February 14, 2008 - 5:27pm
Democrats and Republicans respond to Coniglio indictment
By Matt Friedman
Tags: Paul Sarlo, Gerald Cardinale, Joan Voss, Joe Ferriero, Chris Christie, Bob Gordon, Thom Ammirato, Joe Coniglio
Bergen County Democrats knew this day would come sooner or later, and today they responded to the indictment of former state Sen. Joe Coniglio not with an outright defense, but with pleas withhold judgment.
Republicans, on the other hand, pointed to the indictment as another sign of what they see as endemic corruption in the Democratic Party.
“Senator Coniglio accomplished a great deal for the working families of the 38th District during his career,” said Bergen County Democratic Organization Chairman Joe Ferriero. “Our legal system is founded upon the presumption of innocence and it is my sincere hope that Joe's upcoming trial is an opportunity for him to reclaim the good reputation that he built through his years of public service.”
State Sen. Bob Gordon spent two terms in the Assembly beneath Coniglio, ascending to the Senate after Coniglio decided not to run again after being pressured by Democratic Party leaders. During the investigation, Gordon saw his own office’s records subpoenaed, although he was not a target of the investigation.
“This is a sad day for the family and friends of former Sen. Joe Coniglio,” said Gordon.
“The Coniglio family is in my thoughts and prayers during this difficult time. Joe Coniglio deserves his day in court to defend himself against the allegations and clear his name.”
Assemblywoman Joan Voss also served two terms as Coniglio’s running mate, and also had records subpoenaed. She last saw him at the Bergen County Democratic Organization’s winter gala a few weeks ago, where he appeared to be having a good time.
“It’s very difficult, because you never want things like this to happen. That’s all I can say. I feel terrible for them, and I hope things work out well,” said Voss.
On the other end of the political spectrum, GOP State Chairman Tom Wilson said that this was more than an indictment of one Senator, but rather the entire party’s leadership. While the legislature has passed a lot of ethics reform measures lately, Wilson said, they’ve been watered down .
“It’s an indictment of the Democratic leadership in the legislature,” he said. “They do as little as they can, then make it look like they are really angry and as offended as the average citizen is.”
Republican consultant Thom Ammirato took the condemnation a step further, insisting that Coniglio could not have acted alone in his alleged scheme and suggesting complicity on the parts of Bob Gordon, Joan Voss, State Sen. Paul Sarlo and other Democratic officials.
Gordon and Voss, Ammirato noted, signed a letter with Coniglio advocating for grants to the hospital from the Department of Health and Human Services in September, 2004. Sarlo, he said, works for HUMC trustee Joseph Sanzari.
“I think this guy is taking the fall for other people. To me it’s just so obvious that he was a dupe in a larger plot here,” said Ammirato.
State Sen. Gerald Cardinale, who represents Bergen County in the 39th district, had tried and failed to get the Joint Legislative Ethics Committee reopen a complaint that former Bogota mayor and conservative activist Steve Lonegan made about Coniglio lobbying for Hackensack University Medical Center – which had been dropped (Sarlo made the motion to stop the inquiry).
“I do not think all Democrats are crooks. They don’t have a monopoly on crooks, but they seem to have a superabundance of crooks, most of whom will never be indicted,” said Cardinale.
But Cardinale, who’s served in the legislature since 1981, said he’s seen too many public officials in trouble – and at least in part blames the Attorney General’s office for not doing enough to fight public corruption.
Cardinale said that he doesn’t personally blame current Attorney General Anne Milgram or her predecessor, Stuart Rabner, for the lack of public corruption prosecutions. But he said the office needs to focus more on that type of case.
“I find it stressing that our own office of the Attorney General seems to be occupying itself with other things than policing, and we have to rely on federal authorities to do this.”
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Hey Ferriero, are you kidding?
Coniglio accoplished a great deal for the working families? Please explain how he did such great things. I am sick of Democrap Speak, lets hear some facts!!!
Coniglio is doing time and I hope it is long enough to set a precedent and stop this bull s...?
Coniglio's only hope is to appeal to Don Torricelli and ask him for a patsy to take the fall.
"Men occasionally stumble over the truth, but most of them pick themselves up and hurry off as if nothing ever happened." - Sir Winston Churchill
little flimsy, isn't it?
I'm not a lawyer, but this seems kind of flimsy:
http://blog.nj.com/ledgerupdates_impact/2008/02/Coniglio%20Indictment0214.pdf
Its certainly not a Wayne Bryant type indictment. If every Legislator was indicted for steering funding to businesses they had a professional relationship with (Lou Greenwald, hello?), there would be no legislators left in Trenton.
Maybe Christie will be 125-1....its gotta happen eventually.
Birds of a feather flock together
Mr Ferriero, Sir you are next. Bergen County knows that the "Plumber of Paramus" was your stooge and puppet.
Working American Families have been driven out of Bergen County
while you and your two Dennis"s have plundered and wasted the taxpayers money on your salary increases and contracter friends.
