Michael Bloomberg

Bloomberg Defends Legality Of NYPD Spying On Muslims

David Taintor | February 24, 2012, 2:09PM

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg on Friday defended the legality of the NYPD's covert monitoring of Muslims in New York and New Jersey.

"Everything the NYPD has done is legal, it is appropriate, it is constitutional," Bloomberg said on WOR radio.

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Gay Marriage

Christie On Gay Marriage: Southern Blacks Would Have Been Psyched To Have Vote On Their Rights

Jillian Rayfield | January 26, 2012, 5:14PM

Black lawmakers in New Jersey have sharply criticized Republican Gov. Chris Christie for comparing a ballot referendum on gay marriage to the civil rights movement thusly: "The fact of the matter is, I think people would have been happy to have a referendum on civil rights rather than fighting and dying in the streets in the South."

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New Jersey

Republican NJ Mayor Resigns After 'Rentboy' Scandal

Jillian Rayfield | December 6, 2011, 10:11AM

The mayor of Medford, NJ resigned a month after he was accused of soliciting sex with a man from the gay escort site Rentboy.com.

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New Jersey

NJ Rep. Used $9K In Campaign Funds To Go To Donor's Scotland Wedding

Jillian Rayfield | November 21, 2011, 1:20PM

A New Jersey Rep. spent $9000 in campaign funds to take his family to a donor's wedding in Scotland, the Star-Ledger reports.

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Lockheed Martin

NJ GOPer In 'Rentboy' Scandal Put On Leave From Lockheed Martin

Jillian Rayfield | November 8, 2011, 10:57AM

In the latest fallout from his alleged "Rentboy" scandal, Republican Mayor Chris Myers of Medford, NJ was put on administrative leave from his day job at Lockheed Martin.

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Lucchese Family

Feds: Mafia Affiliates Took Over, Looted $12 Million From Texas Mortgage Company

Ryan J. Reilly | November 1, 2011, 2:55PM

Federal authorities charged Tuesday that affiliates of the La Cosa Nostra and Lucchese organized crime families gave a "new meaning" to the term "corporate takeover" when they looted a publicly traded mortgage company, with one member threatening that if someone were to "rat," their "wives will be f**ked... and your kids will be sold off as prostitutes."

Law enforcement officials charged 13 people -- including an alleged member and another associate of the Lucchese family -- on racketeering and related offenses in an alleged scheme to take over and loot the Texas-based FirstPlus Financial Group Inc. (FPFG) through extortion. Ten defendants are already in custody, one is expected to surrender and two are still at large.

Federal officials allege that Nicodemo S. Scarfo Jr. -- also known as "Nick Promo," "Mr. Apple" and Mr. Macintosh" -- became a "made" member of the Lucchese family after an attempt on his life in 1989. They say Lucchese family boss Vittorio Amuso, while in federal prison in Atlanta, arranged for Scarfo to become a member of the Lucchese family as a favor to former Philadelphia La Cosa Nostra boss Nicodemo D. Scarfo Sr. Both Amuso and Scarfo are named as unindicted co-conspirators in the case.

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Chris Myers

NJ GOPer In 'Rentboy' Scandal: 'I Don't Know' If Pics Of Me In My Underwear Are Real

Jillian Rayfield | October 28, 2011, 12:18PM

The Republican Mayor of Medford, NJ is not planning on resigning, and says he really can't say if the pictures of him wearing only blue Calvin Klein underwear are real.

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Rentboy.com

Republican New Jersey Mayor Caught Up In 'Rentboy' Scandal

Jillian Rayfield | October 24, 2011, 11:25AM

A Republican mayor in New Jersey denies that he agreed to pay a California man for sex through the website Rentboy.com, and says he doesn't even know if the pictures posted of him in bright blue underwear are real.

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New Jersey

GOPer Apologizes For Saying A Woman Should Be 'A Whore' In the Bedroom

Jillian Rayfield | October 21, 2011, 12:31PM

New Jersey Senate candidate Phil Mitsch is sorry for saying that women should be "a lady in the living room and a whore in the bedroom" -- but he's still not backing out of the race.

