Bridgegate 2? Not even close – Politico
Just because something sounds like a crazy conspiracy theory doesn’t mean you should discount it. But it also doesn’t mean you should just repeat it without doing at least some basic checking — especially if you have a big platform.
But that didn’t stop blogs and radio personalities from speculating that the Murphy administration orchestrated a shutdown of a portion of Route 47 for repairs that begins Monday and will last months. “New Jersey Democrat Governor Schedules Construction Project to Interfere with Trump Rally Traffic,” blared a Breitbart headline, which was based on some comments by conservative radio personality Harry Hurley.
So just look briefly at this situation. Route 47 isn’t the main road to Cape May, so shutting down a small portion of the two-lane road wouldn’t be the best way to wreak traffic havoc. If it was the Parkway, it would be a different story. And of course after the Bridgegate scandal, Murphy administration officials would have to be mad to purposefully snarl traffic just to punish the president of the United States. Still, Bridgegate sounded crazy at the time, right? So it’s worth checking out.
I was beginning to look into it when I noticed that NJ 101.5’s Dan Alexander already did. It turns out the Murphy administration sent a notification about the closure to local officials on Jan. 6, several hours before the Trump campaign announced the rally. Now, that’s not necessarily the end of it. Van Drew said a week before that Trump would come to the district sometime in January or February. But he didn’t say where — and it’s a huge district. But the DOT had already started the bidding in October, long before Van Drew switched parties.
So there’s nothing but speculation that this is Bridgegate Part 2, while there’s plenty of evidence that it’s not.
TIPS: mfriedman@politico.com
QUOTE OF THE DAY: “They like a bill, they steal it.” — Assemblyman Ryan Peters on the Democratic majority allegedly appropriating bills first proposed by Republican members
DAYS MURPHY HAS SPENT OUT OF STATE SINCE BECOMING DGA CHAIR: 12
WHERE’S MURPHY?: No public schedule
HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Latino Action Network’s Chris Estevez, Tonio Burgos & Associates’ Jim Kehoe. Saturday for Archer’s Bill Caruso, NJ Food Council’s Linda Doherty. Sunday for BPU’s Christine Guhl, Dow Jones News Fund’s Heather Taylor
THE TOXIC AVENGERS — Weinberg launches working group to change climate for women in Trenton, by POLITICO’s Katherine Landergan: State Senate Majority Leader Loretta Weinberg on Thursday officially announced the steps a working group she’s formed will take to combat the “toxic climate” women working in New Jersey politics often experience. Weinberg said during a press conference in Newark that the working group will start by holding a series of listening sessions, both public and private, and launch an anonymous survey that can be taken online. “None of us are going to be publishing a solution to this [problem],” Weinberg (D-Bergen) said. “This is just a beginning. A beginning to advocate for change.” The Workgroup on Harassment, Sexual Assault and Misogyny in NJ Politics was formed in response to an investigation by NJ Advance Media into the abuses women face working in politics in Trenton. The article, based on interviews with 20 women, described a culture that is “casually misogynistic” and requires women to “navigate everything from sexist insults to assaults on their bodies.” In both on the record and off the record interviews, women spoke about being groped, propositioned, harassed and sexually assaulted.
— “Murphy won’t respond to Roginsky’s ‘toxic workplace’ claim,” by POLITICO’s Ryan Hutchins: “Gov. Phil Murphy on Thursday refused to comment on the accusation by his former political consultant that his 2017 campaign had “the most toxic workplace environment” she had seen in 25 years. Murphy, speaking to reporters for the first time since strategist Julie Roginsky made the claim in an interview with Star-Ledger editorial page editor Tom Moran, said he didn’t want to silence her or anyone else. But he ignored repeated questions about the workplace environment, which Roginsky said was created by ‘men in his campaign.’ ‘She was one of the early folks — she might have been one of the first people we met, and we did spend several years together on the campaign,’ Murphy told reporters after an unrelated press conference in Newark. ‘But I’ve got nothing beyond that.’ Pressed on whether Roginsky had raised any issues with him while she worked as a consultant for the campaign, the governor again declined to comment. ‘She’s entitled to her own opinion,’ he said. ‘I’ve got nothing more — no more color.’”
