Not resting on simply seeing challenger Dr. Felix Roque fail in his bid to force a special election, counsel representing West New York Mayor Silverio "Sal" Vega went on offense this afternoon with a letter to Attorney General Anne Milgram and Hudson County Prosecutor Edward J. DeFazio.

"I write today on behalf of the Recall Defense Committee for each of the commissioners to specifically draw your attention to no less than ten instances of forgeries appearing in those petitions," wrote attorney William Northgrave. 

In addition, he cited Town Clerk Carmela Riccie's documentation of "numerous instances of forgeries, to make it appear that the requriements of the Uniform Recall Election Law have been complied with when in fact there was no such compliance.

"While it appears to the Recall Defense Committee that this matter demands a criminal investigation into what are, at a minimum, ten instances of indisputable forgery, I commend to your discretion how to proceed." 

For his part, Roque today reaffirmed to PolitickerNJ.com his intentions of legally challenging Riccie's findings concerning those recall petitions he and his allies submitted to her office earlier this month.

Essex County Executive Joseph DiVincenzo will not seek the resignation of Freeholder Samuel Gonzales, who was indicted yesterday on ballot fraud charges related to the 2007 campaign of his wife, State Sen. Teresa Ruiz (D-Newark).  Ruiz serves as DiVincenzo's Deputy Chief of Staff, and all three come out of Stephen Adubato's North Ward political organization.

In recent years, state Democratic leaders have quickly sought the resignation of indicted public officials.  But sources say that DiVincenzo views the charges against Gonzalez are fundamentally different than those filed against several Democratic legislators and mayors.  Attorney General Anne Milgram filed no official misconduct charges against Gonzalez, a one-term Freeholder and an aide to North Ward Councilman Anibal Ramos.  And the allegations against Gonzalez do not include the exchange of money.  DiVincenzo, source says, views this as an important distinction.

The charges against Gonzalez appear similar to those made against Roselle Council President Jamel Holley, who was charged with voter fraud last summer.

A veteran New Jersey political consultant who has run into controversy before was charged today with impersonation and violation of the Fair Campaign Practices Act.

Kevin Collins, 39, allegedly was responsible for automated phone calls in support of District 40 Republican primary challengers Joe Caruso and Anthony Rottino.  In the call, a woman who identifies herself as “Ann” lobs several charges at incumbents Scott Rumana (R-Wayne) and Dave Russo (R-Ridgewood)

Collins, who lives in Brooklyn but used to live in Wood-Ridge, allegedly gave the robocall services company the cell phone number of Ann O’Rourke, Rumana’s chief of staff, so that the call looked like it originated from her.  

“This is a case of identity theft and misrepresentation,” said Attorney General Anne Milgram. “The defendant used the victim's cell phone number and first name to make people believe she was responsible for the robocalls.”

Over 12,000 residents of the 40th district got the call on primary day, June 2.  According to the Attoney General's Office, it did not identify who paid for it and made several inaccurate claim about the incumbents. 

Attorney General Anne Milgram had already decided she would leave her post when Gov. Jon Corzine lost his bid for re-election.  She has been seeking jobs in Washington, D.C., where she lived when she worked on Corzine's U.S. Senate staff.  Her spokesman, David Wald, told PolitickerNJ.com yesterday denied reports that Milgram was headed to the U.S. Department of Justice to head the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. 

It will be interesting to see what the new Republican governor does with Wald, who was dominate political reporter in the state from 1978 to 2000, when he left the Star-Ledger to join Corzine's campaign staff when he ran for the Senate.  Wald worked in Corzine's Senate office before taking the Attorney General's communications director after Corzine named Zulima Farber to the post after the 2005 election.

Gov.-elect Christopher Christie will also have to decide what to do with other former reporters who wound up getting jobs with Democratic governors in recent years.  Deborah Howlett, who was covering Corzine for the Star-Ledger when he hired her as Communications Director, is sure to be a goner.  Corzine demoted Howlett a few months ago, although she remains on the front office payroll.

Attorney General Anne Milgram plans to leave her post early next year, regardless of the outcome of the gubernatorial election, sources say.  If Gov. Jon Corzine wins re-election, Democratic sources say that Edward McBride, the Governor's Chief of Staff, will be on the short list to replace Milgram.  Other possible candidates include: Corzine's Chief Counsel, William Castner; Seton Hall Law School Dean Patrick Hobbs; Kris Kolluri, the Executive Director of the state Schools Development Authority; state Comptroller Matthew Boxer; Public Advocate Ronald Chen; and Glenn Grant, the Acting Administrative Director of the state courts.

ELIZABETH - Union County party allies of Gov. Jon Corzine are leveling hard charges at someone who's used to doing the charging herself: Attorney General Anne Milgram, whose pursuit of a voter fraud case against Roselle Council President Jamel Holley this month resulted in a virtual dead end.

"Disappointment is an understatement," state Sen. Ray Lesniak (D-Elizabeth) said of Milgram, the Corzine administration's attorney general, for bringing charges against Holley in the first place.

