GOP wants judge to freeze dark money group’s bank account

Republicans will ask a Superior Court Judge to freeze spending by a shadowy dark money political group, Jersey Freedom, supporting phantom candidates in a South Jersey Senate race until they disclose the source of their money, the counsel to the New Jersey GOP said today.

“We’re going to be, at minimum, alleging that the organization has violated the reporting requirement,” said Jason Sena, the Republican lawyer.  “We’re still exploring all of the other potential violations of law that they may have committed.”  He did not identify any other statutory violations.

Jersey Freedom is a new group operating out of a post office box in Jamaica, Queens, filed corporation papers in Delaware in August and as a 527 political committee with the Internal Revenue Service in September.  This month, they began sending attack mailers urging Republicans to back an unknown independent conservative, Giuseppe Costanzo, for Senate against GOP nominee Christopher Del Borrello.  Last weekend, Jersey Freedom began airing TV on Fox News.

The group filed an 11-day pre-election report on Friday evening, disclosing expenditures but no donors; instead, they reported only debt.   Their report listed one New Jersey contact, Shane Patrick Walsh, a Washington Township native, although the address they used in Egg Harbor Township does not match his recent residency records.

Sena said he was surprised that an out-of-state printer and mail shop would extend credit to a tenebrous group with no apparent money.

“Hopefully, the news organizations that are running these ads will heed our fair warning to them and stop running the ads voluntarily,” Sena said.

Sena said he expects to name Costanzo and phantom Assembly candidate Maureen Dukes-Penrose as defendants in the lawsuit.

State Sen. Vincent Polistina (R-Egg Habor Township) and Del Borrello said that the Attorney General and U.S. Attorney have not responded to letters seeking an investigation into ghost candidates sent out last week.

Polistina was also the target of Jersey Freedom mailers urging them to vote for Libertarian candidate Shawn Peck.  Outraged by the mailer, Pecks dropped out of the race and endorsed Polistina.

“The way they are concealing anything about the spending, is creating a situation where you are affecting the fairness of the election,” he said.  “I have no ability to respond as the candidate who are trying to support has no ability to tell them to stop.”

Del Borrello, who faces Democrat Paul Moriarty in next week’s election for an open Senate seat in the 4th district, is convinced that the “fly by night” group is connected to South Jersey Democrats.

“ This is a direct assault on election integrity, and this is a direct assault on free and fair elections, the hallmarks of American democracy,” Del Borrello said. “It’s a direct assault on voters’ right to know who is funding candidates for office.”

GOP State Chairman Bob Hugin called Jersey Freedom’s actions “just egregious” and “really bad for democracy.”

“This is (about) what’s right and wrong in our society that we’ve stooped so low that we’re not outraged by the things that occur when people violate the conventional order of things, how they should be,” Hugin said.  “And clearly here, going beyond that and breaking the law in terms of violating all the reporting requirements and potentially, coordination issues.”

Senate Minority Leader Anthony Bucco said that the “undisputed facts are clearly outrageous.”

“When you place them all together, they’re very disturbing, and in fact, we believe are illegal,” Bucco said.  “The petitions were circulated by folks who had ties to South Jersey Democrats. One of the candidates has admitted to being encouraged to run. There’s use by similar vendors with other attacks, and it just stinks.”

Bucco and Hugin promised to find out who is behind the group.

Sena believes holding outside groups accountable for their spending is an issue that crosses party and ideological grounds.

“When the Working Families Party, the League of Women Voters in the New Jersey Republican State Committee agree on something, it’s a strong signal to the public that we’re all right,” he said.