JEEZ RUIZ! — Ruiz was New Jersey’s most prolific lawmaker last session, by POLITICO’s Matt Friedman: New Jersey’s most prolific lawmaker during the just-concluded two-year legislative session was state Sen. Teresa Ruiz, a Democrat from Newark who had 116 bills signed into law — more than any of the other 119 members of the state Senate and Assembly. State Sen. Troy Singleton (D-Burlington) and Assemblyman Raj Mukherji (D-Hudson) had the second most bills signed into law by Gov. Phil Murphy — 112 each. “I’m just proud that it’s coming from three individuals who, in our own ways, probably broke the mold in what people are thinking about what a legislator should look like,” said Ruiz, 45, who in 2007 was the first Hispanic woman elected to the upper house. Ruiz, Singleton, a 46-year-old African American, and Mukherji, a 35-year-old Indian American, do not fit the profile of the typical New Jersey lawmaker. The Legislature that was just sworn in for the new two-year session is about 72 percent white, and 70 percent male. The average age of the 120 lawmakers is around 58.
POLITICAL PEOPLE INVOLVED IN POLITICAL PROCESS — “As NJ Transit struggles to get full board, candidate backgrounds, contributions questioned,” by The Record’s Coleen Wilson: “The backgrounds of the confirmed and prospective NJ Transit board members are being questioned for their political associations and whether they meet the requirements set out by law. One of those mandates has Len Resto, president of the New Jersey Association of Rail Passengers, concerned it won’t be met, and that there isn’t better representation of regular commuters. ‘My observation is that these folks are reasonably politically well connected. So the governor, on his promise to get rid of politics at NJ Transit, instead seems to have doubled down, and it’s disappointing,’ Resto said. ‘It’s more of the same, and I don’t see anything improving with the way they’ve set up this board.’”
FULLY IN COMPTROLL — New comptroller promises ‘independence, impartiality’, by POLITICO’s Ryan Hutchins: New Jersey’s new comptroller says he will follow the facts and not concern himself with political sensitivities. Kevin Walsh, whom Gov. Phil Murphy announced Thursday as his nominee for the six-year appointment, said he’ll serve as a watchdog — answering to the public, not elected officials. “New Jerseyans expect government to be efficient, effective and accountable when it spends our money, and I look forward to being their eyes and ears to ensure that happens,” Walsh said at a press conference with the governor.
EDUCATION — Charter schools association calls on DOE to include charters in security grant funding, by POLITICO’s Carly Sitrin: The New Jersey Charter Schools Association is calling out the state Department of Education for “excluding” charters from school security grant funding, a move the group calls “deeply troubling.” The association is taking issue with the department’s interpretation of language in the “Securing Our Children’s Future Bond Act,’” which voters approved in November 2018 and allocates up to $75 million in state grants for school facility security upgrades. It also earmarks $275 million for career-technical education programs, $50 million for CTE programs at county colleges and $100 million for infrastructure upgrades to keep lead out of schools’ drinking water.”
— New Jersey to form strategic plan for improving infant, maternal health
— New Jersey added 6,500 jobs in December
— Murphy open to exploring dedicated funding for NJ Transit
WITH THE GRAIN — State Sen. Ronald Rice (D-Essex), chairman of the New Jersey Legislative Black Caucus, is backing Joe Biden for president. “Today, as an extension of my commitment to those I serve, I announce my support of Joe Biden for president of the United States. I do so with full confidence that he will stand up for all of us, and that he will especially champion the advancement of people of color. Since civil rights first brought him into public service, Joe Biden has never shied from calling out and tackling systemic racism. His vision for America is one based on equal opportunity for all — which is why I’m proud to endorse Joe Biden for president,” Rice said in a press release obtained by POLITICO. Rice is the fourth major New Jersey politician to back Biden since Cory Booker dropped out of the race. U.S. Rep. Tom Malinowski (D-7th Dist.), state Sen. Richard Codey (D-Essex and a longtime Rice ally) and U.S. Rep. Donald Payne (D-10th Dist.) have also endorsed Biden, in that order, since Booker dropped out a week and a half ago. More on this later.
TOM MALINOWSKI (D-RANCHO CARNE) — “Malinowski to Kean: ‘Bring it on’,” by InsiderNJ’s Fred Slowflack: “‘Bring it on,’ Malinowski said before addressing about 100-150 people in the bar’s dining area. He said he long assumed Kean would be his opponent and that he wants ‘a contest on the issues.’ When he addressed supporters, he joked that he and fellow freshman Democrat, Mikie Sherrill, share a lot of things. Now, they even share Republican opponents, given the fact Becchi’s campaign has relocated from one district to another.”
“Three women at the heart of a fast-developing national 2020 contest,” by InsiderNJ’s Max Pizarro: “The defection of Jeff Van Drew to the Republican Party summoned multiple CD2-based Democrats looking to take a crack at him in the general election and faced with the prospect, as Van Drew’s Donald Trump-backed incumbency deoxygenates the formerly declared candidates in his new party, of a Democratic Primary, maybe a bloody one, in which women form the core of the contest.”