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Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)

ICE Agent Pleads Guilty To Selling Thousands Of Dollars In Government Gear On EBay

Jillian Rayfield | October 7, 2011, 5:38AM

A former Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent in New Jersey pleaded guilty to stealing thousands of dollars worth of government equipment, including printer cartridges, life-jackets, rappelling rope and a cold-water survival suit, and selling it over the internet.

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George Wright

Fugitive Who Stole Warden's Car, Moonlighted As Model Caught Overseas After 41 Years

Jillian Rayfield | September 28, 2011, 6:00AM

Recently Captured Fugitive George Wright

Federal agents ended a 41-year search for a fugitive from a New Jersey prison on Monday when they captured him in a town outside Lisbon, Portugal.

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Chris Christie

Chris Christie Vetoes $420K 'Snooki Subsidy' Production Credit

Jillian Rayfield | September 26, 2011, 4:42PM

Nicole "Snooki" Polizzi

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) has vetoed a $420,000 "Jersey Shore" production credit that was criticized by local lawmakers as a "fake tanning" tax break and "a terrible, terrible and misguided waste."

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New Jersey

NJ Lawmakers Outraged Over Jersey Shore's $420K 'Fake Tanning' Tax Break

Jillian Rayfield | September 15, 2011, 6:06PM

Nicole "Snooki" Polizzi

A number of New Jersey lawmakers are outraged that the state has awarded a $420,000 production tax credit to the hit MTV reality show "Jersey Shore" because, as one GOPer put it, "I can't believe we are paying for fake tanning for 'Snooki' and 'The Situation', and I am not even sure $420,000 covers that."

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September 11

After Criticism, NJ Town Politicians Remove 9/11 Memorial Inscribed With Their Own Names

Jillian Rayfield | September 15, 2011, 5:08PM

Controversial 9/11 Memorial in Washington Township, NJ

Officials in Washington Township, NJ have removed a 9/11 memorial after public outcry over the fact that the memorial was inscribed with the names of the officials themselves, and not of any victims of the attacks.

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New Jersey

Authorities Reportedly Investigating Whether Fatal Shooting Of Pakistani Woman Was Racially Motivated

Jillian Rayfield | August 17, 2011, 2:00PM

Prosecutors in New Jersey say they are investigating whether a fatal shooting of a Pakistani woman walking with her three-year old son and husband was racially motivated, according to WABC News.

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Kenneth Del Vecchio

NJ GOPer Premieres Anti-Abortion Suspense Flick This Weekend

Jillian Rayfield | June 3, 2011, 6:29PM

Kenneth Del Vecchio, a Republican candidate for New Jersey state Senate and a producer of conservative-themed films, is premiering a psychological thriller this weekend with a pro-life twist: Three pregnant women, who intend to have abortions, are kidnapped and forced to carry their pregnancies to term.

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Planned Parenthood

Sex Ring Was A Hoax; Live Action Posts Video Targeting Planned Parenthood

Rachel Slajda | February 1, 2011, 2:22PM

When a man showed up at eight Planned Parenthood clinics in five states within five days, claiming that he ran an underage sex trafficking ring, Planned Parenthood reported it to the FBI. They also figured it was probably a "hoax" in which anti-abortion types were trying to catch clinic employees saying something damning on tape.

Planned Parenthood was right. Today, Live Action, an anti-abortion group run by James O'Keefe associate Lila Rose, posted a video it claims shows a Planned Parenthood employee in New Jersey instructing a "pimp" on how to get his underage and illegal immigrant sex workers STD testing and abortions.

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Mob Bust

TPM's Guide To Mobster Country

Eric Lach and Ryan J. Reilly | January 21, 2011, 2:58PM

More than 120 suspected mobsters were arrested in yesterday's massive mafia bust. And along with the arrests came hundreds of pages of court documents detailing alleged illegal activity taking place across three states: New York, New Jersey and Rhode Island. From allegations of extortion in Midtown Manhattan and murder in Queens, to strip clubs in Providence and gambling on Long Island, allow TPM to take you on a little tour of the underworld:

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Cedric Miller

Anti-Facebook Pastor Taking Leave After Three-Way Revelation

Eric Lach | November 24, 2010, 3:05PM

Pastor Cedric A. Miller of the Living Word Church

Rev. Cedric Miller, the New Jersey pastor who made headlines for denouncing Facebook as a vehicle for infidelity, and then made other headlines with his own complicated sexual history outside the bonds of marriage, is "taking some time off," he told the Associated Press.

