Senator Kristin Corrado called for legislative hearings to determine how a former politician convicted of bribery could be hired into the Murphy Administration despite state laws prohibiting the employment of corrupt officials in government positions. Corrado’s call for hearings was made in a letter to Senate President Steve Sweeney.

“Governor Murphy’s suggestion that his administration conducted a legal review that supported the hiring of Marcellus Jackson despite his prior conviction on federal corruption charges doesn’t pass the smell test,” said Corrado. “Both the Attorney General and the Office of Legislative Services have said the hiring is a violation of New Jersey law. We must hold legislative hearings to determine where the process broke down and how it can be fixed going forward to maintain the public’s trust in government.”

Jackson, a former Passaic City councilman, was convicted of accepting a bribe in an FBI sting in exchange for his help securing contracts with the city. He was sentenced to 25 months in prison.

According to The Record, Jackson was quoted in the federal criminal complaint saying, “I appreciate it, baby. Good things is gonna happen,” as he accepted the bribe.

“Good things did happen for Marcellus Jackson when Governor Murphy hired him into a $70,000 a year job as a special assistant in the Department of Education,” said Corrado. “The only problem is the hiring was illegal, despite the Governor saying it was part of the ‘normal course of business.’ We appreciate Attorney General Grewal’s efforts to clarify the nature of the hiring, and believe a legislative review that is independent of the administration is appropriate as well. We need to know why the governor thinks ignoring the law is ok, and we need to know if there are other corrupt officials hired into the Murphy Administration that haven’t been revealed to the public yet.”