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--:-- Sean Rameswaram: Good afternoon. Thank you all for being here today. Joining me at the podium is Nancy Solomon, host of the Dead End podcast. We're here today to announce the unsealing of a 13-count indictment charging George Norcross with leading a criminal enterprise.
--:-- Nancy Solomon: Yes, this New Jersey press conference was not your average press conference. Yes, you've got your podium, your reporters, your suits, your ties, but one guy in a suit in the very front row isn't wearing any socks.
--:-- Sean Rameswaram: [chuckles] We're here today to talk about the arraignment of six defendants in a really sweeping corruption case that involves the man who is considered the most powerful unelected person in the state. He's a party boss. He controls a lot of South Jersey. His name is George E. Norcross III.
--:-- Nancy Solomon: And he and his brother Phil and a former mayor of Camden and two business partners and his personal attorney, which is very unusual, have all been charged with a racketeering case. The indictment unsealed today contains 13 counts.
--:-- Sean Rameswaram: Count one charges all six defendants with a first-degree racketeering conspiracy in violation of NJSA 2C-412D. The pattern of racketeering activity alleged by the state includes violations of the Federal Hobbs Act, theft by extortion, financial facilitation of criminal activity. I mean, this is RICO. These are the statutes that were first written in the 60s to take down the mob.
--:-- Nancy Solomon: It's very unusual looking back over the last 20 years to see this kind of a case brought. This indictment alleges that a group of unelected private businessmen used their power and influence to get government at the state and local levels to aid their criminal enterprise and further its interests.
--:-- Sean Rameswaram: Ahead on Today Explained, we'll explore why New Jersey political corruption hits different. But first, a word from our sponsor, ServiceNow.
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--:-- Sean Rameswaram: Support for this show comes from ServiceNow. AI is only as powerful as the platform it's built into, don't you know? That's why it's no surprise that more than 85% of the Fortune 500 use the ServiceNow AI platform.
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--:-- Sean Rameswaram: Support for this show comes from strawberry.me. Be honest. Are you happy with your job? Or are you stuck in one you've outgrown? Or never wanted in the first place?
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--:-- Sean Rameswaram: Today, it's planned. New Jersey political corruption is not like your everyday political corruption. It's pretty bad. Some people have argued that it's the worst in the country.
--:-- Nancy Solomon: New Jersey politics is still under the grip of machine politics. I've been reporting on the state's politics for decades, and today is a big day on my beat.
--:-- Sean Rameswaram: Yes, it's the arraignment for six defendants in a really sweeping corruption case that involves the man who is considered the most powerful unelected person in the state.
--:-- Nancy Solomon: He's a party boss. He controls a lot of South Jersey. His name is George E. Norcross III. And he and his brother Phil and a former mayor of Camden and two business partners and his personal attorney, which is very unusual, have all been charged with a racketeering case.
--:-- Sean Rameswaram: The indictment unsealed today contains 13 counts. Count one charges all six defendants with a first-degree racketeering conspiracy in violation of NJSA 2C-412D.
--:-- Nancy Solomon: The pattern of racketeering activity alleged by the state includes violations of the Federal Hobbs Act, theft by extortion, financial facilitation of criminal activity. I mean, this is RICO. These are the statutes that were first written in the 60s to take down the mob.
--:-- Sean Rameswaram: It's very unusual looking back over the last 20 years to see this kind of a case brought. This indictment alleges that a group of unelected private businessmen used their power and influence to get government at the state and local levels to aid their criminal enterprise and further its interests.
--:-- Nancy Solomon: The Economic Opportunity Act, the new law, collapses five existing business tax incentive programs into two and lowers the threshold for participation so that small businesses can get state help as well as large ones.
--:-- Sean Rameswaram: So they get the land on the Camden waterfront, and then they and their business partners and their allies, their clients, get the tax breaks, which is basically, it's so generous, these tax breaks, that it's basically referred to as a free building program.
--:-- Nancy Solomon: You're able to get 100% of your investment to move into Camden and build a building or to move into Camden and rent a building that you get a free building. Quite a deal.
--:-- Sean Rameswaram: And in fact, $1.6 billion in state tax breaks went to Camden alone. And of that $1.6 billion in state tax breaks, $1.1 billion went to businesses either owned by or connected to George and Phil Norcross.
--:-- Nancy Solomon: Wow. How do you think a jury will see this character, George Norcross? I mean, it sounds like he makes a lot of people a lot of money.
