Peter Murphy screwed his own GOP Freeholder candidate

How mercurial is Peter Murphy?  Enough to recruit a solid Republican candidate for Freeholder and after that screw him by recruiting an Independent to split the vote. 

In 2014, Murphy recruited a solid Republican candidate in union leader John Capo, but then he turned around and had his Republican town committee contribute $1,000 to another candidate recruited from Totowa -- Sami Merhi -- but this guy was running as an independent.  Merhi's candidacy undercut the Republican's chances and virtually insured that the Democrats' would win. Here's the contribution...

On top of this, Sami Merhi was a highly controversial candidate, having been rejected by the Democrats as a candidate a couple years before over what many in the media described as "anti-Semitic" remarks: 

"Passaic County Democrats withdrew their endorsement of a Lebanese-American freeholder candidate who had been criticized for remarks some critics said conveyed sympathy with Palestinian suicide bombers...

The decision came following reports that at an April 2002 rally and at a fund-raiser the same day for Rep. Bill Pascrell (D-Dist. 8), Merhi made comments allegedly conveying sympathy with Palestinian suicide bombers. According to a report in The New York Times, he rejected a comparison between such attacks in Israel and the 9/11 World Trade Center attacks, in which he lost a godson, and he quoted a would-be bomber captured in Israel in a way that some observers interpreted as a justification for such attacks.

According to Julie Roginsky, a spokeswoman for Democratic Party county chair John Currie, Merhi is to be replaced by Joanne Graviano, a Hawthorne school board member who is also active with the New Jersey Education Association. Roginsky quoted Currie as saying Graviano should have had the nomination from the start and that there was no room for divisiveness in the party.

Following Saturday’s vote, Merhi told the Associated Press: 'I’m in shock, feeling betrayed. They should be ashamed of themselves.' Merhi, who narrowly lost the party’s endorsement in 2004 because of the same issue, said he asked the party leaders on Saturday to support him and accept his explanation that his comments were misinterpreted. He said he reiterated his opposition to all forms of terrorism and his belief that killing innocent people is always wrong."

The full article can be accessed here: 

http://njjewishnews.com/njjn.com/033006/njPassaicDems.html

Apparently, Sami Merhi is a personal friend of both Passaic County GOP boss Peter Murphy and liberal Democrat Congressman Bill Pascrell.  Murphy and Pascrell are the nexus of horse-trading in Passaic County.  The following year, Murphy slated Merhi as a Republican candidate for Freeholder, which resulted in a predictable loss to the Democrats.  Apparently, Merhi was unavailable to make a run for Congress against Republican Assemblyman Jay Webber this year, hence his substitution with another Totowa resident.

Who is Peter Murphy?

He's the GOP party leader who runs the 23 insiders who pick which candidates represent the Republican Party in Passaic County.

He's been to prison.  Convicted on charges of public corruption.  But don't take our word for it, ask the man who sent him to prison.  Here's what then U.S. Attorney Chris Christie had to say about Peter Murphy: 

"We are pleased with the end result here – that Mr. Murphy served a considerable amount of time in prison for crimes which he has finally acknowledged committing as Republican party chairman in Passaic County... For those crimes, Mr. Murphy has lost his prestige and power, nearly a year of freedom and now is a convicted felon."

And that's who is choosing the official Republican candidates in Passaic County. 

Every candidate running in the June 5th Republican primary on the line PASSAIC COUNTY REGULAR REPUBLICAN ORGANIZATION is backed by Boss Peter Murphy, convicted of public corruption.  It is time to reject the GOP establishment and its coddling  of corruption.

Boss Murphy. Mercury. Where's the outrage?

Yesterday, Max and company over at InsiderNJ put out the soft soap in their perennial sucking up to the New Jersey political establishment.  Actually this should come as no surprise, especially as Insider is now truly "insider" and a tentacle of Boss Adubato's political/media machine.  But a few mentions yesterday are noteworthy.

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Okay, we get Al Barlas.  He is a bit more than an operative, he's a party leader, and a very knowledgeable one -- but Peter Murphy???

Peter Murphy is not an operative, he is an old-fashioned corrupt party boss who has actually been to prison because of it.  We guess that pleading guilty and going to jail doesn't merit a mention these days. But the same media "personalities" will lose their ass if somebody happens to say "bitch" or attends a concert whose band banner incorporates a rebel flag. 

You can be a convicted criminal -- convicted of public corruption -- and that gets a pass from these so-called "journalists."  But make the wrong fashion statement or use a word that each and every one of them has used and better pass around the smelling salts because someone is going to throw a hissy fit and pass out.

Let's not forget what then U.S. Attorney Chris Christie had to say about the Boss Peter Murphy:  "We are pleased with the end result here – that Mr. Murphy served a considerable amount of time in prison for crimes which he has finally acknowledged committing as Republican party chairman in Passaic County... For those crimes, Mr. Murphy has lost his prestige and power, nearly a year of freedom and now is a convicted felon."

