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Briana: Tonight on NJ Spotlight News -- Will Senator Menendez point the finger at his wife?

Brian: it will not only exonerate him but hopefully minimize the exposure she might ultimately receive.

Briana: Plus rank-choice voting.

Is it the answer to all the ballot line ballot programs?

Jersey City thinks so.

Sen. Zwicker: I really love the green party.

I'm going to vote for the Green party candidate first, I'm going to vote for a Democrat or Republican second.

That is exactly how it should work.

Briana: Also, New Jersey residents are split on whether guns increase protection from home intruders.

And promises made, but can they be helped?

Northjersey.com uncover some of the backdoor deals made for the FIFA World Cup.

Katie: They want tax breaks, anything that can minimize what they are paying, they want a way to do that.

Also, the state has outright agrees to free public transportation.

Briana: NJ Spotlight News begins right now.

♪ >> From NJPBS Studios, this is NJ Spotlight News, with Briana Vannozzi.

Briana: Good evening and thanks for joining us this Wednesday night.

I am Briana Vannozzi.

U.S.

Senator Bob Menendez is poised to blame his wife during his upcoming federal corruption trial, according to newly unsealed documents in the case, Menendez may point a finger at his spouse, Nadine Menendez, for bribery charges the couple is facing.

She had information from him.

The couple is accused of accepting cash, gold bars, and other bribes in exchange for using Menendez's political influence.

The bombshell revelation was contained in just two sentences of an unredacted court filing, reading "While these explanations...will tend to exonerate Senator Menendez by demonstrating the absence of any improper intent on Senator Menendez's part, they may inculpate Nadine by demonstrating the ways in which she withheld information from Senator Menendez or otherwise led him to believe that nothing unlawful was taking place."

Experts say that tactic could protect the senator and, because I'll spousal privilege, also his wife.

Here to explain how his attorney Brian Whisler, an attorney who has experience with this strategy.

Thanks for coming on the show.

Explain to me how this strategy works in a way that would both exonerate the senator but potentially also benefit his wife.

I'm unclear on that.

Brian: Yeah.

I mean, I think in the first sentence, the approved by the senator is one that is, like one would say, creative and certainly is borrowing from a playbook in a recent case involving Governor McDonald from the Commonwealth of Virginia, who took a similar strategy in his corruption trial, and unfortunately he was not successful, but it was a very similar strategy.

Briana: So this would rely on Senator Menendez taking the stand.

If he does, he could share conversations he's had with his wife that would prove he did not know that there was anything illegal going on, or he was unaware of any wrongdoing.

Wouldn't that then essentially cast the blame on her?

Brian: Well, it certainly would.

It is obviously a topic that is designed to not only exonerate him but hope we minimize the exposure that she might ultimately receive.

Part of the thinking may be that juries tend to be more synthetic to spouses.

She is not the political figure.

She follows his lead for the most part, so perhaps it would result in a benefit to both, as you suggested.

Of course, in my view, jurors are generally pretty savvy, and they can surmise that this might be a ploy to design, you know, to achieve a successful outcome for both, when in fact the evidence may not necessarily point that way.

Briana: So what changes, now that it appears they are going to have separate trials?

If the senator takes the stand, which we know it has been rare that defendants take the stand in their cases, but if he does, can that evidence then be used in Nadine Menendez's trial, or does spousal privilege negate that?

Brian: He would be waiving that if he takes the stand and describes various communications that are occurring between the two spouses.

It is the only viable way, from an evidentiary standpoint, that that the evidence can come in in support of his defense, that he did not have sufficient state of mind, whereas she did.

Briana: Is there a way that they use this tactic and they come out unscathed and keep the marriage intact?

Because it seems like a lot of fingers are going to be pointed.

Brian: It is a possibility.

It is quite a challenging defense to mount.

It is significantly challenges for a jury to look at this and conclude that the spouse, the nonpolitical spouse in this case, was the mastermind or the driver of a scheme.

Now, look, it all depends on the evidence at the end of the day, right?

I was at the McDonald trial.

I represented the cabinet members and the staff, the senior staff.

I saw this theory advanced, and it was done very elaborately, to separate, to create a wide gulf between the two spouses.

And it just was not successful.

Briana: Brian Whisler is an attorney and a former federal prosecutor.

Thank you always for your insight.

Brian: Great to speak with you.

Have a great day.