--:-- Sean Rameswaram: It sounds like he can plead a case that, you know, he's just doing his job, which is developing southern Jersey and benefiting the residents of South Jersey.
--:-- Nancy Solomon: This is a central part of his defense. And I've talked to him about it numerous times over the course of my reporting. He has this line that he loves to say that it used to be in Camden that you could be murdered by drugs or by sex along the same block.
--:-- Sean Rameswaram: Like that is his line that he says. And he says he came in, it's his hometown, and he came back and he invested his own money. And everything is about, you know, Camden rising.
--:-- Nancy Solomon: And I think the other thing that he says and that will clearly be a part of the case is it illegal to be tough and to negotiate with your opponents and make threats. He will argue he's being a tough negotiator.
--:-- Sean Rameswaram: And so then the question becomes, well, you know, when does a threat become a criminal threat?
--:-- Nancy Solomon: It sounds like Norcross has been at this game for a long time. What changed? Why is he being tried now?
--:-- Sean Rameswaram: Yeah, I think a lot of that answer has to do with the state attorney general, Matt Plattkin. He's shown a real commitment to fighting corruption and going after powerful people.
--:-- Nancy Solomon: He worked as the chief counsel to Governor Phil Murphy during Governor Murphy's first term. And during that time, he was involved in Governor Murphy's audit of the state tax break program, which was a direct kind of shot across the bow of the Norcross machine.
--:-- Sean Rameswaram: We will not shy away from tough fights when they are the right fights. So he seems to be going for broke. He may go broke. But, you know, you got to respect a guy who's, you know, he's going for what he believes in.
--:-- Nancy Solomon: And he's met his match maybe in George Norcross. This is going to be one heck of a fight.
--:-- Sean Rameswaram: Yes. When Today Explained returns, Nancy is going to tell us the one about the U.S. senator with the gold bars who Googled how much gold bars are worth. Stick around.
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--:-- Sean Rameswaram: Support for Today Explained comes from Chime. Nobody likes fees and complicated banking, says Chime. And Chime gets that, says Chime.
--:-- Nancy Solomon: Chime is a financial technology company that says they understand that every dollar counts. So when you set up direct deposit through Chime, they say you get access to fee-free features, such as free overdraft coverage, getting paid up to two days early with direct deposit, so much more.
--:-- Sean Rameswaram: Chime says with qualifying direct deposits, you can be eligible for free overdraft up to $200 on debit card purchases and cash withdrawals. Plus, they say you don't need to worry about monthly fees or maintenance fees.
--:-- Nancy Solomon: You can work on your financial goals through Chime today. You can open an account in two minutes at chime.com slash explained.
--:-- Sean Rameswaram: That's chime.com slash explained. Chime feels like progress.
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--:-- Sean Rameswaram: Support for the show today comes from Life Kit, the podcast from NPR. What's in your life kit? I'm asking. They didn't ask that.
--:-- Nancy Solomon: Every day you have to make choices that might shape the direction of your life, but you can't flip to the back of the book to find an answer key. Instead, you can listen to the Life Kit podcast from NPR.
--:-- Sean Rameswaram: Life Kit offers real stories about common issues like relationships, finances, parenting, and your career. If you're looking to move with more intention or just need thoughtful guidance on living better, Life Kit delivers strategies to help you make meaningful, sustainable change from fitness routines to mental resilience, navigating personal goals to tackling burnout.
--:-- Nancy Solomon: Each episode is full of relevant insights and clear takeaways about things we all could use a little help with. LifeKit wants to help you approach your own life with confidence and clarity and walk away with a game plan you can implement right away.
--:-- Sean Rameswaram: Enough from me. Go listen to the show, LifeKit. It's a podcast from NPR.
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--:-- Sean Rameswaram: What are you listening to? Today explained. You know him? No.
--:-- Nancy Solomon: We are back with WNYC's Nancy Solomon, who's covering not one, but two major corruption cases in Jersey at the moment. We have a sitting U.S. senator that is charged with, in a bribery case, that is just kind of jaw-dropping at every level.
--:-- Sean Rameswaram: New Jersey's senior senator, Bob Menendez, is facing federal bribery charges. The Senate Democrat and his wife were indicted today. Menendez is accused of taking hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes from businessmen in New Jersey, as well as the Egyptian government.
--:-- Nancy Solomon: Investigators say they found gold bars and cash stuffed in jacket pockets bearing the senator's name. Tell us where we start with this one.
--:-- Sean Rameswaram: So in late September of last year, Bob Menendez, the chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, and his wife and three businessmen were charged in a scheme that involved Menendez helping the government of Egypt to get weapons sales that had been frozen because of human rights violations.
