Former state Attorney General Gurbir Grewal dropped a political stink bomb during Sen. Bob Menendez’s corruption trial last week, when he testified that he had to fend off meddling inquiries into live criminal cases -- not just from Menendez, but from former Sen. Dick Codey and from a former chief of staff for Gov. Murphy, George Helmy.
Such acts contravene a rule that should be honored from the White House to your local municipal hall: Officeholders have no business calling a prosecutor to influence or even ask about an active investigation. These are, to borrow Grewal’s term, “Gross.”
The inquiries from Codey and Helmy inspired Grewal to issue a directive in 2020 that codified existing protocols for communication with the AG office over criminal matters (spoiler alert: it’s prohibited – period), so this is a good time to remind our highest-ranking officials that the Attorney General cannot operate with integrity and independence when he or she isfielding requests for favors and inside information.
The instance involving Helmy is thorny.
He called Grewal in 2020 to inquire about a prosecution of a Hudson County worker named Walter Somick, who allegedly falsified time sheets for a no-show job. Administration sources say Helmy’s call was a “procedural” concern: Somick is a friend of Sen. Nick Sacco, who was holding up a bill that eliminated mandatory minimums for non-violent offenders. The bill was critical to the governor’s reform agenda, but Sacco demanded that public officials – like Somick – be included among offenders who should be exempt from mandatory jail sentences.
It is unclear what Helmy wanted of Grewal, but given the transactional nature of New Jersey politics, it is no longer prudent to give the Murphy Administration the benefit of the doubt: It could have easily asked Grewal to rethink the Somick prosecution to get Sacco to support the legislation.
Is that Too Jersey? Nothing is Too Jersey.
In the end, Sacco would not relent: The bill included his amendment for lighter sentences for deadbeats. But the governor vetoed the bill, and Somick got probation after taking a plea. Helmy, now an executive VP at RWJ Barnabas Health, declined comment.
“Not to get too cloak-and-dagger, but the governor’s office simply asking the question can be inferred as pressure,” said Micah Rasmussen, director of the Rebovich Institute for New Jersey Politics. “That’s why you draw a bright line in the first place.”
Grewal apparently agreed: If Helmy’s call was innocent, why would the AG issue an eight-page directive shortly after they hung upthe phone? The former AG did not respond to our request for clarification, but his guidance is clear: “Prohibited communications include . . . .the nature or scope of a criminal investigation.”
A spokeswoman for current AG Matt Platkin stated that the directive codified “existing practices” and that it “emphasizes the independence of criminal investigations and prosecutions with the understanding that even the appearance of interference or improper influence can negatively impact the public’s trust in government.”
So as Rasmussen put it, “I’m having a tough time imagining that Grewal would not have been able to distinguish between a logistical judgment call and an attempt to intervene. He never struck me as obtuse. Something about the call concerned him to the point that he felt compelled to act.”
The Codey case is straightforward: The former governor admits he was upset about the prosecution of former Rutgers basketball coach Kevin Bannon \-- which Codey considered “ridiculous” – so he placed a call to Grewal that he says he no longer can recall.
“Can you imagine the audacity of Kevin Bannon, who runs (Mercer County) parks and employs volunteers, giving them all a free ticket to a concert?” Codey said. “Wow. That’s worth going to the electric chair, don’t you think? C’mon, give me a….break.”
Bannon is facing 10-count indictment and is accused ofdiverting thousands of dollars to a nonprofit that he helped run. Regardless, Codey says he “absolutely, positively, unequivocally” did not step over a line. “I can’t have a conversation with the AG because I’m a member of the Legislature? That’s bull,” he said.
No, it’s not. This was clearlyunethical, and an attempt to influence a prosecution of a friend.
For those still confused about protocols, consider the case of the Biden Justice Department prosecuting President Biden’s son.
“(Biden) is a guy who respects the rule of law,” Rasmussen said. “Would anyone have bought him calling (Attorney General) Merrick Garland and saying, ‘I’m only asking so I know how to handle these questions from lawmakers and reporters’? Not a chance.
“And to his credit, Biden didn’t do that -- at least not that we know about -- because he respects the importance of independence in the rule of law -- implied or expressed.”
If the president can respect the administration of justice, so can New Jersey’s governors.
It’s not a difficult rule to follow: No attempt to interfere with a criminal investigation – whether implied or expressed – can be tolerated in a democracy. It’s a rule to celebrate, not circumvent.
Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com.
Bookmark NJ.com/Opinion. Follow on Twitter @NJ_Opinion and find NJ.comOpinion on Facebook.