Briana: Even if Senator Menendez is convicted of a crime, he will not lose his pension, at least not right away.

Menendez will be allowed to collect his federal pension until he exhausts all appeal options and gets what is known as a final conviction.

That process could take years, and under federal law, federal pensioners can use the money anyway they like all they are incarcerated.

A bill pending could change that.

It could cut off those charged with a number of crimes, including some Menendez is charged with.

The legislation passed in the Senate and is pending in the house and has bipartisan support.

You can read more about it on our website, NJSpotlight.org.

A new state investigation finds the $40 million vaccination program had little oversight that caused wasteful and even abusive spending of taxpayer dollars.

The state comptroller reports that widespread problems like overpaying vendors and questionable paychecks to workers who held other public jobs.

But as Senior correspondent Brenda Flanagan reports, defenders of Essex County's work say the report only tells one side of the story.

Brenda: Essex County pushed hard and fast to get his residents vaccinated against COVID.

It managed to fully open five fully staffed sites, including a Kmart, offering shots and testing as it scrambled the vaccine and promoted the jab.

Joe: We had to be first and we had to be prepared.

We had no choice.

Brenda: Ultimately, the county administered more than 622,000 COVID shots.

But a report released Tuesday by the acting state comptroller says problems plagued how the county spent some of its $40 million in federal COVID-19 funding.

The state comptroller cites "significant deficiencies" in the way Essex County obtained supplies, monitored contracts, and oversaw vendors -- shortcomings that "exposed the County to avoidable risks of fraud, waste and abuse" of public funds.

The comptroller noted, "The government's obligation to protect taxpayer funds doesn't go away during an emergency."

Marc: The idea of, don't screw up, follow the rules, follow the procedures, and it becomes easier that way.

At least make every effort to document what you've done, so you can minimize the sting if something were to happen.

Brenda: Rutgers' Marc Pfeiffer says they do use it to make decisions as they confront the blocked supply chains, but the comptroller found Essex overused that perk and violated public bidding rules.

It made 15 payments totaling more than $870,000 with no invoices, spent $17 million on extra workers without properly recording whether they all showed up, paid one staffer $130,000 but never explained what she did, and paid a robocall vendor an extra $110,000, an oversight Essex didn't notice until the comptroller pointed it out.

Marc: And that is my point, not on contract managing.

Not enough resources were spent to manage those contracts to ensure that controls were in place and there was monitoring done to prevent that type of a circumstance from happening.

And then, monitoring to see, if it did happen, what do you do about it?

Brenda: Essex did fire workers with questionable hours, and Essex will let it pay -- repay that money with an unsigned zero interest loan.

Essex County Executive Joe DiVincenzo said the comptroller's report a "gotcha" that is "unbalanced, unfair and does not accurately depict Essex County's response to the pandemic.

The comptroller's document is riddled with inaccuracies.

I'm not saying that we were perfect, but when any wrongdoing was identified, we acted swiftly."

Other critics agreed.

John: They are looking to make headlines just to make headlines.

Brenda: John Donnadio, executive director of the New Jersey Association of Counties, criticized what he called the acting state comptroller's "Monday morning quarter-backing," which ignores Essex County's overall performance.

John: They focused on the negative, which is, again, we will find ways, fraud, and abuse.

It was a challenge.

It was a real problem.

And I'm repeating myself, there is no resource for Essex County to go to a judiciary.

Brenda: The comptroller recommends Essex should hire an auditor to justify expenses, just in case the feds come looking to claw back some of that pandemic aid.

I am Brenda Flanagan, NJ Spotlight News.

Briana: We have breaking news.

A federal appeals court is upholding the decision to scrap the party line for the June 4th democratic primary.

Those candidates will run.

The appellate judge also wrote you believe the broader argument against the already line will eventually succeed as it moves through the work, and that might not be the only change coming to New Jersey's ballot design.

Jersey City recently passing ordinance to switch to what is known as rank-choice voting, where voters rank candidates by preference.

If no candidate gets more than 50% of the vote, it automatically triggers a runoff between the top two vote getters.

As Ted Goldberg reports, the method is already used in New York City local elections and appears to be gaining traction here.

Ted: With the county line on its last legs, some leaders say, why stop there when it comes to changing New Jersey's ballot?

Councilman Solomon: We have the worst ballots when it came to the line.

Now let's not just rid of the line, let's have the most possible ballot that encourages people to get active.

