Confidant to Governor Christie and NJ State Senator Joe Kyrillos attended a Middletown Board of Education budget forum recently and started talking about how now is the time to allow "really smart people" to make decisions about how to handle the budget crisis that effects the school system due to the Governors budget cuts. He just doesn't think he's one of those really smart people apparently: (h/t Middletown Mike)
While huntsu has been all over the connections between Todd Christie, Joe Kyrillos, Chris Christie and the politicization of the US Attorneys office, Freedom of Information requests shed some more light on the situation:
Kyrillos left messages for Christie at the U.S. Attorney's office 48 times between 2002 and 2008, including 19 times while Kyrillos was the Republican State Chairman, according to a log of Christie's incoming phone calls requested by the Corzine campaign as part of an extensive series of document requests under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).
The Corzine campaign received the phone logs late Friday.
Most of the phone messages shed little information as to the topics Christie and Kyrillos were discussing. Kyrillos tended to call after 5PM, and would usually leave a message that offered little detail.
Kyrillos did call Christie on April 22, 2002, the day Todd Christie wrote a $225,000 check to the Republican State Committee.
After he takes the political appointment, the FEO is not supposed to be engaged in partisan politics very much but there is no such restriction on his close family. The FEO contributes $2000 to his candidate -- and now boss -- for the reelection campaign, and his wife does the same. The FEO's brother's wife gives another two checks for $3000 [2]to the candidate and three checks for $4500 [2, 3]to the national party, but the brother beats them all.
Soon after the FEO takes office, the brother contributes a single check worth $225,000 to the national party, and since then another three individual $25,000 [2, 3] checks for a grand total of $300,000 to the national party. But that's not all. The brother also issued checks over the past few years since FEO took office for $20,000, $25,000 and $25000 to the NJ party's state fund, and checks of $5,000, $10,000 and $10,000 to the federal fund. A check for $5,000 is reimbursed.
Now we know that not only did brother Todd circulate the money around, but as the records show, brother Chris got a call from Kyrillos the same day as one of the larger contributions. It's pretty impressive how much of a woman ahead of her times huntsu was. It's also a shame the rest of the media wasn't paying as close attention as huntsu was. We may have found this information out confirming the suspicions of some more than 3 days before the election.
With the news last week that Speaker Roberts would not seek another term in office, the jockeying has already begun for who would be in the running to replace him leading the Assembly should the Democrats retain control.
"I've got a job that I'm going to focus on as chairman of the party, working to get Democrats elected," he said. "I'm as accountable as anyone for making sure we retain the Assembly majority, so I'm just going to keep my focus there and see where things go."
"Having had the opportunity to serve the caucus in a leadership position in legislature, I believe ascending to the speaker's position is a natural extension based on the work I've already been doing," Watson Coleman told PolitickerNJ.com in a conference call.
Look for a fourth candidate in the race for Assembly Speaker: Sheila Oliver (D-East Orange) has spent the last two days testing the waters to seek the post. Oliver is the Assistant Essex County Administrator, which means strong ties to County Executive Joseph DiVincenzo and Newark Democratic leader Stephen Adubato. Essex County has the state's largest Assembly delegation - nine votes.
But Oliver could really only be Speaker if Dick Codey were not Senate President, a separate shoe that would still need to drop in the other house. Assemblyman Wisniewski has also expressed his interest, but also reminded people that there were other elections first:
"I am interested in making the case to my colleagues, however there's a little detail called a general election we have to get though first," Wisniewski added. "It's all interesting and noteworthy, but let's win the election then talk about leadership. Is the question, 'Am I interested?' Yes, of course, I am interested."
That's right, let's win the election and we can talk about who leads next. While some say within the party for leadership could distract from the effort to re-election Corzine, Senator Lesniak thinks it could work to his advantage:
"What he can do - and what he better do - is keep out of it, and he's smart enough to do that," said state Sen. Raymond Lesniak, D-Union, a party power broker who holds considerable sway in the leadership disputes. "It could actually work on the governor's behalf, if it's perceived that those who do the best in terms of vote production for Corzine will get him on their side."
That scenario only works if Corzine wins re-election. And that election comes before any other party jockeying. Take the poll and tell us who you think will be the next Speaker of the Assembly and how you think it factors into the Governor's race.
Like my mother says, people in glass houses should never throw stones. The Bergen Record's Herb Jackson reports today that Solomon Dwek, the cooperating witness in the F.B.I.'s recent corruption bust, gave nearly $200,000 to New Jersey elected officials of both parties. While there is nothing nefarious about accepting a contribution, it is disconcerting when one considers the influence of money in our political system, a reality for lawmakers on both sides of the political aisle.