Coniglio will be judged by the company he keeps on and off the golf course ( Mr Molinelli )
What a crock
This indictment is the sh*tiest legal document I've seen in a long time...
Christie is a joke of a U.S. Attorney, and talk about steering contracts? Hello, John Ashcroft?!?!?!? Give me a break.
Instead of focusing on going after good people for purely partisan reasons, how about going after fellow republicans for bankrupting America for a atrocious war of choice while sanctioning the murder of innocent lives throughout the process? Nevermind the pesky steering of contracts to their cronies....
Chris Christie has less moral credibility than most if not all of the public officials he has indicted.
"Instead of focusing on
"Instead of focusing on going after good people for purely partisan reasons.."
Did you just call Wayne Bryant, Mims Hackett, Alfred Steele, Sharpe James, and Joe the Rug Coniglio good people?! Do you even live in this state?!
Other Shoes to Drop?
In high school years, most parents keep an eye on the choice of friends their children hang out with. Former Senator Joseph Coniglio must have thought he outgrew his parent's wisdom. Instead, he chose to run with a fast political crowd that anyone could have told him would eventually find trouble on the street.
The Honorable Christopher J. Christie is to be commended for doggedly following the trail of corruption leading up to Bergen County. Many who know Joe Coniglio know the guy would never harm a fly. He is a good man at heart. But he allegedly took the easy road at the obvious urging of his pals in the Bergen political clubhouse.
My sense of it is the U.S. Attorney may not have nailed the last Bergen County Senator or the last "Joe". There may be other shoes to drop here. Let's listen quietly for the sound of footwear hitting the floor.
On The Waterfront since 1954
The last shoe hasn't dropped
This is really like peeeling an onion.
The ice is beginning to melt under the feet of BCDO.
This collection of mental misfits installed by the machine will be exposed for the incompetetence and abidication of power they represent.
The Coniglio indictment will weigh heavily in the freeholder race that presents the weakest ticket I've seen in years.
If the Bergen Republicans can't at least pick-up McPherson's seat, they realy have a problem.
The Democrats have no one to run for clerk that's even credible.
Let's see if InsideBergen covers the Coniglio mess while they ignore Obama's surge in the polls.
I wonder why?
comments
It's amazing the amount of bile and vitriol contained in some of the above comments. Talk about living in another world. The voters will decide the freeholder election and the jury will decide Mr. Coniglio's fate. Anyone who thinks that one has anything to do with the other is not into reality. The freeholder candidates will be judged on their own merits and not on anothers. And speaking of no credible candidates, who are the republicans going to run that the Bergen County dems haven't beat up on already. For those of you who just plain hate Ferriero and the dems, wake up and smell the coffee. They are here to stay.November will prove it.
What Coniglio Did Was A Joke...
...compared to all the legalized corruption that happems every hour of every day in Bergen County and the rest of NJ.
Joey C just got a little too greedy and blatant about it. Such is the arrogance of someone who believes they are so "in" that they are untouchable.
If it turns out that this indictment is technically half baked and Coniglio gets off just because Christie needed a quick distraction from the dirty revelations in the recent New York Times expose on him; then Christie should be indicted for obstruction of justice. Of course that unlikely scenario would require a new administration and a new AG.....and some carreer prosecutors willing to blow the whistle on our uber-ambitious Mr Christie.
If you think that's a far fetched speculation; consider how Christie conventiently abused his position to trash Menendez just before an election....then backed off after the election when it was clear he didn't have the goods.
Christie, Coniglio, Ferriero....on the surface they seem to be different; but they share the same, essentially criminal, mentality.
Here's some of what the Times had to say re Joe Coniglio's prosecutor, Mr Christie....
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/14/opinion/14thu1.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
"Federal prosecutors must be scrupulously nonpartisan. Mr. Christie, a Republican activist who got his job despite a lack of trial and criminal-law experience, has gone up to the line of acceptable behavior — and possibly crossed it.
He began an investigation of Senator Robert Menendez, a New Jersey Democrat, late in a hard-fought election campaign. The charges now appear baseless, but at the time the news provided a big boost to Mr. Menendez’s Republican opponent. Mr. Christie went against a long Justice Department presumption against opening investigations or bringing indictments right before an election, to avoid affecting the outcome.
There are also questions about Mr. Christie’s decision to award, without competitive bidding, a lucrative contract to monitor a company accused of consumer fraud. The winner? Former Attorney General John Ashcroft, an influential Republican who was once Mr. Christie’s boss. Senate and House leaders have asked the Government Accountability Office to investigate."
From Frederick Douglass
Coniglio is facing in effect, a life sentence.
The guy is 65. You think he's going to win the case?
He's in a bad spot and don't surprised if others involved with that hospital are not brought down as well.
BTW, why was Coniglio so involved with a facility not in his district?
Isn't that interesting how Weinberg stayed clear of this brewing mess?
Finally, only a mental midget can state this indictment won't have an effect on the freeholder race especially when the ticket is this incredibly weak...
Stop drinking the Kool-Aid.