Parikh doesn’t know who hired Alvarez

Gov. Phil Murphy’s transition counsel Raj Parikh on Friday told the Special Committee on Oversight that he did not and does not know who hired former Schools Development Authority chief of staff Al Alvarez.

“I know that this panel has been seeking an answer to its question of who hired Mr. Alvarez. unfortunately, I do not know the answer to that question to that question, nor would I have ever known the answer to that question,” Parikh said. “I had no authority in placement recommendations made during the transition.”

The committee has increasingly sought to learn who was responsible for hiring Alvarez, who has been accused of sexual assault by state Housing and Mortgage Finance agency chief of staff Katie Brennan.

Brennan claims Alvarez sexually assaulted her in April 2017

At the time Alvarez was in charge of Muslim and Latino outreach for the campaign, for which Brennan would later volunteer.

Numerous high-level individuals involved in the transition, including former Murphy chief of staff Pete Cammarano, Murphy chief counsel Matt Platkin and transition executive director Jose Lozano have testified that they do not know who hired Alvarez.

Editor’s Note: A previous version of this article said Brennan was a campaign volunteer in April 2017. She began volunteering in the summer.