Yesterday, CQPolitics changed their estimate of the New Jersey gubernatorial race from Toss-Up to Leans Republican. The story on the ratings change included a quote from State Senator Joe Kyrillos (R-Middletown), State Chairman of Chris Christie for Governor, who was quick to link Democrats to the latest round of indictments:
"I think that the New Jersey Democratic party is a major embarrassment, not just to people here at home, but should be to Democrats all over this country," said Christie campaign chairman Joe Kyrillos, a state senator.
"There's a culture and an enabling of people and care and feeding of the wrong kinds of actors and a looking the other way that has a allowed this kind of episode - and it's not the first one - to take place," he said.
Kyrillos is right that there is a culture that enables corruption in New Jersey politics. What he neglected to acknowledge is the bipartisan nature of the problem. Which is interesting, considering he actively supported every one of the Republican elected officials nabbed in the 2005 wave of Operation Bid Rig. He even counted some among his friends. As Jackson's report makes clear, Kyrillos also accepted $5,200 from Dwek, notwithstanding the $51,000 given over to the Republican State Committee.
No one is saying Kyrillos is crooked. Dwek also donated to the re-election campaign of Congressman Frank Pallone and to the Democratic State Committee. Like Pallone, Kyrillos is giving the contributions over to charity. And while there was nothing wrong with accepting the contributions in the first place, Dwek's inroads demonstrate that the permanent quest for cash inherent in New Jersey's political culture is a problem for both Democrats and Republicans.
Corruption has nothing to do with political party. Chris Christie has said as much himself. It's a fact that his campaign chairman, with his own ties to corrupt politicians and dirty money, would be wise to remember. Because really, Joe, people in glass houses should never throw stones.
As the final weeks of the Republican primary unfold, Chris Christie and Steve Lonegan will be busy campaigning, trading criticisms of one another, and making the case on the air waves and the internet that they alone are best suited to take on Jon Corzine in this November's gubernatorial election.
Corzine, and whoever wins the GOP nomination on Primary Day, will also undertake the historic task of selecting an individual to run as their respective party's candidate to be the first Lieutenant Governor in New Jersey history. Below the fold is a list of ten possible Republican contenders. It is subjective and, more than anything, written to solicit the opinions of Blue Jersey readers on the strengths and weaknesses of each potential pick.
Please click the headline, read on, comment away, and look out this Thursday for an analysis of potential Democratic choices for Lieutenant Governor.
Promoted by Jason Springer: The Christie campaign probably won't be highlighting these connections.
Senator Joe Kyrillos, 2008 New Jersey Chairman of Mitt Romney for President.
Republican Chris Christie's selection of State Senator Joe Kyrillos (R-Monmouth) as his campaign chairman proves that the newly minted candidate remembers his friends. However, it may also undermine the one time lawman's reputation as a corruption buster unswayed by pay to play politics and influence peddling.
The two are longtime friends. In 1997, Kyrillos presided over Christie's swearing-in as Morris County Freeholder. A former Republican State Chair, he was a key player in the behind the scenes maneuvering in the run up to Christie's candidacy. As a veteran legislator and card carrying member of Middletown's Navesink Country Club, he embodies the moderate GOP establishment that rallied to Christie's side following last week's announcement that he would seek the gubernatorial nomination. More than that, Joe Kyrillos has been one of Christie's biggest boosters over the course of the last decade. He sung his praises to fellow Republicans and the media, and as a party leader he used Christie family campaign contributions to lay the foundation for the present campaign.
Even Christie has alluded to the fact there were some who questioned his qualifications when President George W. Bush named him U.S. Attorney in 2001. Joe Kyrillos was instrumental in quashing that speculation.
The then Chairman of the New Jersey Republican State Committee (NJRSC) told The New York Times, "There's a lot of good feeling for Chris at the White House ... He's worked very hard for the president and has been recommended by virtually all the key leaders from state government and political circles.''
By working hard, Kyrillos may have been referring to the hundreds of thousands of dollars Christie raised for Bush/Cheney 2000. Or he could also have meant the $5,200 he and his wife had contributed to Acting Governor Donald DiFrancesco, who recommended his name to the White House.
Christie won the support of Kyrillos, DiFriancesco, and most importantly, the White House, but as a failed Assembly candidate and one term Freeholder who waged legal war on members of his own party, there were still lingering feelings among some activists who felt he had jumped the line without waiting his turn.
Upon assuming office, with his friend Joe as Chairman in Trenton, he set out to rectify that. According to reports filed with the Election Law Enforcement Commission (ELEC), prior to 2002 the Christie family contributed $800 to New Jersey Republicans. During the period Kyrillos was Chairman (2001-2004), they contributed a staggering $144,000. The money went toward Republican legislative and municipal campaigns throughout the state. While the U.S. Attorney railed against the practice of pay to play at press conferences, he generated good will by engaging in it himself as he had prior to his appointment, this time quietly, behind the scenes.
