ANYONE HEAR ABOUT A NEW GOV. McGreevey Scandal

Bob Grant radio show | 9-11-2003 | willyboyishere

[willyboyishere]

A few hours ago, Bob Grant on his WOR Radio show mentioned the name Freerepublic.com in connection with a breaking scandal involving NJ Governor James McGreevey that would SURELY result in his resignation if the facts of the scandal could be proved. He indicated that he read this on Freerepublic, (apparently as a post) but would not divulge any particulars, since he couldn't verify the purported facts himself. I've searched FR for 10 minutes and could find nothing current on McGreevey. Anyone out there hear this, or know anything about it?

[Alberta's Child]

I don't think there is anything that would ever make a New Jersey politician resign.

Bill Clinton never would have been elected governor of New Jersey -- people here don't want a good, decent, wholesome altar boy like that in the governor's mansion.

[willyboyishere]

BTT

[Publius]

I've seen two items bandied about on this site.

• McGreevey is gay and has a boyfriend.
• McGreevey is in the Mob's pocket, possibly because they are blackmailing him about the previous item.

Other than that, I don't know.

[ReleaseTheHounds]

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/967123/posts

This is a bit dated, but could this be it? Not sure why this isn't turning into a link but copy this into your URL.

[visualops]

I found this, but not at FR-
June 9, 2003
MCGREEVEY SAYS TRUSTED AIDES KEPT HIM IN THE DARK

BY JOSH MARGOLIN

For more than a decade, Gary Taffet often was the first person to talk to Jim McGreevey in the morning and the last to speak to him at night.

Paul Levinsohn was another key adviser, a lawyer who transformed McGreevey's fund-raising operation into the most potent political money machine in state history.

As they managed McGreevey's 2001 gubernatorial campaign, they also were running a lucrative side business developing billboards that is now the subject of a federal criminal investigation.

McGreevey, speaking through his spokesmen last week, said he knew virtually nothing about the business run by his two closest aides -- one of them, Taffet, a friend for nearly 15 years.

-snip-
In the three years leading up to McGreevey's election, Taffet and Levinsohn transacted billboard business out of the campaign offices, brought others in the governor's political orbit into the enterprise and even built a sign in Woodbridge while McGreevey was still mayor. When they sold their interests in the business in January 2002, one of the closings was held in McGreevey's transition office. They walked away with $2.4 million each.


Ellis noted that even in the case of the Woodbridge billboard, which the two men later sold for $795,840, McGreevey knew only the barest details of their involvement. Neither of their names appeared on the local permit application, which was signed by a business partner, Francis Doyle, a big McGreevey contributor who allowed the campaign to use the conference room in his Woodbridge office for sensitive strategy meetings. Those sessions became known as the "Doyle meetings."

-snip-
Taffet and Levinsohn have said their activities were appropriate and above board. Both men declined to comment for this story.

The two men, who resigned from the administration earlier this year, were still working for McGreevey at the time Washington Township officials complained -- Taffet as McGreevey's chief of staff and Levinsohn as his chief counsel.

-snip-
Over the last few months, new details have emerged about their business, which secured local and state government approvals for at least 19 billboards around the state. Of those, 10 were located on state or other property exempt from municipal zoning, allowing them to steer around local billboard bans.

During that transition time, Taffet and Levinsohn reached deals with 14 companies, a nonprofit group and a union to advertise on their billboards. Many of those companies are affected by actions in Trenton. The ad commitments increased the value of the signs by one-third as they prepared to sell them to join the new administration, which banned outside income.

During the same period, Taffet hired a recruitment firm, ExecuSearch Inc., to hire executives to join the new administration. The firm got the job on the recommendation of South Jersey businessman Jay Phillips, who 13 days earlier agreed to buy $216,000 in billboard advertising from Taffet. The Democratic State Committee paid the firm $100,000; Phillips received $34,000 of that. One of the two recruiters sent to assist the transition was on parole for bank fraud after serving two years in a federal prison.

Taffet and Levinsohn also were involved in a venture during the transition to build five billboards in Jersey City. To win the backing of local officials, they agreed to donate a $600,000 fire truck to the city. They were represented in the deal by prominent criminal defense lawyer Jack Arseneault, who at the time was a front runner to become attorney general in the new administration.
-excerpted-

http://www.cpanj.com/capitalreportpages/mcgreeveywatch/june2003/MCGREEVEY%20SAYS%20TRUSTED%20AIDES%20KEPT%20HIM%20IN%20THE%20DARK.htm


This guy's done so much garbage it could be anything.
Trips on the taxpayer dime, trips on the union dime etc etc.

[Coleus]

Thanks, maybe thenderson knows something.

[Coleus]

http://www.wor710.com/listen.shtml

Listen Live to Bob Grant Mon-Fri 5-7 pm EST

[Ed_in_NJ]

There are so many it's hard to keep track.

Any ideas, Liz?

[OldFriend]

Isn't there a new name in the panoply of McG scandals......Chugh or something similar?

[Liz]

Political pressure alienated Indians
Published in the Home News Tribune
By TOM BALDWIN/ GANNETT STATE BUREAU
9/02/03

ISELIN: Indian immigrants to New Jersey -- largely of the middle class but lacking clout in the voting booth -- were ripe for Rajesh "Roger" Chugh, a former fund-raiser for Gov. James E. McGreevey's 2001 campaign. Chugh, 49, is under federal and state investigations. He allegedly used threats and intimidation, mixed with promises and boasts of his closeness to the governor, to force Indian business-owners to donate money to McGreevey's campaigns.