That's it?  Well here they go again, glossing over what being a "principal" at "Mercury" means.  Are these so-called "journalists" stone-cold stupid?  Can't they use a public search engine?

Last year, Mercury Public Affairs was the subject of a subpoena in the on-going investigation into Russia's meddling in the United States presidential election in 2016.  According to the Washington Post, former FBI Director and Special Prosecutor Robert Mueller obtained the subpoena seeking information about work Mercury had done for a pro-Putin political party in the Ukraine:

"The investigators asked Mercury for information about their public relations work at Manafort’s behest for a Brussels-based organization called the European Centre for a Modern Ukraine, which pushed for improved relations between Ukraine and European countries. The Brussels group primarily advanced the interests of a Russia-friendly Ukrainian political party that had been a client of Manafort’s before he joined the Trump campaign.

Mercury, which has prominent Republicans among its senior partners, had worked on the Ukraine lobbying project with the Podesta group, led by Anthony Podesta, brother of John Podesta, who led Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign."

The full article can be accessed below:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/washington-lobbying-firms-receive-subpoenas-as-part-of-russia-probe/2017/08/25/55e547de-89c2-11e7-a50f-e0d4e6ec070a_story.html?utm_term=.f43579514869

Mercury Public Affairs began in 1999 as a decidedly Republican shop with connections to the RNC and politicians like John McCain and Mitt Romney, around 2013 it embarked on a mission to "diversify" -- meaning making the firm "more bipartisan and full-service."  Mike DuHaime joined the firm in 2009, first as a "managing director" but swiftly rising to partner.  Michael Soliman joined Mercury in 2013 and became a partner in 2016.  Mo Butler joined as a "managing director" in 2016.  Mercury Public Affairs has 10 partners and 160 employees. 

Mercury Public Affairs is  itself a subsidiary of an even larger international firm that handles the image-making  for Russian President Vladimir Putin, receiving credit for, among other accomplishments, getting Putin's face on the cover of Time magazine -- as the "Person of the Year" for 2007.  Omnicom purchased Mercury in 2003.

Mercury Public Affairs has 18 offices worldwide -- including London; Mexico City; Washington, DC; New York; and Westfield, New Jersey.  The New Jersey offices (a satellite operates out of Trenton) of Mercury are the haunt of Messrs. DuHaime, Soliman, Butler, and other connected operatives like newspaperman Darryl Isherwood (former top political reporter for the Star-Ledger and editor of PolitickerNJ), and "Christie campaign vet" Mark Mowers. 

In January 2015, Michael Soliman registered with the United States Justice Department, pursuant to the Foreign Agents Registration Act of 1938, as a person representing the Embassy of the State of Qatar.  You must have read about Qatar in the news...Amnesty International has accused Qatar of being complicit in human trafficking and modern-day slavery.  Yes, slavery.  In fact, the United Nations gave Qatar one year "to end migrant worker slavery" or face an international investigation. 

Qatar is just one of freedom's garden spots represented by Mercury Public Affairs.  Remember the controversy in Uganda, when the President of that country decided that homosexuality was a crime that should be punishable by death?  Well, the law he wanted passed was "moderated" in December 2013, substituting life imprisonment for the death penalty.   In 2015, Mercury was brought on to provide public relations, lobbying, and media monitoring services with regards to the Office of the President and the Ugandan government in general on subjects beginning with "human rights" and ending with "good governance."  For which the contract calls for Mercury to be compensated at the rate of $50,000 per month, with $150,000 up front.

Mercury also represents individuals.  Folks like Khalid bin Saqr Al Qasimi, who in 2003 led an anti-American demonstration in which he personally burned an American flag.  For its work, Mercury pocketed a $30,000 monthly retainer, plus expenses.

In January 2016, Mercury Public Affairs partner Morris Reid negotiated a contract with Amsterdam & Partners, an international law firm with offices in London and Washington, DC.  The document is marked "confidential and privileged" but is public information under the Foreign Agents Registration Act.  In August of 2015, Amsterdam & Partners signed a contract with the Turkish Ambassador to the United States to provide legal services related to a "matter of importance" to the embassy.  The government of Turkey paid Amsterdam a retainer of $50,000 a month.

While the contract stipulates that the greatest security and confidentiality be observed, under the terms of the contract between Amsterdam and Turkey, third parties may be hired "as the Firm and the Client agree in writing are necessary to further the Engagement."  And so, in March of 2016, Amsterdam hired Mercury to perform work on behalf of the Turkish government for $20,000 a month -- above and beyond what was being paid to Amsterdam by Turkey.  It is in the contract between Amsterdam & Partners and Mercury Public Affairs that we learn what all this cloak and dagger is in aid of.  The Amsterdam-Mercury contract references an "investigation into Fethullah Gulen and his organization in the United States."  So who is Fethullah Gulen?