--:-- Nancy Solomon: And a New Jersey businessman who got a monopoly on halal meat certification for the entire United States exports to Egypt. Wael Hanna is one New Jersey businessman accused of paying bribes.
--:-- Sean Rameswaram: Prosecutors say Hanna wanted the senator's help securing an overseal's halal meat inspection business with the Egyptian government.
--:-- Nancy Solomon: As then chair of the Foreign Relations Committee, the senator oversaw hundreds of millions in aid to Egypt. In 2019, Hanna's firm, ISEG Halal, suddenly won an exclusive contract with Egypt.
--:-- Sean Rameswaram: In the indictment and in the trial that's going on right now, basically what's alleged is that Menendez accepted cash and gold bars to the tune of more than a half a million dollars and got Egypt its weapon sales, got the business guy a monopoly, on halal meat exports.
--:-- Nancy Solomon: Money from the halal meat exports was used to fund the bribery scheme.
--:-- Sean Rameswaram: Today I'm announcing that my office has obtained a three-count indictment charging Senator Robert Menendez, his wife Nadine Menendez, and three New Jersey businessmen, while Hanna, Jose Uribe, and Fred Davies for bribery offenses.
--:-- Nancy Solomon: And then he did a couple of other sundry allegedly illegal things for these businessmen in terms of running a little interference with both the federal prosecutor in New Jersey and the state attorney general trying to get help with other criminal cases that they were charged with.
--:-- Sean Rameswaram: And then there was a real estate deal involving one of the businessmen and the country of Qatar and getting the royal family there to invest in his deal.
--:-- Nancy Solomon: So it's a pretty wide ranging scheme and conspiracy.
--:-- Sean Rameswaram: In the grand scheme of New Jersey corruption, where does this Bob Menendez business, you know, rate? Where does it land?
--:-- Nancy Solomon: Oh, man. If he's convicted, if these charges are all proven to be true to a jury that will decide, you know, you have a sitting senator doing business with the country of Egypt while he's on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
--:-- Sean Rameswaram: And then the cash and the gold bars, like the cash was stuffed into his jacket, his bomber jacket with his insignia on the outside and his boots.
--:-- Nancy Solomon: And the gold bars were in his wife's closet. I mean, the house, it's like this little New Jersey ranch house that hasn't been renovated since the 1980s.
--:-- Sean Rameswaram: And they've got a half a million dollars like stuffed and, you know, sweatshirt pockets and Burberry bags.
--:-- Nancy Solomon: It was just, it's just the details are mind-boggling. A duffel bag with $100,000 in the basement. Other bags with thousands more.
--:-- Sean Rameswaram: And even more cash found in closets, in boxes, and in shoes.
--:-- Nancy Solomon: The FBI says this is what they found executing the bribery-related search warrant at Senator and Nadine Menendez's Anglewood Cliffs home.
--:-- Sean Rameswaram: Wasn't there also something about he was just Googling Like how much are gold bars worth?
--:-- Nancy Solomon: Exactly. Yes. How much is gold worth? Oh, my gosh. Amazing.
--:-- Sean Rameswaram: Are Democrats in New Jersey at any risk of losing this seat? Does this case with Menendez stink that badly?
--:-- Nancy Solomon: Well, you know, there's an extra little wrinkle. Hello, this is Senator Bob Menendez. For the last 19 years, I've had the honor and privilege of...
--:-- Sean Rameswaram: [interrupting] Which is that he has filed to run as an independent in the November election.
--:-- Nancy Solomon: I know many of you are hurt and disappointed in me with the accusations I'm facing. Believe me, I am disappointed at the false accusations as well.
--:-- Sean Rameswaram: So we have the Democratic Congressman Andy Kim who won the primary and is quite popular in the state running against a Republican Curtis Bashaw who has very little name recognition no political experience but money
--:-- Nancy Solomon: So I don't think anybody would consider that that was a race that the Democrats are going to lose. But when you have Menendez, like, does he come in and just muck up the Democrats' chances enough to make it a real race?
--:-- Sean Rameswaram: I think it's possible, but I still think Andy Kim has a pretty clear path to victory on this one.
--:-- Nancy Solomon: But, you know, I don't know. You know, these are crazy political times. It's, you know, nobody wants to be like trying to predict something at this point because it's kind of insane.
--:-- Sean Rameswaram: Okay, we'll give you a pass then.
