Did Phoebus work with Herald to damage opponent?

A text message from a New Jersey Herald reporter who is associated with the Tea Party movement, to Republican Assemblyperson Gail Phoebus, suggests that a Phoebus enemy was being targeted after being defeated in the June 2015 Republican primary.  The text suggests deep collusion between the Herald or its reporter and the Assemblyperson and her campaign.  It is dated weeks after the primary, which suggests that the damage it was meant to do was of a personal nature.

In correspondence before the 2015 primary, this reporter expressed his concern that his pronounced bias had caused some to question his credibility.  He wrote that he feared that "people will come to see me as a shill for the campaign."

------ SMS ------

From: XXXXXXX

Received: Aug 1, 2015 1:21 PM

Do you know anything about a sexual harassment lawsuit or some such thing being filed against XXXXXX XXXXXXX several years ago back when he was principal of XXXXXX XXXXXXXX High School?... XXXX had mentioned something about it to me a while back, said she believes it was settled. I'd sure love to get my hands on it, though.

Recent Herald coverage, suggests that the Herald has an agenda that is informed by malice and determined to harm.  As the above suggests, this is only the latest in a history of inappropriate proximity. 

Subject to a vote of the contributors, we will be releasing a series of unredacted correspondence between politicians and Herald staff to Quincy's corporate offices and to the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) in the near future.