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Robert Decheine

Former Obama Advisor, Aide To NJ Dem, Arrested On Child Sex Charges

Ryan J. Reilly | November 23, 2010, 6:07PM

Robert Decheine

Robert Decheine, chief of staff to Rep. Steve Rothman (D-NJ), was arrested in Gaithersburg, Md. last Friday on charges of soliciting sex from a minor. Decheine, who had been with the Democrat's office since 2003, was fired immediately after the congressman consulted the House Counsel about his arrest, Rothman spokesman Aaron Keyak told The Hill in a statement.

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Cedric Miller

Anti-Facebook Pastor: Story Of My Three-Way Relationship Is Old News

Eric Lach | November 22, 2010, 3:48PM

Pastor Cedric A. Miller of the Living Word Church

New Jersey Pastor Cedric Miller made headlines last week when he denounced Facebook as an aid to infidelity -- and demanded that his church's leaders "give up" the site. This weekend, though, the story became Miller's own complicated sexual history.

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Chris Christie

Chris Christie: No. 1 U.S. Attorney In Wasting Gov't Travel Money

Ryan J. Reilly | November 9, 2010, 10:06AM

NJ Gov. Chris Christie (R)

The Justice Department Inspector General released a report yesterday showing that a select number of U.S. Attorneys sought reimbursement above government lodging rates. At the top of the worst offenders list: New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R), who was U.S. Attorney from 2002 to 2008.

The report doesn't identify Christie or any of the U.S. Attorneys by name. But thanks to stories that came out during his campaign against former Gov. Jon Corzine (D) in 2009, we know that the U.S. Attorney who went over the government-set reimbursement rate the most between 2007 and 2009 was none other than current New Jersey governor.

Specifics of Christie's travel detailed in stories during the gubernatorial race last year as a result of a Freedom of Information Act request from his opponent match with the profile of a federal prosecutor dubbed "U.S. Attorney C" in the Inspector General report.

"In terms of the percentage of travel, U.S. Attorney C was the U.S. Attorney who most often exceeded the government rate without adequate justification," the report found. "The U.S. Attorney provided insufficient, inaccurate, or no justification for 14 of 23 trips (61 percent) that exceeded the government rate."

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Carlo Chiaese

Feds: Investment Adviser Spent More Than $1.4M Of Clients' Money On Luxury Cars, Clothing, Hotels

Ryan J. Reilly | October 5, 2010, 1:19PM

2007 Porsche 911 Carrera

A New Jersey investment adviser who allegedly defrauded numerous clients of more than $2 million used the money to fund a lavish lifestyle while claiming to be investing the funds in conservative securities, the federal government said Tuesday.

Country club fees totaling over $75,000, lease payments for a Porsche 911 Carrera, and Audi Q7 and a Land Rover, at least $23,000 in home audio equipment and over $32,000 in landscaping are just some of the personal expenses the feds allege 38-year-old Carlo Chiaese of Springfield, NJ racked up. He allegedly transferred at least $800,000 to his wife and members of her family, withdrew at least $185,000 in cash and made over $65,000 in mortgage payments with his clients' money.

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Bret Schundler

Christie Administration Swings Back At Schundler Over Firing

Ryan J. Reilly | September 2, 2010, 11:44AM

NJ Gov.-elect Chris Christie

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie's administration is firing back at his former Education Commissioner Bret Schundler, who said yesterday that he was defamed by the Governor.

Christie said Schundler was fired because he misled the governor about the events leading up to the state's loss of a $400 million education grant. But a timeline released by Schundler yesterday made the case that he had been honest with Christie about the mistake, and told the Governor not to say at at news conference last week that Schundler had tried to submit additional information to correct the mistake.

