Barlas blasts Sherrill over Caldwell investigation: ‘You’d have to confirm the existence of a problem first’

Assemblyman Al Barlas (R-Cedar Grove) criticized Gov. Mikie Sherrill on Thursday for how the administration handled an investigation into Lt. Gov. Dale Caldwell, asking why it has declined to confirm or deny its existence.

“Failing to disclose an investigation into the elected lieutenant governor was bad enough,” Barlas said in a statement. “Now we learn that allegations involving one of the campaign’s two principals surfaced almost immediately after his selection.  The campaign chose to ghost the whistleblower. Did this staffer make that decision alone? If not, who ordered them to ignore the allegations?”

The New Jersey Globe reported last week that Caldwell is facing allegations of inappropriate behavior toward women and possible ethics violations, including purported offers of state jobs. The Sherrill administration has retained former Attorney General Christopher Porrino to conduct an independent review.

Barlas also criticized Sherrill for what he described as a contradiction between her public statements on government transparency and her response to questions about Caldwell, pointing to her July 21 statement on the voter registration controversy: “When we find a problem, we don’t hide it, deny it, or invent conspiracies… and we tell the public. That’s what accountability and good governance look like.”

“In July she stood there lambasting the Murphy administration for keeping voter registration fraud secret,” Barlas said. “She said, ‘We don’t hide, deny, or invent conspiracies…we tell the public.  That’s what accountability and good governance look like.’  As she was professing a ‘new way’ of governing, Governor Sherrill was investigating her handpicked Lt. Governor.”

Sherrill has declined to discuss the specific allegations or confirm whether Caldwell is under investigation, citing the need to protect both complainants and those accused.

“Now, after investigating your own Lt Governor for nearly 50% of your time in office, all the Governor has to say is ‘we cannot confirm or deny’ the existence of an investigation,” Barlas stated.  “I guess Governor Sherrill was right when she said her administration doesn’t deny there’s a problem. You’d have to confirm the existence of a problem first.”