Phil Murphy enjoys talking in superlatives, especially when it comes to his close aides.

So, Health Commissioner Judy Persichilli is the woman who needs no introduction and Gurbir Grewal is the best state Attorney General in the nation. Murphy compliments Persichilli in that way during every briefing; he said that about Grewal a few weeks ago.

When Sheila Oliver, the lieutenant governor, joins the briefing, Murphy invariably introduces her as the “one and only” Sheila Oliver. Politicians of all stripes enjoy such over-the-top accolades. It’s fine in the political world, but it doesn’t go very far in a courtroom.

And that suddenly is a concern for Murphy.

A suit just filed by fired assistant health commissioner Christopher Neuwirth makes a serious allegation. It accuses key members of the Murphy administration with pressuring Neuwirth to perform COVID-19 tests on relatives of George Helmy, the governor’s chief of staff.

And to make matters worse for the governor’s team, this request was allegedly made by Pat Callahan, the head of the State Police, and a man who also gets a fair amount of effusive praise from Murphy at his regular briefings.

Neuwirth’s suit says that he considered the request “unlawful and unethical.” Keep in mind, the suit says it was made back on April 24 when coronavirus test capabilities in the state were far less extensive than they are now.

Neuwirth says in the suit that he wanted to make a formal ethics complaint about the request, but was told that before he did so, he better get a criminal lawyer.

Now, by any rendering, that certainly seems like an intimidation tactic and if true, would be pretty bad.

It also would be pretty bad if the initial allegation about Callahan seeking a “favor” to benefit the governor’s chief of staff is true.

Neuwirth’s suit says that after Callahan’s request in late April and his investigation of an ethics complaint, he was ostracized within the health department. Prior to late April, Neuwirth’s suit says he was part of the inner circle and was working almost around the clock to fight the pandemic after it began in early March.

An employee being ostracized normally doesn’t last all that long, and for Neuwirth, the end came on May 28. Stories at the time suggested Neuwirth was sacked because he was working a second job as a consultant.

The suit challenges that account by claiming state officials knew about his consulting since he began doing it. Additionally, he claims in the suit that he stopped all outside work once the pandemic began.

The suit asks for the usual in terms of reinstatement and back pay.

Like all suits of this type, it likely will be settled out of court.

But the potential embarrassment for the governor is not a legal settlement – they happen all the time. It’s the allegation that at the height of the pandemic, two of his key confidants were playing politics.

Did Murphy know about this? Did he sanction it? Was he completely in the dark?

Neuwirth’s suit doesn’t speculate, but you can be assured others will.

No public official talks much about litigation, but they have to be asked the question.

And when Murphy was questioned today about Neuwirth’s suit, he said he couldn’t imagine what the state would look like without Callahan and Helmy.

He also described them as “heroes.”