NJGOP Chairman Doug Steinhardt jumped feet first into Gov. Phil Murphy World this morning ahead of the Democratic State Committee breakfast with withering remarks.

Murphy this week defended the hiring of a former official who was convicted and jailed for taking a bribe. He said the Department of Education’s Office employee was “doing a heck of a job”. Later today,  Senator Bob Menendez, admonished by a bipartisan Senate Ethics Committee, will keynote the Democratic State Party event.

“At a time when Democrats nationally are pining to own the government ethics narrative, New Jersey’s Democratic leadership is showing an alarming affinity for abandoning it,” Steinhardt said. “Phil Murphy has made it clear that he is fine filling his administration with people who were jailed for taking bribes. Moreover, Democrats from around the State are embracing corrupt Senator Bob Menendez despite his being found guilty by his own colleagues of violating federal law. …New Jersey has a chance to vote out Menendez in November, but I think we need to support Assemblywoman Schepisi’s proposal to ban from working in public office, people who breached the public’s trust and were convicted of corruption.”