Ciattarelli says he will sue Sherrill over claims he worsened opioid epidemic, ‘killed’ thousands

Republican Jack Ciattarelli’s campaign announced Thursday evening that he will sue his opponent in the governor’s race, Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D-Montclair), over her accusations that he “killed tens of thousands of people” while leading the medical publishing firm he sold in 2017.

The accusations dropped during a chaotic three-minute argument at Wednesday evening’s debate, their second and final debate before Election Day. Sherrill’s attacks were largely based on a report from 2021, Ciattarelli’s second run for governor.

NJ Advance Media reported that year that Galen Publishing, the medical publishing firm that Ciattarelli founded and later sold, produced educational articles that downplayed the risk of opioid abuse for people facing chronic pain. Some two dozen pharmaceutical companies had ties with Galen, which received millions of dollars in grants from some of those companies.

Sherrill highlighted the findings of that article, but also included a new accusation that Ciattarelli’s company built an app that she says helped people addicted to opioids obtain more drugs.

“My opponent likes to talk a lot about being a businessman, but I think what New Jersey doesn’t know as much is about his business: how he made his millions by working with some of the worst offenders and saying that opioids were safe, putting out propaganda, publishing their propaganda, while tens of thousands of New Jerseyans died,” she said. “And as if that wasn’t enough, then he was paid to develop an app so that people who were addicted could more easily get access to opioids.”

Sherrill’s claims were followed by a tense moment during which they repeated “shame on you” to each other.

After some jabbing between the two, she then personally accused him of killing tens of thousands of people.

“I got to walk in my college graduation,” Ciattarelli said about a minute later, a reference to discipline Sherrill faced at the Naval Academy in the aftermath of an infamous cheating scandal.

“And I’m so glad that you then went on to kill tens of thousands of people in New Jersey, including children,” she said.

She then claimed his campaign is under federal investigation due to the improper release of her unredacted Navy personnel files before repeating the accusation that he killed tens of thousands.

“I think you’re trying to divert from the fact that you killed tens of thousands of people by printing your misinformation, your propaganda, and then getting paid to develop an app so that people could more easily get the opioids once they were addicted,” Sherrill said.

A PolitiFact-New Jersey Globe fact check of Wednesday’s debate determined there was no evidence Ciattarelli “killed” anyone. After the debate, when reporters asked for evidence regarding her claim, Sherrill said he worsened the opioid epidemic, but did not repeat the accusation that Ciattarelli himself killed New Jerseyans.

Ciattarelli told reporters after the debate that the claim was a lie, calling it “another desperate tactic by a desperate campaign on behalf of a desperate candidate.”

“Jack’s reaction is to hide behind a lawsuit, not to take responsibility,” said Sean Higgins, Sherrill’s communications director. “What’s reckless and irresponsible is Jack Ciattarelli making millions of dollars profiting off the pain of New Jerseyans — publishing misinformation about the dangers of opioid addiction and developing an app to coach patients to ask doctors for more drugs. As he was making millions, the Big Pharma companies made billions, and tens of thousands of New Jerseyans died. He is clearly unfit to lead and protect this state, and owes the people of New Jersey answers.”

The Ciattarelli campaign said it expects the lawsuit to be filed in court early next week.

“Last night, faced with continued questions about her refusal to release disciplinary records that would reveal her true role in the Naval Academy cheating scandal, and pressed about her unusually abbreviated tenure as a federal prosecutor, Mikie Sherrill cracked.  In doing so, she claimed — twice — that Jack Ciattarelli ‘killed tens of thousands of people, including children,’ a clearly defamatory attack that shocked the moderators, press, and public alike,” Ciattarelli strategist Chris Russell said in the release. “In a time where political violence and violent rhetoric are becoming all too prevalent, Mikie Sherrill baselessly and recklessly accusing a political opponent of mass murder in a televised debate crosses the line.”

The Ciattarelli campaign had previously threatened legal action in a separate issue. Late last month, they threatened a defamation suit against the Sherrill campaign after she accused them of illegally obtaining the unredacted personnel files from her time in the Navy. The Ciattarelli campaign has insisted they committed no wrongdoing.

In 1994, when former Gov. Chris Christie sought a Morris County freeholder seat, he made unsubstantiated allegations against an opponent who sued and came away with some money in a settlement that remains sealed today. Christie publicly apologized for the claims.

This article was updated at 9:25 p.m. with comment from Higgins.