The New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission says they have exclusive jurisdiction over issues relating to alleged campaign finance violations and wants a judge to dismiss a lawsuit filed against a shady independent expenditure group, Jersey Freedom.
“ELEC does not believe that at this stage of the proceeding, this court needs to address the issue as the election has now passed, the issue is moot, and that any action taken by the court at this point will have no effect on the outcome of the election,” their attorney, Edwin Matthews wrote in an amicus brief filed today.
Superior Court Judge Michael Blee froze Jersey Freedom’s bank account and barred them from spending additional resources days before the 2023 general election.
The New Jersey Attorney General’s office has already launched a criminal investigation into Jersey Freedom after allegations that the independent expenditure committee violated state campaign finance laws.
It wasn’t until after the election that the source of Jersey Freedom’s funding was Brighter Future Forward, an independent expenditure committee directly tied to the South Jersey Democratic machine. And it wasn’t until two weeks ago that the founding donor of Jersey Freedom, Christopher Bastardi, became publicly identified. Bastardi is the business partner of Democratic strategist Julie Roginsky, who also has ties to South Jersey Democrats.
Erik Peterson has no apparent ties to politics and declined to say who hired him. His previous job experience included a stint as a drag makeup artist for “Thank You For Being a Friend: The Golden Girls Musical.”
Jersey Freedom’s attorney, William Tambussi, has asked the court to dismiss the lawsuit filed by the New Jersey Republican State Committee and unfreeze the tenebrous group’s bank account.
Formed last summer, Jersey Freedom spent money supporting a phantom State Senate candidate in South Jersey’s 4th legislative district They sent out mailers and ran digital ads and cable TV ads on Fox News, trying to get Republicans to abandon their candidate and go with a conservative alternative, the mythical Giuseppe Costanzo.
They did the same thing in the 2nd district, asking Republicans to vote for a legitimate candidate, Libertarian Shawn Peck, instead of the GOP incumbent, State Sen. Vincent Polistina (R-Egg Harbor Township).