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Chris Christie

Schundler: Christie Calling Me A Liar Is 'The Last Straw'

Ryan J. Reilly | September 1, 2010, 2:47PM

Former New Jersey Education Secretary Bret Schundler

In an e-mail and statement provided to reporters this afternoon, former New Jersey Education Commissioner Bret Schundler (R) defended himself against charges by Gov. Chris Christie (R) that Schundler deliberately misled the governor over the events leading up to the state's loss of a $400 million grant. Although he would have been able to accept being fired over the error that cost the state money, Schundler said he was unwilling to accept any further character assassination.

"I will not accept being defamed by the Governor for something he knows I did not do," he wrote. "The Governor called me a liar this week. That was the last straw."

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Bret Schundler

Christie And Schundler Trade Accusations Of Dishonesty After New Jersey Loses $400 Million

Ryan J. Reilly | September 1, 2010, 10:39AM

The charges keep flying in New Jersey as fired Education Commissioner Bret Schundler (R) and Governor Chris Christie (R) continue to spar over whether Schundler should have been fired over his explanations as to why New Jersey lost out on $400 million in federal education funding due to a mistake on a grant application.

Who's telling the truth and who is just trying to cover themselves? TPMMuckraker looks into the charges and counter charges and breaks it down.

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New Jersey

Christie And Schundler Fall Out Over Race To The Top Blunder

Eric Kleefeld | August 30, 2010, 12:40PM

So what should we make of the public spat now occurring between Gov. Chris Christie (R-NJ) and his former Education Commissioner Bret Schundler, who was fired this past Friday as a result of the errors that resulted int he state losing $400 million in Race to the Top money? Christie's side say that he was misled by Schundler's description of the events -- and Schundler says he never told them what they say he did. Let's review the known events that have occurred up to now.

There is no dispute that New Jersey committed an error in its application for the multi-billion dollar program, which awards grant money to states that compete on the basis of their actions on education reform. The question, then, is who made the error, and what did Christie really know about the process?

In early June, Christie overruled an application that Schundler had formulated from a deal with the state teachers union, on the grounds that the deal had been too favorable to the union and went against his own education agenda. "I made the choice to be bold," Christie said, "not only because I want it to be successful but it's because that's what I agree with."

Then last week, it was revealed that because of an error in the new application, which included budget numbers for the wrong years, New Jersey was docked just enough points to lose out on $400 million in federal funds. (Even worse, the Star Ledger reported that the original draft that Schundler and the union agreed to contained the correct information.)

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ACLU

NJ Library Removes LGBT Book After Complaint From Member Of Glenn Beck's 9/12 Movement

Jillian Rayfield | August 4, 2010, 8:40AM

A public library in Burlington County, New Jersey has ordered all of the copies of "Revolutionary Voices: A Multicultural Queer Youth Anthology" removed from circulation, after a member of Glenn Beck's 9/12 Project complained about the book's content.

The library cited "child pornography" as its reason for removing the book.

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Espionage

Russian Tradecraft Ain't What It Used To Be

Justin Elliott | July 1, 2010, 10:20AM

Accused Russian spy Anna Chapman.

By definition, the 11 eleven alleged secret agents arrested this week were clearly not the best that Russian intelligence has to offer: they got caught.

But perhaps the most striking thread running through the two complaints filed by federal prosecutors this week is the sheer incompetence of the alleged espionage operation. It was, in fact, so incompetent that the American government couldn't even charge the alleged spies with espionage, having to rely solely on charges that the spies acted as unregistered foreign agents and laundered money in order to hold them.

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New Jersey

NJ Men Facing Terrorism Charge Not Linked To Any Terrorist Groups

Justin Elliott | June 7, 2010, 9:09AM

Pedro Almonte, father of Carlos Eduardo Almonte, at his home in in Elmwood, NJ, June 6, 2010

The two New Jersey men arrested at JFK airport in New York yesterday, who were allegedly bound for Somalia to attempt to join a terrorist group, had allegedly talked about killing Americans, but were not connected to any terrorist groups.

Authorities allege that Mohamed Mahmood Alessa, 20, and Carlos Eduardo Almonte, 24 -- who were charged Sunday with conspiring to kill, maim and kidnap persons outside the U.S. -- planned to travel to Somalia and join the group al-Shabaab. An undercover FBI agent recorded conversations with the two men, who first came on the bureau's radar after a tip in 2006.

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