to the Newark City Council President, Louis Mister of Pleasantville, and five current and former members of the Pleasantville Board of Education -- Jayson Adams, City Councilman Maurice "Pete" Callaway, James McCormick, James Pressley and Rafael Velez.
Callaway is the brother of former Atlantic City Councilman Craig Callaway, who was sentenced today to 40 months in a federal prison for taking bribes from an undercover FBI agent.
Soto, viewed as a rising star in North Jersey GOP politics when he was elected to the City Council in his early 20's, is the Passaic Republican Municipal Chairman. He has endorsed Rudy Giuliani for President.
Read More >The Back Room
Booker to campaign for Lesniak in LD20
Newark Mayor Cory Booker will join Roselle Mayor Jamel Holley for a meet and greet tomorrow evening for incumbent state Sen. Ray Lesniak (D-20).
Read More >Wake-Up Call
Morning News Digest - May 23, 2013
PolitickerNJ.com interview: Jason O’Donnell Confident he has the votes to be the next Democratic State chairman, Jason O’Donnell said his objective will be to drive the core message of the Democratic Party. “My main objective is to bring Democrats home,” said O’Donnell, 41, an assemblyman from Bayonne. “If we...
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Op-Ed
Time to have the talk we hope to avoid but can’t
By Tedford J. Taylor No topic is a less likely conversation-starter than our eventual deaths. Still, there is a lot to talk about. When polled, about 90 percent of people presented with end-of-life scenarios prefer the prospect of dying at home with... Read More >
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"That's state money and the speaker has never raised an objection to that, and now all of a sudden she objects to her own bill. She's objecting on a basis she hasn't objected before on the TAG Grant program. Let's face it everybody, this is just politics. It's election year and it's politics." - Gov. Chris Christie, on Speaker Sheila Oliver (D-34).
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