Free Republic

U.S. Attorney Christopher Christie announced this week that he would not pursue corruption allegations against New Jersey's top political boss because of bungling by the state Attorney General's Office. But this scandal cannot end there. Just who is responsible for the botched investigation, and how will they be held accountable? Is this just another case of politics as usual in the Garden State? Governor Corzine's choice for state attorney general, Zulima Farber, has said she'll make corruption her top priority. And Mr. Christie has pointed out the state still has two years to reexamine the Norcross case before the state...

Power broker from Philadelphia hired by UMDNJ to serve on governor's transition team Two days after James E. McGreevey was elected governor in 2001, one of his top fund-raisers was hired by the state-owned health care university and then paid $75,000 over the next three months as a liaison to the gubernatorial transition team. The University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey's contract with Philadelphia power broker Ronald White was not approved by UMDNJ's board of directors, and school officials last week said they have no records to show anywork was done for the money. The contract came to...

Charles Kushner Charles Kushner, former chairman of Kushner Companies, a real estate and apartment owning/managing company in northern New Jersey and the Northeast, was sentenced on 3/4 to twenty-four months in prison and fined $40,000. He had been free on $5 million bail. Kushner, a major fundraiser for Democrats, pleaded guilty in August to giving false statements to the FEC regarding $385,000 in political contributions he made from real estate partnerships without the permission of other partners, falsifying tax forms (16 counts), improperly listing $1 million in charitable contributions as business expenses, and shaving funds several hundred thousand dollars...

PHOTO Laura Pedrick for The New York Times Senator Wayne R. Bryant has been in the State Legislature for 22 years. Camden--WAYNE R. BRYANT, a longtime Democratic state senator, has been getting the sort of attention that most politicians would be happy to do without. The Courier-Post, a local newspaper widely read in his Camden-area district, recently called him the "king of double dipping," and an influential Web site, politicsnj.com, has taken to introducing articles about him with the words "oink, oink." Meanwhile, Mr. Bryant has been singled out in news media accounts statewide as one of the chief...

Every year on his birthday, Newark Mayor Sharpe James holds a political fund-raiser that brings in thousands of dollars -- much of it from municipal employees. Last Thursday, in the midst of a snowstorm, the mayor's annual gala brought out more than 1,000 people who paid $500 each to party in a cavernous ballroom wrapped in red, white and blue at the Robert Treat Hotel. The mayor's wife, mother and three sons were there. So was acting Gov. Richard Codey, city council members, local politicians, as well as scores of developers and others who do business in Newark.

Police Officers Steal From Police Department 10/25/2000 A former West New York police sergeant pleaded guilty today, admitting his role in a scheme to steal approximately $60,000 seized by police during the investigation of a fire in West New York, U.S. Attorney Robert J. Cleary announced. Ronald Riccie, 58, of Little Ferry, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Jerome B. Simandle to a one-count Information, charging him with participating with other West New York Police officers in the theft of the $60,000. http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/nj/publicaffairs/releases/2000/ri1025_r.html Eminent Domain Squabble 02/22/2003 Rowan University and Wal-Mart squabbled over 102 acres of land. Last fall, Rowan...