Michael Critchley Archives - New Jersey Globe

Labor Leader: The story of Tom Giblin’s magnificent political career

September 1, 2025 12:15 amAugust 31, 2025 11:20 pm

Thomas P. Giblin got hooked on New Jersey politics at the age of seven, when his father won a seat on the Essex County Board of Freeholders in 1954. Over the last eight decades, he’s had a front-row seat watching...

Ex-Phillipsburg councilman exonerated after allegations of prosecutorial misconduct

April 14, 2025 8:43 pmApril 15, 2025 3:33 am

It’s been nearly four years since prosecutors uprooted Frank McVey’s life, indicting him for allegedly threatening the mayor of Phillipsburg in a blackmail scheme. He lost his standing in his community as a decorated former State Police captain and cost...

George Norcross testifies before the Senate Select Committee on Economic Growth Strategies. Photo by Nikita Biryukov for the New Jersey Globe.

After Norcross case dismissal, attorneys slam attorney general

February 26, 2025 9:27 pmFebruary 27, 2025 12:16 pm

After a judge struck down a racketeering indictment of South Jersey powerbroker George Norcross and five other defendants, attorneys and allies of Norcross are demanding the resignation of Attorney General Matt Platkin as they promise to strike back after the...

Justice Department declined to prosecute Norcross, so investigators shopped case to OPIA, court filings claim

November 20, 2024 8:26 pmNovember 21, 2024 10:12 am

There’s a new plot twist in the state’s five-year investigation of George E. Norcross III and others: the discovery that the Justice Department in Philadelphia declined to pursue charges based on a lack of admissible evidence in 2023 and that...

Saying there was no crime, Norcross seeks dismissal of indictment

September 24, 2024 10:27 amSeptember 24, 2024 12:53 pm

Attorneys for Democratic powerbroker George E. Norcross III and others today filed a motion to dismiss a 13-count indictment for making unlawful threats and official misconduct that they are calling “legally flawed.” “The indictment palpably fails to state an offense....

Norcross pleads not guilty in first court appearance

July 9, 2024 3:37 pmJuly 9, 2024 5:04 pm

George E. Norcross III, one of the most powerful people in New Jersey politics for the last 35 years, today pleaded not guilty to racketeering charges in a 13-count state indictment alleging that he manipulated development deals along the Camden...

The O’Toole Chronicles: Lawyers with that Winning Edge

August 31, 2021 12:01 amAugust 31, 2021 1:01 pm

In addition to my various public positions, I have practiced law for more than 30 years, giving me the opportunity to interact with all types of lawyers. Fortunately or unfortunately, I have interacted with literally thousands of lawyers. I have...