Administrative Law Judge Kim Belin’s ruling to allow Newark City Council President LaMonica McIver to appear on the special election ballot for New Jersey’s 10th congressional district is deeply troubling.
Evidence presented by former East Orange Councilwoman Brittany Claybrooks’ lawyer raised serious concerns about the legitimacy of McIver’s petition signatures, suggesting potential fraud and possibly criminal conduct that grew out of an attempted coverup.
McIver’s mother, Robin, was claimed to be the sole circulator of petitions who collected over 1,081 signatures within three days. That is a nearly impossible task.
Text messages from McIver’s aide, Hassan Abdus-Sabur, indicated he and others collected signatures, contradicting the dubious claim of McIver’s mother.
Despite two group chat members testifying to those texts’ authenticity, Judge Belin dismissed the messages, stating the witnesses could not confirm their origin or if they were unaltered.
This dismissal undermines the credibility of the evidence and disregards significant testimony.
The absence of McIver, her mother, and Abdus-Sabur from the hearings further complicates the matter. Their testimonies could have clarified the controversy, but McIver’s attorneys avoided presenting these key figures, raising the suspicion that they knew that could result in perjury.
Belin’s decision ignores the substantial evidence and potential biases among witnesses. Her judgment was insufficiently robust and lacked thorough scrutiny, undermining the integrity of the electoral process.
If McIver is elected, Republicans are likely to demand a thorough FBI investigation, which could involve interviewing the 1,081 petition signers and numerous political operatives.
While this might ultimately bring out the truth, it also has the potential to disrupt the Democratic Party and incapacitate its newest representative.
The truth is apparent even if the political establishment wants to ignore it.
The consequences of this selective application of the rules are more disturbing.
McIver could have resolved the matter by providing certifications from other petition carriers but instead doubled down on a lie. Now, she could face severe consequences for lying in court and encouraging others to do so.
Stupidity is not a crime, but lying is.
It seems that McIver’s arrogance led to sloppy operations in gathering signatures, and as is often the case, the cover-up would be worse than the crime. Her ability to contain this is so clearly limited that she has almost ensured it will culminate in disaster.
Her page on the city’s website claims, “LaMonica’s heart beats for Newark.” If that is true, she would withdraw from the special congressional election before this screw-up becomes a national scandal. It would be wiser to bail on this campaign before ‘finding out’ as the urban dictionary defined it in the acronym FAFO.
If she does quit the campaign, there is a fair chance McIver could succeed Ras Baraka as Mayor of Newark if he is successful in his bid for governor next year and congressional elections occur every two years. McIver is not yet 40, so a world of opportunity is still ahead for her. None of those options will remain if she is convicted of suborning perjury.
If she is completely innocent, then she may be the victim of a cruel fate. Still, the comments from Abdus-Sabur and the unlikely scenario that her mother visited more than 1,000 people in the course of a few days make clean hands extremely doubtful.
Nine Democrats competing in the July 16 special Democratic primary for Congress in New Jersey’s 10th district have asked the Secretary of State to keep McIver off the ballot.
“We believe one of our colleagues, LaMonica McIver, submitted a fraudulent candidate petition to the Division of the Elections. In doing so, Ms. McIver has perpetrated a fraud on the State of New Jersey, jeopardizing the integrity of our electoral process,” said a letter signed by Eugene Mazo, Brittany Claybrooks, Derek Armstead, Darryl Godfrey, Shana Melius, John Flora, Alberta Gordon, Sheila Montague, and Debra Salters.
Secretary of State Tahesha Way must review this decision critically to ensure fairness and transparency in the upcoming special election.
The voters of New Jersey deserve better oversight to protect the integrity of their electoral process and the nation cannot afford another ‘George Santos’ scandal in Congress.