Ted: Rank-choice voting to come to Jersey City in Hoboken as soon as next year.

Both cities have passed ordinances letting people rank their top choices when they vote.

Councilman James Solomon was one of those yes votes.

Councilman Solomon: It encourages people to participate.

It reduces toxic campaigning, because it reduces the incentive to be negative against their opponents, right?

It allows first choice and not just engage in strategic voting, well, I like this candidate more, but they are not going to win.

Ted: Before they can implement rank-choice voting, Trenton has to pass a law and voters must pass it with a referendum.

Senator Andrew Zwicker has repeatedly sponsored a bill that would do this, saying rank-choice voting what cleanup elections them a little.

Sen. Zwicker: I have to convince them that if I want to win, some percentage of his supporters that put me second, and if I just relentlessly and negatively attack him, there's no penalty of any kind.

Ted: Senator Zwicker spoke at a rank-choice voting yesterday at Stockton University.

Republican Senator Vince Polistina says he agrees with Zwicker, showing there could be a bipartisan push.

Sen. Polistina: I think for the standard and increase voter turnout, getting more candidates, getting more people a voice, you would see more people engaged, more people taking advantage of it, so from that standpoint of getting more people involved, I think it would be a great thing.

Ted: Activists say rank-choice voting is a common-sense measure.

One activist even said not allowing it is unconstitutional.

Herb: It is my hypothesis that it is a First Amendment violation and that voice voting stalls.

If you want somebody first and somebody second, you can now do that in rank-choice voting, but you cannot currently express that.

Sue: When a friend of yours goes out to the lunchroom, if I want pizza, if they don't have pizza, I want a hamburger, if they don't have hamburger, I want whatever.

We live our lives with rank-choice voting all the time.

Ted: Voters in Maine use rank-choice voting, and so did New York for mayor.

Sen. Zwicker: I really love the green party.

I'm going to vote for the Green party candidate first, I'm going to vote for a Democrat or Republican second.

That is exactly how it should work.

Ted: Councilman Solomon says he is optimistic that Trenton can get Zwicker's bill passed the finish, despite the fact that it a similar bill received no traction last year and a current version has no traction either.

Councilmember Solomon: Governor Murphy, the legislative leaders, they have a chance now, with the end of the line, to leave a legacy of we truly adapt the system that will transform New Jersey for decades, centuries, with a truly representative democracy.

Ted: Ballots statewide could look different with rent choice voting and without the County line, but a lot of changes have to happen when we see these changes when we pull the lever.

In Jersey City, I am Ted Goldberg, NJ Spotlight News.

Briana: A ballot question put before some Jersey shore voters, Seaside Heights residents rejected a proposal to merge their school district, which has just a single school, with Tom's Regional School District.

While voters in Tom's regional voters overwhelmingly approved the plan, they scrapped the deal, Seaside Heights provision failed, which means the board elementary school, which serves about 180 students, will remain open indefinitely.

If the merger had gone through, the board would have closed after five years, and Seaside Heights students would have been sent to Toms River.

New Jersey is divided on whether having a gun in the home will keep your family safe.

According to a new Rutgers poll out today, residents have mixed reactions on the benefits of owning a firearm.

Nearly 32% of those surveyed don't believe having a firearm in the home lowers the risk of intruders entering the home and harming someone, while about one-quarter think it greatly lowers the risk.

In partnership with the gun violence research Center, residents are also mixed how risky it is to live in a home with a gun present.

33% felt OK about it, feeling it is not increase the risk of accidents or suicide, while a combined 36% felt it has some risk, and 25% think there's a much greater chance for one of those incidents to occur.

Studies have shown secured storage of a firearm and other prevention efforts do reduce the risk of suicide and unintentional shootings.

The poll comes as gun applications have soared in the state.

Meanwhile, undergrad students at all three of Rutgers campuses appear to be aligned on one contentious topic, voting in favor overwhelmingly of divesting the University from Israeli companies as the war in Gaza continues.

More than 70% of students who voted at the Camden, New Brunswick, and Newark campus is agreed on the referendum, which calls on the administration to sell off certain assets or holdings with Israel and cancel the school's partnership with Tel Aviv University.

Supporters argue that school has ties with Israeli security and arm companies.

The vote was held as part of the assembly spring elections, and they face pressure to be canceled from pro-Israel organizations on campus.

The group argues that investment undermines Israel's legitimacy and creates a division among students as tensions remain high.

