Over the weekend, the Wall Street Journal reported on the administration of Governor Phil Murphy employing a man accused of sexual assault, and at 12:30 p.m. Murphy will hold a press conference to preview his economic trip to Germany and Israel, NJGOP Chairman Doug Steinhardt noted.

The GOP Chair said he questioned Murphy’s priorities.

“How the Governor could be focused on his travels rather than justice for Katie Brennan and cleaning up his administration is exactly how we arrived at this point and why it will never change in a Murphy Administration,” he said. “While it might be the Governor’s ‘new norm’ to overlook illegal actors, bribe takers, and sexual predators, it cannot be ours.  New Jersey will never shelter people like Al Alvarez, regardless of how close they are to people of power, even Phil and Tammy Murphy. We call again on Steve Sweeney and Craig Coughlin to stop playing politics with Ms. Brennan’s story and conduct an independent investigation into the treatment of sexual harassment within the Murphy Administration.

“Katie Brennan may not have found justice from the Hudson County Prosecutor, Governor Murphy, his wife, or any of their senior staff, but independent legislative hearings could finally break Phil Murphy’s pattern of protecting predators, a pattern that seems to transcend his offices, titles and time. It’s up to the legislature to ask whether a former Wolf of Wall Street is now the current Wolf of State Street,” Steinhardt added.