No one questions the success Chris Christie enjoyed as a federal prosecutor. He contributed a great deal to cleaning up the culture of corruption in New Jersey. However, as he begins his campaign for Governor he may be tempted to lean too heavily on the convictions he's won and the reputation he's been given by media outlets who have all but ignored these backdoor contributions. In doing so, he neglects to recall that it was pay to play that got him a shot at the limelight in the first place. If he forgets, his old friend Joe Kyrillos should remind him of that. Even if he doesn't, the sight of this ultimate insider as Chairman of Christie for New Jersey should remind us all.
But ultimately, said Wilson, "If Chris [Christie] is the nominee, his running mate for lieutenant governor has to be someone who shares his priorities and his sense of ethics."
That makes veteran state Sen. Joseph Kyrillos (R-Monmouth) a very viable candidate in the state chairman's opinion.
"Joe Kyrillos is a longtime friend of Chris who understands the nuts and bolts of government," said Wilson
Longtime friend of Chris? Understands the nuts and bolts of Government?
Here's the story of these longtime friends and how they used the "nuts and bolts of government" to get Chris a job.
The year, 2000: Joe Kyrillos is a State Senator, Chris Christie is raising hundreds of thousands of dollars for George Bush for President and serving as the corporate counsel for the campaign. Christie makes it known he wants to be a US Attorney after helping the Republican nominee.
Bush wins the White House (OK, sort of, but go with me) and it is released that Chris Christie "won't receive any consideration for a top federal appointment."
The year, 2001: Joe Kyrillos becomes the New Jersey state GOP chair, and suddenly Christie money starts flowing into the state party's coffers. Christie and his wife put up $20,000 though they had never given anywhere near that amount before. Christie's brother and his wife each gave $37,000 for a close family contribution of $94,000 in the first couple months after Kyrillos took office.
And by the time the summer is over Christie learns that he will be nominated to the post of US Attorney for NJ.
The year, 2002: Chris Christie is sworn in to office in January. Two months later his brother -- remember the brother? -- donates $225,000 to the federal party. Add in a few more $25,000 checks and a few for $5 and $10K and the total amount donated by the Christie family around the time of the job search and swearing in passes a half million dollars.
To summarize. No job for Chris, family friend gets powerful position, Chris's family gives friend six figure donations, Chris gets job, Chris's family quadruples the donation.
And these two "share a sense of ethics" that the Republican chairman thinks should guide the state.
We've outlined the close connection between Joe Kyrillos and Chris Christie in the past. Kyrillos is an old family friend of Christie's, and was the NJ GOP chair when Christie and his family donated $94,000 to the party while seeking a position as US Attorney for New Jersey. Though Christie had been told he was not going to get the job before the donation, Kyrillos went to bat for him after getting almost six figures (and another mid-six figures for the national party) and Christie got the gig despite having absolutely zero criminal or prosecutorial experience.
"We don't go out and look to get particular people. Evidence comes into our office. We follow the evidence to where it leads ... and to whomever it leads," Christie said during a video posted on the site, The Inside Clamdigger.
His remarks came Thursday at a Northern Monmouth Chamber of Commerce dinner, where he was introduced by state Senator Joseph Kyrillos, (R-Monmouth), who hinted that Christie would run for governor.
Huh. Who would have guessed they were laying the groundwork for Christie to run for Governor, misusing the non-partisan, taxpayer-funded position Christie holds.
Like Senator Nia Gill, I wonder "why do we adopt the position of subservience to the Executive branch?"
I'm kinda miffed but if I don't post while it still burns, I'll go soft. And sometimes going squishy is a lame response.
Take today's marathon Soviet-style Senate session on Trenton for instance. Honestly, I was like watching someone putting socks on a rooster. In slow motion.
I guess what's so upsetting is that it's hard to watch people you know and admire behave in a way that feels antithetical to the spirit of democracy.
(Note to all who voted this bill down our throats: you might be a teeny bit sore from all that arm twisting and parliamentary gymnastics. I know I would be.)
Some votes we win and some we lose. We're all big kids. But what makes this school funding snafu different is it kinda violates all sense of fairplay along the way.
If this is what sausage making looks like, then color me vegetarian.
(Alternate ending: if this is what sausage making is all about, then I've seen my last sausage party.)
Sources cite Democratic polling which has challenger Lenny Inzerillo within striking distance - just 4 points - of 13th district Senator Joe Kyrillos. The same polling is said to show Assembly incumbents Sam Thompson and Amy Handlin leading Democratic challengers Patricia Walsh and Robert Brown by 7 and 12 points, respectively.
Kyrillos hasn't done much in terms of campaigning, though it's possible his own internal polling motivated him to make a nearly $25,000 radio ad purchase less than two weeks ago.
