Oliver says she hasn’t been on Inside/Outside calls

Acting Gov. Sheila Oliver said she has never been on one of the Inside/Outside calls between top members of Gov. Phil Murphy’s administration and his outside political consultants.

“No,” Oliver said when asked if she was ever on one of the calls, which take place nearly every Friday.

Oliver added that she no such calls existed between members of her staff — Oliver is also commissioner of the Department of Community Affairs — and outside officials elsewhere in the state.

Earlier this month, Murphy said that he had been on at least some of those calls, which he said touched on “broad strategy discussions.”

The calls feature at least 12 top Murphy aides: Chief of Staff George Helmy; Deputy Chiefs of Staff Joe Kelley, Justin Braz, Greg Petzold; and Deborah Cornavaca; Senior Advisor Dan Bryan; Communications Director Mahen Gunaratna; Chief Policy Advisor Kathleen Frangione; Press Secretary Alyana Alfaro Post; Senior Advisor Derrick Greene; Stephanie Lagos, the First Lady’s Chief of Staff; and Matt Platkin, Murphy’s chief counsel.

The call’s outside members are Steve DeMicco and Brad Lawrence of Message & Media; Brendan Gill, Murphy’s former campaign manager; and Adam Alonso, the governor’s former Deputy Chief of Staff; and Jim McQueeny, an influential public relations consultant and former top aide to Frank Lautenberg.

Democratic State Committee Executive Director Liz Gilbert was on the calls before she left the state earlier this month.

Mark Holmes, the executive director of the New Jersey State Ethics Commission said the calls don’t present any conflict with state law after Senate Majority Leader Loretta Weinberg sought assurances that the calls did not violate ethics laws.

Weinberg also asked if Murphy’s administration created firewalls to ensure that information discussed on the Inside/Outside calls did not benefit the business interests of the clients represented by the outside political consultants.

According to Holmes, the State Ethics Commission lacks jurisdiction to interpret or enforce the Code of Conduct that applies to the Governor and his staff.