The vote, though, does not mean the school will comply.

University President Jonathan Holloway says he does not support the move to divest or sever ties with Tel Aviv University.

In our spotlight on business report, what exactly did New Jersey promised to win hosting duties for the FIFA World Cup final?

After months of design denied public record request, two NewJersey.com reporters got their hands on a report.

It shows what state and city taxpayers will be on the hook to pay for and how much we do not know for estimates for total cost, which could balloon into hundreds of millions of dollars.

Katie Sobko is the statehouse reporter for NorthJersey.com who successfully won access to those documents.

She joins me now to share what she uncovered.

Katie, good to see you.

Thanks so much for coming on the show.

I'm going to get into in a minute just the sheer difficulty you had getting what are public records, but first let me ask you, what were the top line items that stuck out to you from this contract?

Katie: Obviously the contract as a whole is very long, there are amendments, so just in general, the contract has a lot involved in it.

But the big ticket items are FIFA wants some tax exemptions, there's nothing justified in the report but they want tax exemptions, they want tax breaks.

Also, the state has outright agreed to free public transportation for events, including the games themselves, including Fan Fest event, anything going on within that six-weeks window, four games at MetLife, they want trains, buses, free public transportation.

Now, there are lines in the contract that are similar to other cities that have since rolled back.

We don't know if that is going to happen here, but as it stands, there is nothing legally obligating them to roll it back.

Briana: That raises some eyebrows.

As we were reminded, they just hiked, raised fares by 15%, you have this massive budget deficit it is looking at.

What else did we find out about what taxpayers could be on the hook for?

Do we have an exact number, just a roundabout number at this point?

Katie: We have no numbers.

We have numbers as to what we are paying so far.

The sports business authority is responsible for what happens at MetLife and on the grounds.

So far, they paid for stadium renovations.

New Jersey transit is paying for design work to figure out how to do the transit way, to make it, so there are not of the problems that happened with the Super Bowl in 2014, so we know some of the money that has been spent, but overall, we don't know how much it is to cost.

Briana: To be fair, it is difficult as we talked to folks to really understand how much is going to be spent on this and how much will come back.

You all had a really difficult time obtaining these records.

Did you uncover anything else about how we are splitting the cost, because it is being billed as a New York-New Jersey hosting team.

Did you uncover anything about that, how we will split the costs and the benefits?

Katie: Well, New York is signed on to the contract.

They are another body on the contract.

There is no contract between the state, the business authority and New York City in terms of paying for the work that needs to be done to meet the FIFA requirements.

New York will have to pay for their own Fan Fest and fan activities.

Obviously, there will be a watch party in Central Park, and that is up to New York to pay for, much like New Jersey is going to have to pay for a Fan Fest in Liberty State Park.

But in terms of the work being actually done at the stadium, in terms of the beautification, all of the areas, there's nothing on paper that says New York is going to reimburse New Jersey for what is going to be paid for that.

Briana: The devil, as they say, is in the details.

Katie Sobko with NorthJersey.com, thanks for sharing your reporting.

Katie: Absolutely.

Thank you.

Briana: Cleanup is said to go on at a polluted site in Newark's North Ward thanks to a $19 million proposed settlement by the EPA Tuesday.

Focus is on the Riverside industrial Park, a seven-acre lot of land on the banks of the Passaic River that was home to all sorts of chemical manufacturing throughout the 20th century.

The settlement requires PPG industries, the company responsible for the historic pollution, to spend nearly $60 million to clean up the site.

PPG will also have to pay back roughly $3 million that the state authorities have already spent on the site.

It is one of four Superfund cleanups in Newark, and dealing with Riverside industrial Park will also help remediate the largest of those sites, the Passaic River itself.

The settlement is now subject to a public comment period.

Before it is finalized.

Turning to Wall Street, stocks slipped today.

After a strong first quarter, Marcus have struggled to make a comeback and appear to have a bumpy path ahead.

Here are today's trading numbers.

And that does it for us, but make sure to tune into Chat Box with David Cruz tomorrow night.

David looks at the state's climate goals and whether New Jersey is falling short meeting them.

That is Thursday at 6:00 p.m. on our NJ Spotlight News YouTube channel.

I am Briana Vannozzi.

For the entire NJ Spotlight News team, thanks for being with us.

Have a great evening.

We will see you back here tomorrow night.

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Whether it is your home or business, we have worked on the issues that matter.

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