GAME CHANGER — Former senator and White House hopeful Bill Bradley backs Biden, by POLITICO’s Natasha Korecki: Bill Bradley, the former senator and White House hopeful, is endorsing Joe Biden for president and will campaign for him in New Hampshire in the coming weeks. Bradley, who ran an unsuccessful progressive primary bid against then-Vice President Al Gore in 2000, told POLITICO he views Biden as the only candidate in the field who can beat Donald Trump and unite the country. “I’ve seen him in action everywhere from the Kremlin and Russia to Congress,” Bradley, an NBA Hall of Famer, said in an interview with POLITICO.
YOU’VE GOT BAIL — “Van Drew appeals to old supporters in fundraising letter,” by New Jersey Globe’s Nikita Biryukov: “Rep. Jeff Van Drew last week issued a fundraising call to his former supporters that attacked the Democratic party, claiming it had been taken over by ‘extreme socialists’ focused only on removing President Donald Trump from office. ‘As you will recall, I ran on a promise to be a bipartisan voice and fight against the worst instincts of extremists in both parties,’ he said in the fundraising letter. ‘Unfortunately, one party has allowed the extremists to take over, and I cannot in good conscience reconcile those extreme values with the values I hold in my heart.’”
—“Latest on Van Drew, challengers, in CD2 race”
CONGRATULATIONS SENATOR MIKE DOHERTY ON YOUR ONE MILLIONTH QUOTE IN A PAUL MULSHINE COLUMN — “Will the 2021 Republican gubernatorial candidates rally to Donald Trump? That could be decisive,” by The Star-Ledger’s Paul Mulshine: “Minority leader Jon Bramnick has been perhaps the most prominent never-Trumper in the state Republican Party. When I called Bramnick to ask whether he’s come over to the Trump camp, he replied, ‘I’ve never liked the way he spoke to others, including Republicans. I’m very pleased with certain policies, but not pleased with the way he acts.’ I ran that by Trump’s first major supporter in New Jersey, state Sen. Mike Doherty of Warren County. ‘Who’s been more obnoxious in New Jersey than Chris Christie?’ he asked. ‘And who was closer to him than Bramnick?’ Christie did indeed cut the template for political loudmouths that Trump later followed. So it’s hard to see how Bramnick could object to Trump on those grounds.”
—“Rep. Gottheimer calls for emergency investment to combat algae blooms”
AMERICAN DREAM TO COUNTER WITH OFFER OF TEMPORARY FREE PARKING — “With American Dream now open, towns in the Meadowlands say they’re owed thousands,” by The Record’s Melanie Anzidei: “Several current and former town officials told NorthJersey.com and the USA TODAY NETWORK New Jersey that the company behind the mammoth project has yet to make good on payments municipalities are owed as part of agreements that mostly predate Triple Five, the Canadian developer that now runs American Dream. Those payments — ranging from tens of thousands of dollars to $1 million — should have kicked in after opening day in October, but a dispute over whether the payments are due only when the property is fully operational later this year may be hindering the process, officials said.”
FLIP THIS SCHOOL — “Crucial financing on hold for Newark charter school as federal grand jury probe widens,” by The Record’s Jean Rimbach and Abbott Koloff: “Amid scrutiny by a federal grand jury, the state is holding up critical financing for the non-profit support group of one of Newark’s oldest and largest charter schools — cash needed to pay off $21 million in loans coming due on its high school. Officials at the New Jersey Economic Development Authority have so far refused to issue bonds to cover that debt on the Marion P. Thomas Charter School’s Sussex Avenue location. In addition, the EDA recently confirmed that two ‘prior bond financings’ it issued to the school ‘are under review.’ One involves the purchase of two former Newark public school buildings that were flipped at a markup of close to $10 million. That transaction has been the focus of a federal grand jury, which issued subpoenas first to the 1,500-student Marion P. Thomas Charter School in July and then to the Newark Housing Authority in October.”
—“Lakewood gets its first Orthodox Jewish cop; he joins a force girding against hate”
R.I.P. — “Bob Walsh, longtime Howell councilman, dead at 61”
—“Ridgewood Water sues over illegal toxic soil dump at water supply site”
—“Clifton Council promises to look into single-use plastic bag ban”
—“Kushner Cos. buying Station Place apartments in Red Bank as part of $267M deal”
—“With music video, Toms River H.S. adds voices to its chorus opposing school cuts”
—“Mysterious Central Jersey welcome sign pops up — and then vanishes”
—“New Jersey Airbnb hosts earned $50.7M during 2019’s biggest weekends”
—CarePoint: Eisenreich claims are ‘frivolous and desperate’