An FBI agent delivered a subpoena to the Democratic State Committee in Trenton Tuesday -- demanding records of Chugh's fund-raising -- casting a shadow over an administration that had prided itself on appointing Indians to lofty posts. Chugh, a New Delhi native, had been Asian outreach coordinator for McGreevey's 2001 gubernatorial campaign. He later enjoyed an $85,000-a-year state post with a murky job description beyond reaching out to Asians, though only 2 percent of New Jersey's population is Indian.

--SNIP--

A burning question in the media is how McGreevey, a micro-manager, did not know of complaints that Indians believed Chugh was preying on them. "If Jim knew, he would have acted right away," Vitale said. Instead, McGreevey made Chugh a leading fund-raiser for the Democratic State Committee in 2001. Later, the governor gave Chugh an $85,000 job as assistant commissioner in the Department of State. Chugh resigned his state post in June after a newspaper confronted McGreevey aides with details of Chugh's past, and allegations of his alleged fund-raising tactics.

Chugh told Gannett he cannot talk about the issue on the advice of Fahy, his lawyer. And McGreevey has said no one told him about any Chugh improprieties. Micah Rasmussen, McGreevey's spokesman, said that even without an Indian-American to replace Chugh in the Department of State, "We do have other high-ranking Asian-Americans who are way up in the administration." He cited Ratepayer Advocate Seema Singh and Chris Kolluri, chief of staff in the Transportation Department. © copyright 2003 Gannett News Service

[mewzilla]

LOL. So many scandals, so little time...Heck, what hasn't McSleazy done?

[dead]

I know that when he broke his leg during a romantic stroll on the beach, he had to delay getting medical attention until they could scurry his boyfriend away and get his beard (wife) on the scene.

That and the fact that he gave his boyfriend a $200,000 government job was a bit of a scandal for a while, but they made him give up the job. He's still his boyfriend, I assume.

As far as the mob connections, I'm sure that's true. I don't see why McGreevey should be the only politician in NJ without any.

[agrace]

I don't think there is anything that would ever make a New Jersey politician resign.

LOL...but not really that funny if you actually live in NJ, as I do. :)

Come to think of it, there IS one thing that can make a NJ politician resign, as we found out last October - a call from Bill saying take one for the party, Bob.

[OldFriend]

I always thought that knee capping on the beach was a message from the mob. After all, it was a dark dreary night in Cape May. Not the kind of night for romps on the beach.

[Incorrigible]

Click http://www.rogerchugh.com for chuckles:

 

Much more about Roger Chugh!

Roger Chugh Seeks To Pursue Other Opportunities

Roger Chugh
Assistant Secretary of State
Appointed by New Jersey Governor Jim McGreevey

Born of an affluent family in India, I had the privilege of the best that life had to offer. My life in India was a life of opulent comforts. I attended the top schools in India. Generally, I was a very popular and A+ student and always had a deep interest in the issues concerning the general public. It was not until college that I delved deep into my passion for politics.

 

Read Roger Chugh's Inspirational Biography!

  Pak losing support in USA: official Tribune News Service

New Delhi, January 25, 2002
Mr Roger Chugh, the first Asian-American to have been appointed Assistant Secretary of State, has said feelings of Americans towards Pakistan have changed after the September 11 attacks and the USA is coming out far more openly in support of India’s concerns on cross-border terrorism.
 

. . .
“It is not in the USA’s interest to give up Pakistan, but feelings among American people have changed and the US President listens to the feelings of people who realise that Pakistan is a terrorism-sponsoring state,” he said.
 . . .
Asked about the problems of Indian-Americans, he said instances of “racial profiling” did occur but the US Government had taken strong steps to check it.
 . . .

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
  Top posts for two Indians in New Jersey

Tuesday, Jan 22, 2002
 

. . .
The State Governor, Jim Mcgreevey, appointed Roger Chugh, one of his close confidants, as Assistant Secretary of State, making him the third most influential official in the administration.

A graduate of Atma Ram Santam Dharam College in New Delhi, the 46-year-old Democrat, Mr. Chugh, had worked closely with Mr. Mcgreevey for more than six years. He has been active in the community ever since he migrated here in the 1970s.

During the last Presidential elections, he had worked actively to rally the Indian voters behind Democrat, Al Gore. With a staff of 2,000, Mr. Chugh, who also heads the Asian American Political Awareness Group, will handle a budget of nearly $ two billions.
 

. . .

 

Loves life and has brown eyes   "I am Roger Chugh, born in New Delhi, the capital city of India. I am 5'10" tall, with an ideal weight of 150 (pounds) which I maintained for several years. Today I am a little overweight at 165 (pounds). From my appearance -- with my light complexion, brown eyes and dark hair -- it is often thought that I am of Italian decent . I love life, eenjoy Broadway shows, candle lit dinners, listening to music and going to basketball games."           CONTACT Roger Chugh

 

 

[Alberta's Child]

I always thought that knee capping on the beach was a message from the mob.

One might ask how the governor of New Jersey could be injured in such a manner -- where was his guard detail?

On the other hand, one might also ask why his guard detail was specifically ordered to stay away from Cape May that evening. And one might ask how the official story of the incident was that he fell during a romantic stroll with his wife, when in fact (as you mentioned) it was a rainy, dreary night in south Jersey, and his wife was actually many miles away from Cape May that night.

[Alberta's Child]

I actually live in New Jersey, too. LOL.

And it wasn't the call from Bill that prompted Torricelli to resign -- it was Torricelli's certainty that he was going to lose the election.

[xsmommy]

ping

[Unknown Freeper]

Perhaps it's the boyfriend/broken leg on the beach incident (nudge nudge wink wink) or maybe it's one of the numerous times he didn't realize that he's supposed to pay for his own vacation and not have the taxpayers/unions/contributors pay for it or maybe it's hiring friends who can't get a clearance into high security jobs?

You pick one. With McGreedy, it could be anything.