In a letter she sent today to Senate President Steve Sweeney (D-3) and Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin (D-19), Senator Kristin Corrado (R-40) repeated her call for a bipartisan legislative investigation into the hiring practices of the Murphy Administration.

The full text of the letter is included below:

October 15, 2018

The Honorable Steve Sweeney
Senate Democratic Office
P.O. Box 099
Trenton, NJ 08625

The Honorable Craig Coughlin
Assembly Democratic Office
P.O. Box 098
Trenton, NJ, 08625

Dear Senate President Sweeney and Speaker Coughlin,

I wrote to you last week with several of my colleagues to request a special legislative investigation into the hiring practices of the administration of Governor Philip D. Murphy. I am again calling for action.

Our initial request followed the revelation that the administration had employed one individual barred from public employment due to a prior federal corruption conviction, and another who was under investigation for an alleged sexual assault.

Due to the governor’s failure to properly vet candidates for important roles in his administration, we are concerned that both of these individuals would have remained in public employment if not for the diligence of the media in investigating and reporting these stories.

A disturbing new story published this weekend by the Wall Street Journal raises substantial additional concerns regarding the alleged sexual assault. The report detailed the comprehensive efforts of Ms. Katie Brennan to inform the governor’s transition team and administration, and Governor Murphy personally, of her alleged sexual assault by a colleague while working on the governor’s campaign.

Following the campaign, both Ms. Brennan and her aggressor were employed by the administration, with the latter resigning only when it became clear that Ms. Brennan’s allegations of sexual assault would soon be reported by a prominent news organization.

The details reported by the Journal of Ms. Brennan’s failed efforts to seek justice for her alleged sexual assault with her employer, our governor, are alarming and demand an immediate response by the Legislature.

We believe the governor should be required to produce all emails and correspondence, including text messages, regarding these hires with his senior staff, including any communications the governor or his staff may have had with Ms. Brennan’s alleged assailant.

Given that we now know the governor’s chief of staff and chief counsel were aware of these allegations, it is clear more than ever that a formal and comprehensive review must be undertaken of the hiring practices of this administration.

These mounting concerns were highlighted by yet another story, published by Gannett today, regarding the hiring of one of the governor’s campaign consultants into a $140,000 position in State government.

That individual, Derrick Green, was reportedly involved in a major campaign finance scandal in Bermuda. According to the report, other employees with the Secretary of State’s Office, where Green supposedly works, have never met or seen him at the agency’s office, leading to additional questions that must be answered.

While the governor announced an “independent investigation” today into some of these matters, it appears the focus of that effort will be limited to the hiring practices of his transition team.

It seems unlikely that an investigation of such limited scope will be sufficient to answer the serious questions that have been raised about the employment practices of this administration, both before and since Governor Murphy assumed office.

Therefore, I repeat my unanswered call from last week for a thorough, bipartisan legislative investigation into the hiring practices of the administration.

We must determine how the administration’s hiring process failed in each of these reported instances, and determine if other individuals have been employed improperly or unadvisedly by the governor in positions of public trust.

With regards to Ms. Brennan, she has stated clearly her belief that she has “received no justice.” She deserves the opportunity to tell her full story, and we should offer her the forum to do so.

Once again, I look forward to your response.

Sincerely,
Senator Kristin Corrado