Joe Ferriero

U.S. Rep. Steve Rothman called on both Bergen County Democratic Chairman Joe Ferriero and County Democratic Counsel Dennis Oury to resign today in light of their indictments on corruption charges.

“An indictment is not a conviction, but it is a very sad day for Joe Ferriero and Dennis Oury, and the entire BCDO family,” said Rothman (D-Englewood) from his Washington office. “I believe that Joe and Dennis should resign without delay in order to remove any cloud from the BCDO.”

Ferriero exercised a heavy hand in controlling the party, and Rothman has found himself stepping into a power vacuum. He will likely play a pivotal role in choosing Ferriero’s successor if and when he resigns as chairman.

Rothman said that Democrats are currently trying to figure out exactly when a special election will need to be called, but that there’s no rush, since BCDO Vice Chair Kay Nest is “capable of running the party as the party leadership tries to reach consensus as to the best way to move forward.” For now, the party has election lawyers trying to determine what, exactly, is the latest version of the party bylaws – an apparent point of dispute.

Joseph Hayden, the attorney representing Bergen County Democratic Chairman Joseph Ferriero, said that the government’s charges against Ferriero “have no basis in law or fact,” taking a tone that indicated that Ferriero will fight the charges.

Instead, Hayden said, the company that both Ferriero and Oury held a stake in – Government Grants Consulting -- “provided a significant benefit to Bergenfield.”

Below is Hayden’s full statement on behalf of Ferriero:

These criminal charges against Joseph Ferriero have no basis in law or fact.  The Government in this case has unfairly transformed a valuable public service and made it into a criminal charge.

State Sen. Loretta Weinberg (D-Teaneck) has for several years been more of a political threat to Bergen County Democratic Chairman Joe Ferriero than local Republicans. But now that she’s witnessed her foe under indictment, she said she’s not celebrating.

“I am not looking at this as any sort of vindication or anything of that nature. This is not an occasion for celebration of any kind,” she said. “This is an occasion for our Democratic Party to unite, move ahead with new leadership, and to get back to work the first thing tomorrow morning with electing Democrats to office.”

An announcement of Bergen County Democratic Chairman Joe Ferriero's indictment is expected at 3PM

U.S. Attorney Chris Christie will annouce today that Bergen County Democratic Chairman Joe Ferriero and counsel Dennis Oury have been indicted on eight corruption counts.

The indictment charges both men of "conspiring to defraud the Borough of Bergenfield of Oury’s honest services and using the mails in furtherance of that scheme," according to a media advisory from the U.S. Attorney's office.

Oury is the former Bergenfield Borough Attorney, and has been under investigation with Ferriero over a grants writing firm that both had a stake in.

Christie plans to make the announcement during a press conference at 3:00PM.

Bergen County Republican Chairman Bob Yudin said today that the federal investigation of his Democratic counterpart, Joe Ferriero, “will have little impact” on the local freeholder and county clerk race this year.

“Joe Ferriero is not on the ballot, but freeholders David Ganz, Bernadette McPherson and Vernon Walton are and they have an abysmal record of governing that they must defend separate from Mr. Ferriero’s possible ethical problems,” he said in a statement.

BLOOMINGTON, Minn. -- Almost immediately after Bergen County Clerk Kathleen Donovan returns home, her reelection campaign will kick into high gear.
Donovan, a Republican delegate from the 9^th Congressional District, has four events lined up for Saturday related to her reelection campaign against Democratic challenger Diane Testa.

But you won’t hear Donovan use the same kind of rhetoric about Bergen County Democratic Chairman Joe Ferriero, who’s under investigation, as the freeholder candidates beneath her on the Republican ticket. Donovan won’t comment on Ferriero, but she said that’s not because she’s still hoping that her allies will find an opportunity to appoint her to a judgeship, she said.

“We run together but we have different issues. That’s the best way I can explain that,” said Donovan, who after 20 years in office remains the last Republican county-wide officeholder in the once solidly GOP county. “I don’t comment on any kind of investigation. I’m not involved in anything in my capacity as county clerk, so I don’t talk about that at all.”

DENVER -- Former Assembly candidate Cid Wilson, who ran and aborted a primary campaign against District 37 Assembly members Gordon Johnson and Valerie Vainieri-Huttle, said today that he may run again.

“The answer is that I’m exploring all my options, and I very much believe that regardless of what I decide to do, I’m going to be an active leader in Bergen County, because I’ve always cared about the issues affecting Bergen County,” he said.  “I’m giving it a very strong look, and I am leaning towards running.”

DENVER -- While an FBI raid a law office might unsettle the average politician, Joe Ferriero does not fit into that category.

It was business as usual tonight for the ultra-powerful Bergen County Democratic Chairman, who came to the Pepsi Center tonight with a smile and a tan. 

“I was here last night, I’ll be here through the convention. I was hosting meetings, doing fundraising, doing everything I’ve done the last two conventions I’ve been a delegate,” he said, denying talk of his relatively low profile in the delegation. 

Ferriero’s law office was raided late last week as part of an ongoing federal probe by U.S. Attorney Chris Christie.  But he seemed confident as ever tonight, even pledging that Barack Obama is going to make an appearance in Bergen County.

“I’m sure that he will be in Bergen County,” he said.

With a primary challenge from Joe Ferriero’s Bergen County Democratic Organization (BCDO) always looming for Assemblyman Gordon Johnson, he announced earlier this week that he would resign from the Englewood City Council in March.

Although Johnson belongs to a slate of Democrats that has protested the practice of dual office-holding and voted to ban it, he has held an Englewood City Council since defeating a Ferriero ally, Rev. Vernon Walton, in a primary in 2006 (Walton is now a freeholder).

Ferriero allies have called Johnson’s hold on two offices hypocrisy, even if Johnson pledged not to seek another term.

DENVER -- State Sen. Bob Gordon (D-Fair Lawn) said he can’t comment on the timing of the FBI’s raid on Bergen County Democratic Chairman Joe Ferriero’s law offices just last week, but after emerging from watching Sen. Bob Menendez speaking at this morning’s delegate breakfast, he couldn’t help but draw a parallel.

“We just listened to Bob Menendez and I was reminded of the U.S. Attorney’s office filing subpoenas and investigating him a matter of weeks before his election,” he said.

Ferriero is in town for the convention, but it’s hard to find him. He’s been laying low, appearing at few public events, although he did show up at the delegation’s downtown party last night.

Gordon actually owes his ascendance from the Assembly to the Senate in part to both U.S. Attorney Chris Christie and Ferriero. If Christie hadn’t investigated former State Sen. Joe Coniglio, which ultimately resulted in an indictment, Coniglio wouldn’t have been pressured to resign his seat. And it was Ferriero whose endorsement virtually assured that Gordon would replace Coniglio.