Dennis Oury

There is little doubt that Congressman Steve Rothman has become a major guy in Barack Obama’s campaign.  So if Obama were to win the presidency, it’s not crazy to view Rothman as a possible candidate for appointment to a major executive branch post  -- eight of the last nine presidents (Lyndon Johnson was the exception) named sitting Members of Congress to cabinet posts. 

Three Republican freeholder candidates in Bergen County are crossing their fingers in the hopes that a federal investigation of payments to Dennis Oury, the former counsel for the Bergen County Democratic Organization, foreshadows the downfall of some top local Democrats.

In a statement today, Paul Duggan, Chris Calbrese and Jeffrey Heller assailed the county's Democratic leadership, with Duggan claiming that the "Democratic organization is at its core morally corrupt and possibly a criminal enterprise" and has been for years.

In case you took the weekend off, here's what you missed: the U.S. Attorney served subpoenas on several Bergen County municipalities represented by Dennis Oury, a politically active lawyer and former Counsel to the Bergen County Democratic Organization; the Star-Ledger and the Philadelphia Inquirer endorsed and the Rob Andrews and Dick Zimmer for U.S. Senate in the Democratic and Republican primaries, respectively; and former Assemblyman Mims Hackett pleaded guity this morning to federal corruption charges, and is expected to do the same on state charges this afternoon. 

Bergen County Democratic Chairman Joseph Ferriero must be relieved that he broke up with attorney Dennis Oury last year, after published reports today suggest that federal prosecutors subpoenaed records relating to Oury’s legal service in several Bergen towns. Oury had been a close Ferriero ally and Counsel to the Bergen County Democratic Committee, but their relationship deteriorated in 2007 after Oury made a series of mistakes: he invited then-State Sen. Joseph Coniglio – himself the target of a federal criminal probe -- on a trip to Italy; he counseled Coniglio to stay in the Senate race during a time when Ferriero was pushing to get him out; and took considerable heat for his election season comments about a lawsuit he was filing to overturn state pay to play regulations. When Coniglio finally did drop, Oury’s close relationship with Paramus Mayor James Tedesco was the main reason Ferriero and Bergen Democrats opted to go with Bob Gordon for Senate.

WNBC reports that the United States Attorney launched a corruption probe in Bergen County today, serving subpoenas in several municipalities and at least one county agency.

Sources tell PolitickerNJ.com that attorney Dennis Oury, the former counsel to the Bergen County Democratic Organization, is at the center of the probe.

Among the towns hit by subpoenas is Paramus, where Mayor James Tedesco told WNBC’s Brian Thompson that he’s not a target of the investigation. Bergen County sources say that subpoenas were also served in several towns where Oury has contracts, including Bergenfield, New Milford and Fort Lee. They specifically ask for documents related to his billable work. The Bergen County Improvement Authority also received a subpoena.

• Feds subpoena 6 towns with ties to Oury

Joe Ferriero's lawyer, Dennis Oury, is representing Murray Sabrin's wife in an election law matterCall it a case of strange bedfellows.

Florence Sabrin, who is running as a rebel Republican freeholder candidate on the slate headed up by her husband, U.S. Senate candidate Murray Sabrin, is fending off a petition challenge in court today along with her running mate, Paul Mladjenovic.

But representing the two candidates, who are running under the slogan “Constitutional Republicans Protecting the Liberty,” is Bergen County Democratic Organization counsel Dennis Oury.

Does John Molinelli, in the news this week for vacationing in Italy with State Senator Joseph Coniglio, the target of a federal criminal investigation, and with Bergen County Democratic Organization counsel Dennis Oury, make the list of the five worst county prosecutors in recent years?

Here are four who clearly make our list:

• Two weeks before James Florio was to take office as Governor in 1990, Camden County Prosecutor Samuel Asbell held a news conference to tell a rather spectacular story: he said two gunmen had ambushed him in what became a high speed New Year’s Day gun battle. Asbell said he shot one of the gunmen with a sawed-off shotgun he carried in his car. He said machine gun fire shattered his car windows. But investigators for the State Police found that Asbell had staged the entire event as a last-ditch effort to keep his job under a Democratic Governor. He resigned and entered a mental health facility for treatment.

Today's Jon "Zero Tolerance" Corzine Award for Political Tone Deafness goes to Bergen County Prosecutor John Molinelli, who decided to go on a vacation to Italy with a small group of friends that included State Senator Joseph Coniglio, the target of a federal criminal probe.  Molinelli told The Record's Charles Stile that he saw no conflict because his office has no role in the U.S. Attorney's investigation of the two-term Democratic legislator.

The number one person on the list of people Bob Gordon should thank for his nomination as the Democratic candidate for State Senator in the 38th district: attorney Dennis Oury.  Sources say that Oury's close relationship with Paramus Mayor James Tedesco was the top reason Democrats went with Gordon.  Oury has taken considerable heat this month for his election season comments about a lawsuit he was filing to overturn state pay to play regulations.