Van Drew “Misleading Voters” with “Dishonest” Ad on Albano Investigation

New Jersey’s leading political news website is criticizing Democratic State Senator Jeff Van Drew over his defense of Nelson Albano in the boiling Troopergate scandal which has now pulled in Van Drew. Politickernj.com concluded in a recent post that “A newspaper ad sponsored by state Sen. Jeff Van Drew is misleading voters as to the ethics status of his running mate, Assemblyman Nelson Albano.”* Van Drew said in his ad, “We are extremely pleased that the [ethics] committee declined to find any wrongdoing on behalf of Nelson.”
But Politickernj.com pointed out that the Joint Legislative Committee on Ethical Standards “has not dismissed the case and will continue to investigate.” The politics website went on to say that Van Drew “fails to explain that the investigation continues and could later result in an eventual action against the Assemblyman.”
A review of the audio of the ethics committee hearing shows that the committee’s motion was limited to taking jurisdiction of the complaint against Albano and conducting an investigation.* At no time did the committee ever “decline to find any wrongdoing on behalf of Albano” as Van Drew is telling voters. In fact, the Press of Atlantic City reported that James Wilson, assistant counsel for the [ethics] committee, said the complaint against Albano was not dismissed and “the committee is already getting information from those involved in the incident.”*
Media outlets are not the only ones questioning Van Drew’s version of events. Republican State Senator and former Philadelphia TV news anchor, Diane Allen, sent a letter to Van Drew demanding that he stop distorting the record. Senator Allen told Van Drew, “I am amazed the paper let you print such a dishonest charge.” The entirety of Senator Diane Allen’s letter to Van Drew, demanding that he publicly correct the misleading information his Herald ad put forward, is reproduced below:
From the Desk of Senator Diane Allen
September 25, 2013
Senator Jeff Van Drew
PO Box 941
Cape May Courthouse, NJ 08210
Dear Jeff:
I am deeply disappointed that you and your campaign have improperly invoked my name this past week in an attempt to confuse voters in the 1st Legislative District and cloud the very serious ethics charges pending against your running mate, Assemblyman Nelson Albano.
The manner in which the Joint Committee on Ethical Standards handled the bogus complaint against me sixteen years ago, and the way they have handled the very serious one against Assemblyman Albano could not be more different. In short, you have your facts wrong.
Dragging my name into this as part of a strategy to minimize the charges against Assemblyman Albano, is wholly irresponsible, and I would appreciate you correcting the record publicly.
The fact of the matter is that the ethics committee received and dismissed a complaint against me on the same exact day, citing a lack of evidence to warrant proceeding further. Whereas, in the Albano case, the same committee took a completely different action. Instead of dismissing the complaint due to lack of evidence, they unanimously decided that further investigation into the Assemblyman was warranted.
The ad you paid for in the Cape May County Herald yesterday, again using my name inaccurately, went so far as to claim that the ethics committee “declined to find any wrongdoing” by Assemblyman Albano. I am amazed the paper let you print such a dishonest charge.
Unfortunately, Jeff, it appears this isn’t the only time you have played fast and loose with the facts in this campaign; a campaign that has been extremely negative and personal in its attacks against your opponent, Susan Adelizzi-Schmidt.
I am hopeful you will take this campaign in a more positive direction for the final five weeks and engage Susan in a substantive campaign that debates real issues like taxes, jobs, healthcare and education, and leaves the personal smears and misleading allegations in the gutter where they belong.
Sincerely,
Diane Allen
State Senator
7th Legislative District
*Ordered and paid for by Cape May County Regular Republican Organization, 3200 Pacific Avenue, Suite 200, Wildwood, NJ 08260.