New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy is term-limited and will be replaced next January; considering he has an approval rating somewhere between George Santos and Norovirus, my assumption is that he won’t be seeking higher office for at least a little while.
That being said, he might not be out of the news when his successor gets elected this November — all thanks to a stupid admission he made during what The New York Times charitably described as “a freewheeling discussion at a New Jersey college” back in February.
According to a Friday report in the Times, Murphy is being subpoenaed by interim U.S. attorney Alina Habba, the top federal prosecutor in New Jersey, regarding comments he made about hiding a woman who he intimated might have been an illegal immigrant in his attic.
“FBI agents have since sought to interview at least four witnesses in connection with the comments, two of the people said, with one adding that the governor had been subpoenaed but not questioned,” the paper reported.
“Two of the people with knowledge of the investigation involving Mr. Murphy’s comments indicated that it was separate from any Justice Department inquiry related to New Jersey’s so-called sanctuary policy, which has been upheld by a federal appeals court. There has been no public sign of that inquiry moving forward.”
The investigation began after remarks Murphy made at an event hosted by progressive group Blue Wave New Jersey.
“There is someone in our broader universe whose immigration status is not yet at the point that they are trying to get it to,” Murphy said.
“And we said, ‘You know what? Let’s have her live at our house above our garage.’
“And good luck to the feds coming in to try to get her,” he added, defiantly.
Should Murphy face charges if his statement were true?
At the time, border czar Tom Homan said that Murphy’s remarks were definitely on his radar.
“I think the governor is pretty foolish,” Homan said. “I got note of it, won’t let it go. We’ll look into it.”
“And if he’s knowingly — knowingly — harboring, concealing an illegal alien, that’s a violation of Title 8, United States Code 1324. I would seek prosecution, or the secretary would seek prosecution.”
JUST IN: Border Czar Tom Homan says he plans on going after NJ Governor Phil Murphy who taunted the Trump admin when he revealed that he was housing an illegal immigrant.
Murphy: We are housing an illegal above our garage. Good luck to the Feds who will try to get her.
Homan:… pic.twitter.com/a9JmGp5Nmo
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) February 4, 2025
Meanwhile a representative for the governor told the New York Post that Murphy had been “misinterpreted” and that no undocumented garage-dwellers were at the governor’s house.
“No one’s ever lived in the home” in the way Murphy described, the spokesperson said, adding that the individual he was referring to was legally in the country, as well.
Well, now that he’s potentially under subpoena, we’ll see how much of that is true — although both sides are keeping tight-lipped about where this is going.
“The governor’s office declined to comment on the federal inquiry on Friday. A spokeswoman for the U.S. attorney’s office also declined to comment,” the Times reported.
“A person close to Mr. Murphy said the governor was not aware of any pending investigation against him.”
That being said, it could inject Murphy into a gubernatorial race that the Democrats definitely don’t want him involved in. Murphy won a second term by a slimmer-than-expected margin to MAGA favorite Jack Ciattarelli, a former member of the New Jersey General Assembly who’s running for the GOP again.
The Democrats, meanwhile, went safe with moderate-ish U.S. Rep. Mikie Sherrill, a veteran and watered-down wannabe Hillary type. (No bathroom servers, though — yet.)
The poll numbers, however, have already been closer than Dems would like when you consider that they’ve been running away from Murphy and wokeness.
If both of those were to rear their ugly heads in the heat of the campaign season, it’d be a heck of a shame — one Republicans and immigration hawks would welcome, both as an opportunity and as an example of where thoughtless progressive allyship will get you.
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