Gulen has been in the news since the attempted coup in Turkey in 2016.  Gulen is a religious leader from Turkey, and a one-time political ally of Recep Tayyip Erdogan.  Erdogan is the increasingly authoritarian and Islamist President of Turkey.  He has been repeatedly in the news for purging the judiciary, jailing journalists who write unflattering reports, and successfully intimidating the opposition.  Erdogan had a law passed to allow the government to ban websites and he has promised to "rip out the roots" of Twitter.  He has even attempted to censor speech in other nations, in 2015 Turkey demanding that Germany prosecute a poet who had written some verse critical of Erdogan.

Erdogan and Gulen had a falling out over allegations of political corruption by Erdogan in 2013.  Gulen's books were banned.  First, he was indicted on charges that a Turkish judge threw out, but then was indicted a few months later for treasonable offenses that carried the death penalty.  Gulen fled Turkey, came to the United States, and was convicted in absentia. 

The government of Turkish President Erdogan has attempted to extradite Gulen back to Turkey to face punishment, but the government of the United States hasn't cooperated.  In the hours after the coup attempt, Erdogan was quick to blame Gulen, while Gulen put forward the theory that Erdogan had staged the coup himself in order to consolidate power.

Why does Mercury Public Affairs want to be a part of extraditing a moderate cleric to satisfy the rage of an Islamist dictator? 

This is exactly the kind of scumbaggery that Presidential candidate Ross Perot warned about in 1992.  He said our politics was headed here and here we are...  New Jersey's "top political operatives" (in the words of InsiderNJ) are now foreign agents (as far as the U.S. Justice Department is concerned). 

This crap makes Peter Murphy look like a choirboy.

FACT: John McCann defends political corruption

FACT:  There is one thing that rigs an election more that gerrymandering.  It is called "the line". 

WHAT IS "THE LINE"?

A few county party organizations in New Jersey (both Democrat and Republican) have usurped the actual government-prepared ballot so that they can use it to advertise who their "official" candidates are.  That's right.  A few party bosses in a few counties are using the taxpayer-funded ballot to "instruct" the voters of their party on how to vote.

This doesn't happen anywhere else in America, and it happens in New Jersey only because the state's unelected courts have allowed it to happen.  Of course, these are the same courts that have given us Abbott Districts (where all the money for education goes to a few counties controlled by urban political machines). Because of Abbott we have the highest property taxes in America.

The same courts that have allowed political party bosses to usurp power with "the line" have eroded our Second Amendment rights to make us less safe.  The same courts that have refused to allow citizens the right to take legal action against government when it fails to protect them from violence and murder.

If you want to know why you pay so much, look no further than "the line" which keeps the same corrupt party machines in power, selecting the same insider politicians, who make the judges who inhabit the courts.  So if you are content with paying the highest property taxes in America, keep supporting the same party bosses and go on voting "the line."

Candidate John McCann has defended this misuse of the official ballot by political party bosses.  He has done so even when the party boss is someone like Passaic County's Peter Murphy, who was convicted of public corruption and sent to prison.

Passaic County Republican Chairman Is Indicted on U.S. Bribery and ...

www.nytimes.com/.../passaic-county-republican-chairman-is-indicted-on-us-bribery-a...

Dec 5, 2000 - The chairman of the Passaic County Republican Party was indicted today on federal bribery and mail fraud charges in a continuing investigation of the Republican-dominated county government that has already resulted in guilty pleas by two other officials. ... For most of that time ...

Once prosecuted by Christie, Passaic GOP power broker poised for ...

https://savejersey.com/2015/07/christie-passaic-murphy-rumana-traier/

Jul 16, 2015 - Former Passaic GOP chairman Peter Murphy of Totowa ultimately plead guilty to mail fraud back in 2003 after a lengthy prosecution and conviction (the ... involving dishonesty or moral turpitude or which constitutes a felony in either the State of New Jersey, Federal jurisdiction or equivalent of same in ...

Why would anyone in their right mind support someone like Peter Murphy?  Isn't politics corrupt enough already?

Not only is "the line" an aberration used nowhere in America outside a few political machine controlled counties in New Jersey, it wouldn't pass muster in a Third World election overseen by the United Nations.  "The line" -- the McCann endorsed vehicle for public corruption -- is arguably in violation of several United Nations General Assembly Resolutions, including A/RES/46/137 (1991), A/RES/55/96 (2001), as well as the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR, 1966).

So while we send American service men and women far from home to make the world "safe for democracy," a few county politicians in New Jersey are laughing at them by corrupted the process and are making a mockery of the sacrifice of those young lives.  They should be ashamed but corrupt party bosses like Passaic County's Peter Murphy are beyond shame.

And candidate John McCann is right there with them.

President Donald Trump was criticized recently for employing the term "shithole" to describe some Third World nations.  Well, as far as political processes go, there are quite a few "shithole" county party committees (both Democrat and Republican) who are making an effort to turn New Jersey into a political and economic "shithole."

And candidate John McCann is right there with them.