It turns out President Trump’s nominee for FBI director, Christopher Wray, is not only still working as Gov. Chris Christie’s personal Bridgegate attorney, but was representing the governor long before he had a retainer agreement with the state of New Jersey.

Wray worked for Christie nearly a year before signing a mandatory retainer agreement in 2015, according to WNYC. The 11-month wait is raising eyebrows, and some are speculating it could mean Christie, who had presidential aspirations, didn’t want the world to know he had a taxpayer-funded criminal defense attorney.

Wray — who earned $340 an hour — and his law firm billed taxpayers $2.1 million for their services related to Bridgegate, even though the governor was never charged nor asked to testify about the plot to cause some traffic problems in Fort Lee. Wray’s FBI nomination cleared the Senate Judiciary Committee last week and he now awaits a full vote by the U.S. Senate.

Quote of the Day: “If you look at the statistics, you frankly have a better chance of beating a murder rap that you do a parking ticket.” – Assemblyman John McKeon (D-Essex) on municipal judges feeling pressure to bring in fine revenue to support city budgets.

Acting Governor Sweeney Has 51 Bills on His Desk

New Jersey’s constitution is a wonderful document written in the august period of enlightenment after the Allies won World War II. Today, it gives extraordinary powers to one man — acting Gov. Steve Sweeney — a Democrat who is usually the state Senate president but who on July 24 and 25, 2017, breathes the rarefied air that comes with being both the state’s top lawmaker and the head of its executive branch.

Salvador Rizzo, Observer Read more

Lawyer Who May or May Not Challenge Pascrell Has Raised $750K

Rep. Bill Pascrell (D-9) rarely breaks a sweat running for re-election, with the one notable exception being 2012 when redistricting forced him and former Rep. Steve Rothman, a fellow Democrat, into one district.

Alyana Alfaro, Observer Read more

Murphy, NJ Democrats Pick Delgado to Lead Coordinated Campaign

Longtime Democratic operative Iris M. Delgado will lead a coordinated campaign between gubernatorial candidate Phil Murphy and the Democratic State Committee, Murphy’s campaign announced Monday.

Christian Hetrick, Observer Read more

NJ’s Largest Business Group: Garrett Wrong for Ex-Im Bank

The state’s largest business group, the New Jersey Business and Industry Association, is calling on former Rep. Scott Garrett to withdraw from consideration as President Trump’s nominee to lead the Export-Import Bank, the official export credit agency of the United States.

Alyana Alfaro, Observer Read more

NJ Supreme Court Rules Against Horizon in Fight With Hospitals

The state Supreme Court ruled Monday that New Jersey’s largest health insurance company, Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield, must turn over a report it used to create its controversial OMNIA plan to four hospitals who are challenging that plan in court.

Christian Hetrick, Observer Read more

Money Pours in to Jersey City, Hoboken Mayoral Races

Things are heating up as two Hudson River towns –Jersey City and Hoboken– prepare for November mayoral races.

Alyana Alfaro, Observer Read more

Assembly issues subpoena to NJ Transit, says Christie may be stonewalling

New Jersey lawmakers, saying they had been “stonewalled” by the Christie administration, issued their first subpoena since the George Washington Bridge scandal on Monday, demanding the state’s troubled commuter agency hand over numerous records dating back nearly eight years.

Politico Read more

Time to Take Another Crack at Closing State Budget Gap

State lawmakers are taking another crack at enacting legislation that would overhaul the way New Jersey forecasts tax collections, after the past two fiscal years ended with Gov. Chris Christie’s administration scrambling to close budget shortfalls that totaled a combined $1 billion.

NJSpotlight Read more

Top lawmaker: Christie should stay in power when he’s out of state

In a rare event, state Senate President Stephen Sweeney will temporarily be elevated to the most powerful position in New Jersey government the next two days, serving as the state’s acting governor because both Gov. Chris Christie and Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno are in Colorado for a Republican Governors Association conference. But such a scenario may never happen again if Sweeney gets his way.

NJ.com Read more

Political analyst: NJ Voters weary, wary and cynical

Brigid Harrison: “Well, I think that (Guadagno) is having money problems. I think the money problems are so severe that her opponent has taken the really radical step of saying I’m going to participate in this public matching fund program, in a sense limiting the amount of money that he can spend, because it’s clear he believes that she will have a lot of difficulty having funds to succeed Chris Christie.”

NJTV Watch

Christie demands changes to strict group home oversight bill spurred by choking death

Gov. Chris Christie said he would sign a law that imposes tougher oversight over group homes for people with developmental disabilities, but not the “impractical” version state lawmakers approved last month.

NJ.com Read more

Feel like NJ courts are just money-makers? Here are the ideas to change that

There’s a growing sentiment to do something about tamping down use of municipal courts to generate fines to support a city or town’s budget.

NJ101.5 Read more

Prescription Database Helps Police Bust Physician-Led Opiate Ring

In addition to allowing physicians to identify potential substance abuse, New Jersey’s opioid prescription database has also become an effective tool for law enforcement, helping them track down prescribers who are improperly distributing these highly addictive drugs.

NJSpotlight Read more

Christie hogs the stage for opioid pitch. Tough luck, addicts!

Brace yourself: The governor is about to use tax dollars to puff up his image as a hero in the fight against addiction by appearing in another series of TV and radio ads this fall.

NJ.com Read more

Former Speaker Sheila Oliver to Run With Phil Murphy

First elected to the General Assembly in 2004, Oliver served as speaker from 2010 to 2014.

InsiderNJ Read more