Zulima Farber should not be paid for "spin" time
Several weeks ago, NJ Attorney General Zulima Farber raced to the rescue of her boyfriend who had gotten stopped by police in Bergen County for driving an unregistered minivan with an invalid license, only to subsequently duck out of the public spotlight until this week. According to a very unflattering article on by Mitch Maddux and Shawn Boburg in The Record:
Farber's actions do not surprise me at all, because I have seen her "prowess" before, back in February when I testified before the Homeland Security committee of the NJ Legislature at the request of Republican State Chair Tom Wilson, along with Sherine el-Abd, co-Chair of the NJ Arab-American Republican Caucus (to listen to my testimony, click here) regarding the Dubai Ports deal. Farber made a bumbling statement before the committee, full of the same unsophisticated rhetoric the Democrats were racing to the microphone to proclaim.
But Republican committee member Assemblyman Kevin O'Toole, who is also the Essex County Republican Chairman, made a fool out of Farber during his questioning. He pushed her as to why the State Director of Homeland Security was not present - she did not seem to know who held that position and if it even fell under her jurisdiction. I literally had to look at the floor to stop myself from bursting out laughing. O'Toole was that good.
And all the reporters covering that hearing saw Farber in action as well, including Mitch Maddux, who co-wrote today's piece.
Farber's appearance Friday was the first step in an apparently coordinated public relations campaign, following three weeks of silence, no public appearances and other efforts to skirt the issue. The attorney general also has hired a Princeton-based media consultant, Mickey Faigen. Farber also has scheduled individual interviews with reporters today.To be clear: With the state still in financial ruin, AG Farber should not be paid for any time she spends doing interviews to give her spin on actions she herself admitted were "inappropriate". And I would further like to know if her spin-meister will be paid from her own personal funds, or will the NJ taxpayers have to bear that burden as well?
Farber's actions do not surprise me at all, because I have seen her "prowess" before, back in February when I testified before the Homeland Security committee of the NJ Legislature at the request of Republican State Chair Tom Wilson, along with Sherine el-Abd, co-Chair of the NJ Arab-American Republican Caucus (to listen to my testimony, click here) regarding the Dubai Ports deal. Farber made a bumbling statement before the committee, full of the same unsophisticated rhetoric the Democrats were racing to the microphone to proclaim.
But Republican committee member Assemblyman Kevin O'Toole, who is also the Essex County Republican Chairman, made a fool out of Farber during his questioning. He pushed her as to why the State Director of Homeland Security was not present - she did not seem to know who held that position and if it even fell under her jurisdiction. I literally had to look at the floor to stop myself from bursting out laughing. O'Toole was that good.
And all the reporters covering that hearing saw Farber in action as well, including Mitch Maddux, who co-wrote today's piece.