The culture of corruption was on full display today as federal investigators announced indictments of 44 people in New York and New Jersey on bribery and money-laundering charges — a perp-walk that featured three New Jersey mayors and two state Assembly members.
The politicians are accused of taking bribes. And five rabbis are accused of laundering it through their non-profit religious institutions, while keeping a cut for themselves. One Brooklyn man, who was among the 44 charged today, was even accused of trying to broker a $160,000 deal for a kidney transplant.
The story hit like a lightning bolt, sending shockwaves through a state political culture one might assume had become inured to charges of corruption and malfeasance.
But the sheer size of the sting — considered a record — makes it difficult to fathom, especially coming in the wake of the conviction of several high-profile New Jersey pols. I would have assumed that the fate of powerbrokers like John Lynch (former New Brunswick mayor and state Senate president), Sharpe James (former Newark mayor and state senator) and Wayne Bryant (former head of the Senate Budget Committee) would have left other pols a bit gunshy when it came to bad behavior.
But I guess one should not assume anything.
The fallout so far has included the resignation of Joseph Doria, state commissioner of community affairs, and calls by members of both parties for the resignation of those now under indictment.
It’s been a rare show of bipartisanship — bipartisan revulsion? — that I suspect will fade in the coming days as the Republicans attempt to make political hay out of the indictments and Democrats respond.
But I think FBI Special Agent in Charge Weysan Dun summed up the reality of what we face here — the nonpartisan nature of corruption:
“The fact that we arrested a number of rabbis this morning does not make this a religiously motivated case. Nor does the fact that we arrested political figures make this a politically motivated case,” Dun said. “This case is not about politics. It is certainly not about religion. It is about crime and corruption. It is about arrogance, and it is about a shocking betrayal of the public trust. It is about criminals who used politics and religion to engage in criminal activities and enrich themselves while betraying those who trusted them.”
One would hope that today’s arrests lead to a renewed effort to tighten ethics rules and strengthen penalties in corruption cases. With each public official under indictment, the fog of suspicion grows, trust weakens and the work of government — the public’s work — becomes that much more difficult to accomplish.
Hank Kalet 