Platkin discusses OPIA, Trump cases before state senators

In a hearing nominally focused on New Jersey’s budget, state senators pressed Attorney General Matt Platkin on his lawsuits against the Trump administration and the embattled Office of Public Integrity and Accountability.

The OPIA, a unit charged with rooting out corruption in the state, has suffered a handful of public defeats of late, including the dismissals of two major corruption prosecutions over the past year. Platkin said the unit has received $8 million in funding for the last five years, and he repeatedly said the OPIA’s victories deserve more credit and that he was proud of the unit. 

State Sen. Doug Steinhardt (R-Lopatcong), who reportedly turned down the option to serve as U.S. Attorney for New Jersey, asked Platkin about allegations that OPIA prosecutors have failed to turn over relevant evidence to defendants in two cases.

“You said in public before that your job is to stand up to the powerful. OPIA has been accused of some significant discovery issues in two cases that I’ve read, in O’Donnell and Eisemann. Can you give us some color on how those violations occurred and what you’ve done to make sure they’re not repeated?”

Platkin said a judge has never ruled that prosecutors have committed an “intentional or willful” evidence discovery violation (known as a “Brady violation”) in a case that originated in the OPIA. Still, the attorney general said the office regularly reviews its evidence protocols and told the Senate panel that any prosecutorial misconduct would be swiftly disciplined.

“If I felt, trust me, that there is a serious problem with intentional and willful discovery violations, or even sloppiness, we would address it,” he said.

Platkin also faced questions over the failed prosecution of South Jersey powerbroker George Norcross. Prosecutors charged Norcross and several of his political allies in a racketeering indictment last year, but a judge dismissed the charges in February after he ruled the allegations didn’t constitute a crime. 

Prosecutors are appealing the ruling, and senators asked Platkin if he maintains trust in the judicial system after his strong disavowal of the judge’s decision. Steinhardt and State Sen. John Burzichelli (D-Paulsboro) pressed Platkin, who lamented the numerous questions about the Norcross case.

“I haven’t gotten a single question yet about the opioids task force, I haven’t gotten a single question about the gun violence reduction task force. … The only criminal justice [questions] I’ve gotten has been about a case involving powerful people who you all know,” Platkin told the panel. “When I say it raises the specter that the wealthy and well-connected get a special set of rules, that’s what I’m talking about.”

“Maybe those questions in those other areas haven’t occurred because it’s working so well and it didn’t draw controversy, and it didn’t draw all our attention, because we’re supportive in those areas,” Burzichelli said. “And I raise this because this OPIA unit seems to be struggling.”

Platkin told the New Jersey Globe that his office has not spent more money than allocated in its lawsuits against various Trump administration actions. He said about a half-dozen attorneys, who have been sleeping in their offices and “working themselves sick,” have handled the lawsuits.

He touted his team’s handling of those cases, saying judges have so far granted at least temporary relief in each case against the Trump administration. He also said the cases aren’t politically motivated and that his office also sued the Biden administration when it needed to.

“Peter Thiel, who’s very close to the president, is widely considered to have made the single greatest investment in the history of the United States when he put $500,000 into Facebook and made over a billion. You have about half a dozen attorneys in my department who are leading the cases on behalf of the department that have saved the state over $22 billion, so I think even Peter Thiel would admit that’s a pretty good investment,” he said.