--:-- Nancy Solomon: Is this level of corruption we see in New Jersey, is it like a particularly like Democratic thing or is it a Republican thing too?
--:-- Sean Rameswaram: Yeah, I mean, it only looks like a Democratic thing in New Jersey because there are more Democrats. There's a million more registered Democrats, and then there's a whole lot of independents who don't register with the party.
--:-- Nancy Solomon: You know, so the Republicans are fairly weak in the state. And the way that you build a political machine, whether it is just an effective political organization or whether it's a corrupt criminal enterprise, you do that by having a lot of votes to leverage in your county.
--:-- Sean Rameswaram: And so you just have a lot of Democratic voters and the party bosses have been able to, you know, use that as a way to build power in the state.
--:-- Nancy Solomon: Do you think with the Norcross trial and the Menendez trial happening at the same time, is there enough coverage and controversy for this to be something of a turning point for New Jersey? Or is there just some light being shed on something that's, I don't know, too entrenched a tradition to change?
--:-- Sean Rameswaram: I think it's possible. I mean, I think the caveat is that many a party boss has gone to prison and the next party boss just came right in and took his place.
--:-- Nancy Solomon: And I'll say his because it's been men. So I think there is a scenario in which not a whole lot changes, even if a few people go to prison.
--:-- Sean Rameswaram: But, you know, I think there is this sort of perfect storm of a crusading attorney general who seems, at least from the outside looking in, seems to have integrity and a real desire to challenge what he sees as wrongdoing.
--:-- Nancy Solomon: And you have an activist base that came, really started to grow after the first Trump election in 2016.
--:-- Sean Rameswaram: Whether Republicans retain a majority in the House of Representatives or Democrats take control comes down to a few key races around the nation.
--:-- Nancy Solomon: Two seats in New Jersey are becoming bellwethers because they're taking place in moderate Republican districts.
--:-- Sean Rameswaram: And so you have this political movement that rose up against Donald Trump and flipped several congressional seats in 2018.
--:-- Nancy Solomon: And so you've got that happening at the same time. And then you've got these high profile criminal charges and investigations and trials.
--:-- Sean Rameswaram: So I think there is a scenario in which, you know, we do see some real reforms and change happening.
--:-- Nancy Solomon: I think it's going to take many years, though.
--:-- Sean Rameswaram: And what would that change look like?
--:-- Nancy Solomon: It would look like a more diverse state legislature where people elected to the state legislature don't get reelected year in and year out because of the machine backing, but actually face competitive primaries because they voted against the interests of their constituents.
--:-- Sean Rameswaram: That would be, you know, number one on my list.
--:-- Nancy Solomon: It would be ballots that are laid out the way the rest of the 49 states do it so that they're fair. and just, you know, more transparency and openness in terms of like, you know, where the money comes from and how these elections happen and who is the power behind them.
--:-- Sean Rameswaram: And, you know, all of that, I think, would lead to more reform candidates, more women, more people of color and more young people.
--:-- Nancy Solomon: And we would start to see real change.
--:-- Sean Rameswaram: Do you think the corruption and the messiness of New Jersey politics tells us anything about the messiness and corruption on the federal level?
--:-- Nancy Solomon: I mean, the day that George Norcross showed up at the press conference of the attorney general and stared him down was so Trumpy, right? I mean, it just was. It was hard not to think about that connection.
--:-- Sean Rameswaram: You know, I think one of the things going on nationally that relates very much to what's going on in New Jersey is the dark money in politics and the Supreme Court and members of the Supreme Court accepting gifts and favors from, you know, wealthy people.
--:-- Nancy Solomon: And I think you see that, I mean, what Bob Menendez was doing is just kind of like a few ticks beyond what is legal and what happens everywhere.
--:-- Sean Rameswaram: There is a definite connection between the problems that we see at the federal level, primarily with the influence of money in politics and what we see here in New Jersey, for sure.
--:-- Nancy Solomon: Nancy Solomon, WNYC.
--:-- Sean Rameswaram: Nancy hosted a great show about New Jersey corruption and maybe murder? It's called Dead End, a New Jersey political murder mystery. And it features a whole lot more of George Norcross, if you couldn't get enough today. Find it wherever you find your podcasts.
--:-- Sean Rameswaram: This episode of Today Explained was produced by Peter Balanon-Rosen with help from Hadi Mawagdeh. We were edited by Matthew Collette, fact-checked by Laura Bullard, mixed by Patrick Boyd and Andrea Christensdottir. I'm Sean Rameswaram for more from us tomorrow.