For months we've been noting that Chris Christie is not the non-partisan anti-corruption crusader he's presented and the media has repeated. For this we have been ridiculed and accused of rank partisanship ourselves, but slowly our view of Christie is gaining adherents.
A couple weeks ago Christie totally stepped out from behind the veneer of non-partisanship and slammed Democrats for observing the tradition of Senatorial Courtesy over former employee Stu Rabner's nomination to the state Supreme Court. Christie not only attacked Senator Nia Gill who opposed the nomination, but also Governor Jon Corzine, Senate Pres. Dick Codey and Senate Judiciary Committee Chair John Adler -- each of whom supported Rabner and eventually shepherded his nomination to completion.
Of course, he didn't attack any Republicans for their silence at the time. He also didn't attack any of the many Republican Senators who had also used Senatorial Courtesy earlier in the year. All he did was go after Democrats for upholding a bi-partisan tradition.
This was noticed as rank partisanship by many in the media, including the generally liberal NY Times, the generally centrist Associated Press and the generally conservative Trenton Times.
Now Brookdale College has entered the fray, postponing a show featuring Chris Christie hosted by former Republican Chairman and current Senator Joe Kyrillos until at least after the November elections.
Brookdale Community College has canceled State Sen. Joseph M. Kyrillos? cable television show, saying the college does not want to be at the flashpoint of a political campaign.
Kyrillos had hoped to show himself in conversation with U.S. Attorney Christopher J. Christie, an unabashed critic of state officials and arguably the GOP's favorite leading man. But the interview Kyrillos did with the feisty Christie may air after the Nov. 4th election, and not before, said Cheryl Cummings, executive director of the Brookdale Network, which produced the program.
The college didn't nix this interview before it happened -- they saw no problem with a state senator interviewing a US Attorney and nor should they.
But after they saw the interview they decided it would put them in the middle of a political firestorm. I wonder what's on that tape?
Kyrillos is, coincidentally, up for reelection in the fall and can only benefit from having his old friend calling for cleaned up politics on the Kyrillos show. After all, if Christie is on the show he couldn't be calling Kyrillos a crook -- only his opponents.
Kyrillos still hopes to get this tape up on the air.
A Kyrillos press release noted that Channel 15, which is owned by Cablevision, is also scheduled to air "Tour of New Jersey," as is Comcast Channel 97.
"I still submitted it to the other channels," Kyrillos spokesperson Courtney A. Fagan said Monday of the roughly half-hour show featuring Kyrillos and Christie. The college, which receives taxpayer funds, pays the bulk of the production costs for Kyrillos? show.
That's Kyrillos' taxpayer funded spokesperson talking about a taxpayer funded tape that the college paying for the tape says it too political to show on the air.
Maybe Christie could investigate this use of taxpayer funds for political gain?
Jay Lassiter reports that the Senate Judiciary committee just voted 8-2 to send to the full Senate a bill which would abolish the death penalty in New Jersey. The bill sponsored by Senators Ray Lesniak and Shirley Turner would replace the death penalty with life in prison without the possibility of parole. The only two committee members to vote against were Gerald Cardinale and Joseph Kyrillos. Tom Kean Jr did not show up to vote.
To start, taxes in New Jersey are too high. We need to restructure the state to provide better services at lower costs for our residents. I don't like paying high taxes, and would like to stop doing so.
That said, the Republican-American claims that taxes are driving business from the state and destroying our economy are a bunch of crap.
Last week we learned that NJ is the second best state -- after MA -- in transitioning to the new service economy.
What happened five years ago? Republicans were kicked out of office and the Democrats took over the Governor's chair and both houses of the legislature.
Second best transition to the new economy, better employment rate than under Republicans, Democratic control.
Today the NJ Senate Judiciary Committee unanimously approved the Transgender Equality Bill, sending it before the Assembly Judiciary Committee and to be followed by the full legislature.
If successful, the bill will add a citizen's "gender identity or expression" as a basis for protection under the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination.
Among the six votes in favor was Tom Kean Jr. There was one abstention by Republican Joe Kyrillos of Monmouth.
Some facts about Transgender Equality after the jump.
You know, I've been getting more and more encouraged by the Linda Stender campaign against Mike Ferguson for the 7th District Congressional seat over the past month. Stender's put out some more aggressive mail pieces and a better TV ad campaign, and she's raised a ton of money.
Add in the independent poll putting the race at two points, and I almost got positive about this race.
But then State Senator Joe Kyrillos went on Gabe Pressman's show this weekend and totally deflated my balloon. He has convinced me that the people of the 7th District would never vote against Mike Ferguson for one very simple reason:
And they're going to return him [Ferguson to the Congress]. They are scared that Charlie Rangel--who just sat in this chair--might be the chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee. That's what really scares the people of Mike Ferguson's district.
In all seriousness, if that's the best they can do then they are in serious shit.
