The Ridgewood Blog Brings a Free Market Laissez-faire Point of View to Local, New Jersey State and National Issues.
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Trenton NJ, Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin and Director of the Division on Civil Rights Sundeep Iyer today announced the retention of former Attorney General and federal prosecutor Peter C. Harvey to investigate the administration of the November 2022 General Election in Monmouth County, and to provide recommendations to improve the state’s elections procedures for future elections.
the satff of the Ridgewood blog
Teaneck, NJ – Teaneck resident Deborah Blaiberg is calling on Council candidates Denise Belcher, Danielle Gee, Hillary Goldberg and Chondra Young as well as local Board of Education candidates to denounce the Teaneck Democratic Municipal Committee (TDMC) endorsement they received considering how the TDMC is being possibly investigated as a hate group by the New Jersey Attorney General for the political organization’s recent remarks about Hindus, Jews and Latinos.
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Englewood Cliffs NJ, At the Regular Mayor and Council meeting last night, the Englewood Cliffs Council and I considered the undisputed facts that Police Chief Michael Cioffi recorded himself threatening to kill an elected official and making discriminatory comments about women and our AsianAmerican residents. Additionally, the Chief recorded himself instructing officers to “follow the Mayor” (me) and he contemplated bringing “guys” to town to “take care of the Mayor”.
January 27,2018
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Trenton NJ, New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal has sent a letter to the U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security suggesting Thursday’s arrest by federal agents of two Indonesian nationals as they dropped off their children may have violated a longstanding prohibition on immigration enforcement actions at “sensitive locations,” and calling for the official to personally review the incident.
The letter, addressed to U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen M. Nielsen and sent Thursday afternoon, expresses “serious concern” about the arrest of Indonesian nationals Gunawan Liem of Franklin Park and Roby Sanger of Metuchen by agents of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in Middlesex County. Liem reportedly was arrested after dropping his daughter off at her school bus stop. Sanger was arrested after dropping off his daughter at school.
In his letter, Attorney General Grewal notes that ICE has a “longstanding policy that prohibits immigration enforcement actions ‘at or focused on sensitive locations,’” and that schools are deemed to be sensitive locations under that policy. Grewal characterized ICE’s action as “deeply upsetting.”
“I am not aware of any exigent or unique circumstances here that would justify such a departure from ICE’s settled policy on sensitive locations,” Grewal’s letter states. “Undoubtedly, this creates a chilling environment for parents, who were simply ensuring that their children arrived to school safely. I trust that you will personally evaluate the circumstances surrounding this enforcement action and take any and all appropriate measures to remedy any violation of ICE policy.”
The letter goes on to express broader concern about ensuring there are no ICE enforcement actions at courthouses and at State facilities throughout New Jersey.
Enforcement actions at state courthouses would compromise the integrity of New Jersey’s justice system, the Attorney General notes, and such actions at State facilities would be an “undue intrusion” on the function of state government services to New Jersey residents, including children, families and military veterans.
“As a former federal prosecutor, county prosecutor, and now the chief law enforcement officer for New Jersey, I fully understand the need to enforce our nation’s laws,” Grewal writes, “but I am equally committed to ensuring that all of the residents of New Jersey have a safe environment to attend to their lives, whether it be to attend school, participate in our judicial system, or access state government services.”
Hackensack NJ, The Washington Free Beacon just posted an explosive story about Josh Gottheimer’s dirty campaign tactics, which including spreading lies and forging government documents:
Rep. Scott Garrett’s (R., N.J.) reelection campaign sent a cease and desist letter Thursday to the New Jersey Attorney General and the U.S. Attorney for New Jersey after his Democratic opponent, Josh Gottheimer, created false government documents for a campaign ad.
The letter charges that the Gottheimer campaign “deliberately and fraudulently altered the original letter in order to mislead the public and the press to falsely believe that the letter had come from the Office of Congressional Ethics.”
When the allegations first arose, the Gottheimer campaign initially admitted it had manipulated the image in question. The campaign then walked back that claim, saying it had not manipulated the document but instead “the image used in the ad was a visual representation of what office the complaint was filed to,” the New Jersey Star Ledger reported.
Garrett and his campaign have strongly pushed back against the ad and its allegations. Garrett said at a press conference on Wednesday that he is not under investigation and accused Gottheimer of creating a false document to score political points.
“It turns out that in Clinton crony boot camp, they not only teach how to destroy government documents, they teach how to forge them as well,” Sarah Neibart, Garrett’s campaign manager, said in a statement to the Washington Free Beacon.
“Clinton protégé Josh Gottheimer’s forgery of government documents is a clear violation of state and federal law, and we expect that the New Jersey Attorney General and U.S. Attorney General will begin an immediate investigation into these actions,” she added.
