New Jersey Democratic State Committee

Doug Forrester's Pyrrhic Victory

This morning, it was between Doug Forrester and the courts...now it's between Doug Forrester and the voters. IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Richard McGrath

27 September 2005 609 280 4300

Doug Forrester's Pyrrhic Victory

This morning, it was between Doug Forrester and the courts...now it's between Doug Forrester and the voters

Bonnie Watson Coleman, Chairwoman of the Democratic State Committee, issued the following statement on Tuesday following the decision by Superior Court that, while the Democratic State Committee has the "standing" to challenge Doug Forrester’s efforts to keep secret court documents involving municipal lawsuits against Benecard, the documents in question would continue to be sealed:

“We won the preliminary round when the court ruled that we have the right to challenge Mr Forrester’s secrecy, but we lost the main event when the court determined Mr Forrester can keep the documents sealed from the public. Unfortunately, the bigger losers are the voters of New Jersey, who will be denied relevant information about the practices and profits of Mr Forrester’s public sector business.

“This morning, this was an issue between Doug Forrester and the courts. Now this is an issue between Doug Forrester and the taxpayers of New Jersey.

“He has been hiding behind the courthouse, the question now is will he try to hide behind the Statehouse as he asks the voters to entrust him with the responsibility of the governor’s office at the same time he refuses to be straight with them.

“The judge determined that he was bound by a confidentiality order by Judge Limbaugh in St Louis, who is handling lawsuits involving NPA, another PBM with Benecard affiliations. The decision was also based on the privilege of business information for Mr Forrester’s partner.

“But his business partner isn’t running for Governor – Doug Forrester is. He may have a legal right to keep the documents secret, but he doesn’t have an ethical right and, based on the public’s reactions to what they have learned about Mr Forrester and Benecard, he'll have a hard time convincing the voters that he has a political right to keep this information from them.

“If Doug Forrester considers today’s decision a victory, he will soon learn taht it is a pyrrhic victory at best.

“We will review the case before deciding on an appeal, but it shouldn’t have to go that far. In fact, it’s an outrage that we had to go to court in the first place. Mr Forrester is the one to make this right.

"He has made millions in profits from the taxpayers, including hidden rebates from the drug companies. He has countless no-bid contracts and he has used his profits to make pay-to-play contributions. He created a secretive insurance subsidiary and was blatantly dishonest about the rebates he pocketed. And he still has an ongoing criminal investigation to contend with. That is the sum total of Mr Forrester's business portfolio. Is that how he wants to be judged by the voters?

"Doug Forrester has owed the public many explanations as the Benecard/Heartland story unfolded. That debt will continue to grow as long as he stiff-arms the public on what should be public information. He should come clean on the business of his politics and the politics of his businesses. The standards of accountability and honesty demand it, even if today's court decision doesn't."

Doug Forrester's Stonewalling

In addition to the Hamilton/Paterson court documents that Mr Forrester wants to keep secret, he has been stiff-arming the public on a number of other fronts.

1) Forrester has refused to collect and dispose Benecard's no-bid contracts with public entities throughout the state.

2) Forrester has refused to admit how much in drug company rebates he has pocketed. His previous denials were shown to be untrue when court proceedings revealed an admission by his lawyer that Benecard did keep rebates.

3) Forrester has refused to list his pay-to-play contributions at various levels of government in New Jersey.

4) Forrester has refused to disclose documents filed with the Department of Banking and Insurance related to the investigation of Heartland Insurance, the captive insurance company he created in the shadows of Benecard. He asked that a number of documents be kept secret.

5) Forrester has refused to make public either his business or personal tax returns.