Already feeling antagonized by the presence of corruption buster former U.S. Attorney Chris Christie in the governor's race, Democratic Party operatives in at least two or three of their base voter-rich regions, including Unon, have for months felt dogged by Milgram, who indicted Holley by accusation on Aug. 27th with illegally filling out portions of fewer than 30 absentee ballots.

In a Thursday letter to the Union County Local Source, Lesniak and his legislative colleagues, Assemblyman Joe Cryan (D-Union Twp.) and Assemblywoman Annette Quijano (D-Elizabeth), ripped Milgram over what they see as her unjust targeting of Holley, which might have had ruinous consequences for a young man seen by his allies see as a comer in Union County Democratic Party politics.  

Less than a month after he and his wife were indicted on charges that they funneled legislative paychecks into a campaign account, Assemblyman Anthony Chiappone (D-Bayonne) used his campaign account to pay his wife $6,000 to manage his bid for re-election.

According to reports filed with the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission, Diane Chiappone was paid $6,000 on September 23 to serve as "campaign manager, coordinator, and record keeper."

State Attorney General Anne Milgram has alleged that Chiappone issued $7,532 in paychecks to a legislative aide, who in turn donated all of the money to the campaign along with $629 to a woman who they falsely claimed was a legislative aide.  The state charges that that more than half of the money -- $4,299 - was deposited for personal use, and that the rest was put into the campaign account but not reported to the Election Law Enforcement Commission.

The chairman of the Cumberland County Republicans has asked Attorney General Anne Milgram to investigate an account Freeholder Director Lou Magazzu used to fund an unsuccessful race for a position in the National Association of Counties (NACo).

Cumberland County Republican Chairman Bob Greco alleges that a $10,000 loan given to Magazzu by the Cumberland County Democratic Organization, which he runs as chairman, violates the New Jersey Campaign Contributions and Expenditures Act because it funded funding a candidacy not related to the local party.

“My main concern revolves around the $10,000 ‘loan’ that the Cumberland County Democratic Organization isused to Mr. Magazzu on July 17, 2009,” wrote Greco.  “What were the terms and conditions of the loan provided by the Cumberland County Democratic Organization?  If Mr. Magazzu did not have a Political Action Committee (PAC), as he has admitted to not having, is the loan from the Cumberland Democratic Organization personal in nature?”  

The letter was copied to Evelyn Ford, the Election Law Enforcement Commission’s (ELEC) compliance officer.  

Republicans have hammered Magazzu over funding for his campaign for Second Vice President of NACo for months, issuing near-daily press releases about a controversy that they’ve dubbed “NACo-Gate.” 

Lambertville Police Director Bruce Cocuzza thinks that the 2005 traffic stop of then-U.S. Attorney Chris Christie in his town was “no big deal.”  

New Jersey 101.5 FM reported this afternoon that Christie, now the Republican gubernatorial nominee, was stopped for speeding in what turned out to be an unregistered, uninsured vehicle, but was allowed to drive the car away.

"He was agitated at the prospect of his vehicle being towed away,” said Cocuzza, a Democrat who ran for Hunterdon County Sheriff in 2007, told PolitickerNJ.com’s Max Pizarro in a phone interview. "He was worried about his family being left on the side of the road with no vehicle."

Christie was accompanied by his wife, Mary Pat, his children and former U.S. Attorney staffer Michele Brown, who is Christie’s personal friend.

Assemblyman Anthony Chiappone (D-Bayonne) will be charged by Attorney General Anne Milgram today, according to three sources with knowledge of the situation.  

It is unclear what the exact nature of the charge(s) will be, though Chiappone has been subpoenaed by Milgram's office over payroll records, and aides who worked for him in 2004 and 2005 have been questioned by investigators about payments they received.

The Jersey Journal reported in April that Chiappone was the target of a state investigation over whether he forged signatures on aides' paychecks and cashed them. 

Reached by phone, Chiappone said that he has no idea whether charges are going to be filed against him and has not heard from the Attorney General’s Office.

“I have no idea," he said.  "But let me check. Thank you for the call."

David Wald, a spokesman for the office, would not comment on the impending announcement.  

In a move widely seen as a way to keep his assembly seat, Chiappone resgined from the Bayonne City Council earlier this year.  His district-mate, Assemblyman L. Harvey Smith, was charged with allegedly accepting bribes from a federal informant in last month's corruption bust.  

Chiappone said that he met with officials from Milgram's office yesterday, but that they did not indicate that he would be charged.

"This has been the ongoing investigation for the last four months. We had a meeting with them yesterday regarding some of the issues, and this is totally unexpected," he said.  "Quite honestly, we saw issues that might be ELEC related in regards to campaign reporting, but nothing that was criminal."

Chiappone could not say whether the charges would change his mind about running for reelection, though he suspected that it was a way to get him to quit.  His district, the 31st, is one of the most Democratic in the state.   

“It’s premature for me to say, but I think this is part of an effort to get me off the ballot.  I was thrown off the City Council April 13 – a week before the investigation started – and I’m notone of the good ole' boy," he said.