@CORYBOOKER’S WATERSHEDGATE SCANDAL
by Phil Kerpen, Contributing Author: An explosive investigative report from the New Jersey State Comptroller shows massive corruption at the Newark Watershed Conservation and Development Corp under Cory Booker ally Linda Watkins-Brashear.
David Giambusso reported at the Star-Ledger:Linda Watkins-Brashear, the agency’s director and a political ally of former Newark mayor, now Sen. Cory Booker, wrote unreported checks to herself to the tune of $200,000, was awarded $700,000 in two severance packages, gave more than $1 million in contracts to her friends and ex-husband, and lost $500,000 in dubious stock ventures, the report states.
When asked about the transactions by the state comptroller, Watkins-Brashear invoked her Fifth Amendment right to not incriminate herself, the report said.
Through her attorneys, Watkins-Brashear said the report wrongly laid blame at her feet and said she acted at all times with the knowledge and approval of then Mayor Cory Booker’s administration. Is Watkins-Brashear’s claim that Booker’s administration knew about and approved of the corruption credible?
Well, according to Giambusso’s follow-up article, it was no secret:The culture of corruption at the Newark Watershed Conservation and Development Corp. — alleged last week in a scathing 45-page report by the state comptroller — was apparently no secret to some in Newark’s political world.
When queried by state investigators about payouts he received from the agency, one contractor said he was working on a local political campaign in 2008 and recalled the “buzz’ that had been circulating about NWCDC handing out contracts,” the report states. Perhaps most significantly, Booker installed his close friend, law partner, and campaign treasurer Elnardo Webster (also the recipient of a nifty tax abatement) as the watershed’s general counsel.
It was an extremely lucrative arrangement for Webster and the firm, which was paid more than a million dollars in the five years after Booker was elected mayor — at least $400,000 of which was not authorized:
That’s over a million dollars going to a law firm, Trenk DiPasquale, that was at the same time paying then-mayor Cory Booker a total of $689,000 under what Booker now claims was a “separation agreement,” despite the fact he reported it on his tax returns as earned income from a business in which he materially participated.
And the comptroller’s report is not kind to Booker’s partner:The watershed was used for the corrupt enrichment of Booker allies. They were living it up on the taxpayer dime, showering themselves with cash as well as “lobster, king crab, and filet mignon” according to the comptroller.
Was Booker himself on the take?
We know Linda Watkins-Brashear twice gave herself lucrative “severance packages” as cover for her fraudulent payouts.
If Cory Booker doesn’t want it to look like he did the exact same thing, he should start by immediately disclosing his alleged “separation agreement” with Trenk DiPasquale.
--------------
Phil Kerpen is president of American Commitment and also shared this article on BookerFail. He is on Twitter and on Facebook. Kerpen is the author of Democracy Denied: How Obama is Bypassing Congress to Radically Transform America – and How to Stop Him and is a contributing author for the ARRA News Service.
Tags: Cory Booker, WatershedGate scandal, investigative report, New Jersey State Comptroller, massive corruption, Newark Watershed Conservation and Development Corp, Cory Booker, Linda Watkins-Brashear, Phil Kerpen, BookerFail, American Commitment To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. and "Like" Facebook Page - Thanks!
David Giambusso reported at the Star-Ledger:
When asked about the transactions by the state comptroller, Watkins-Brashear invoked her Fifth Amendment right to not incriminate herself, the report said.
Through her attorneys, Watkins-Brashear said the report wrongly laid blame at her feet and said she acted at all times with the knowledge and approval of then Mayor Cory Booker’s administration.
Well, according to Giambusso’s follow-up article, it was no secret:
When queried by state investigators about payouts he received from the agency, one contractor said he was working on a local political campaign in 2008 and recalled the “buzz’ that had been circulating about NWCDC handing out contracts,” the report states.
It was an extremely lucrative arrangement for Webster and the firm, which was paid more than a million dollars in the five years after Booker was elected mayor — at least $400,000 of which was not authorized:
That’s over a million dollars going to a law firm, Trenk DiPasquale, that was at the same time paying then-mayor Cory Booker a total of $689,000 under what Booker now claims was a “separation agreement,” despite the fact he reported it on his tax returns as earned income from a business in which he materially participated.
And the comptroller’s report is not kind to Booker’s partner:The watershed was used for the corrupt enrichment of Booker allies. They were living it up on the taxpayer dime, showering themselves with cash as well as “lobster, king crab, and filet mignon” according to the comptroller.
Was Booker himself on the take?
We know Linda Watkins-Brashear twice gave herself lucrative “severance packages” as cover for her fraudulent payouts.
If Cory Booker doesn’t want it to look like he did the exact same thing, he should start by immediately disclosing his alleged “separation agreement” with Trenk DiPasquale.
--------------
Phil Kerpen is president of American Commitment and also shared this article on BookerFail. He is on Twitter and on Facebook. Kerpen is the author of Democracy Denied: How Obama is Bypassing Congress to Radically Transform America – and How to Stop Him and is a contributing author for the ARRA News Service.
Tags: Cory Booker, WatershedGate scandal, investigative report, New Jersey State Comptroller, massive corruption, Newark Watershed Conservation and Development Corp, Cory Booker, Linda Watkins-Brashear, Phil Kerpen, BookerFail, American Commitment To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. and "Like" Facebook Page - Thanks!
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home