Wow, this story about Russo for Hoboken's disappearing $18K is sweeping across town like a brush fire!
Don't expect The Hoboken Reporter or Al Sullivan to write about it again.
No, they sat on the mayor's letter long enough to whip up a 'below the fold' piece so Zimmer wouldn't 'break' the story they've collectively ignored for years. Of course they knew about it; The Hoboken Reporter hits this site everyday and GA wrote the story last April.
Yet letters from $40 campaign workers disparaging administration allies pop up like weeds on their Editorial pages. And if some political operative calls from Jersey City or Weehawken with manufactured 'news' (or Photoshopped documents with ginned up Nazi-tales) The Hoboken Reporter is ALL OVER IT.
This week, Sullivan printed 2 paragraphs about Roman Brice- without calling Brice to verify the 'facts', to vet the story prior to publication, to check it's accuracy. And he knows better.
The fact that his source was most likely an operative- a person with an agenda and interest in the outcome- a professional spinner- is besides the point. The fact he dumped on Brice says to me that Sullivan has little respect for Brice. It says adopted the agenda of his spinners which is to damage this blogger.sully00 August 18, 2012 5:12 PMSadly, you're wrong, GA. Objective reporting means telling all sides if possible. That's not what blogs do, often ignoring facts inconsistent their their preconceptions.
And if Al is 'sorry' that doesn't cut it. He let political operative mud go to print. And now the fake 'news' languishes online. Why hasn't it been pulled?
But, I digress... the story people are buzzing about is this:
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| Russo for Hoboken ELEC- Treasurer John Castellano is Campaign Manager for Move Forward BoE slate |
That was THEN: The 7/15/08 filing shows an account balance of $18,420.81.
This is NOW: Russo submitted a photo of a bank statement dated last month showing that the “Russo for Hoboken” account remains open with a small balance of $1,190.81.
Whoa... Russo submitted a "photo" of a bank statement? A "photo"? Oh, that's cute. Russo and the HR shared a Kodak moment.
Why a photo instead of a copy of the actual statement? All it takes is one of these:
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| copy machine for copying bank statements and other stuff |
OK, so... anyone got a calculator? Let's see, $18,420.81 minus $1,190.81.
That's... $17,230 MISSING from the Russo for Hoboken account.
And all that dough disappeared on the watch of Russo For Hoboken Treasurer John Castellano, now the Campaign Manager for the Move Forward BoE ticket!
Like magic! Now you see it (2008), now you don't (2012).
You know the strangest part of all? In April of 2009 $5,000 was accepted by Russo on an FBI surveillance video, where he directed Solomon Dwek bag-man, Khalil Maher to deposit it into that very same account! GA didn't make it up- here you go, from the FBI video transccript:
See what I mean?
Can Russo for Hoboken Treasurer (and Move Forward Campaign manager) John Castellano get us those missing bank statements to see the activity on that bank account? I'll bet he will. Because here's what I read in the Hoboken Reporter: Russo said he would talk to his campaign treasurer to find out whether subsequent reports were filed properly.
Thank you, Councilman! Let us know when that's been "cleared up!"
In the meantime, the buzz about this and the implications surrounding what may or may not have been deposited in the Russo for Hoboken account is growing by the minute. MSV has a fascinating thread up, with all kinds of theories and speculation. This one caught my eye by 'not a guest':
here's how it went down. russo took the money instead of busting him the fbi flipped him, didn't think he was important enough and had more value as a source. but over the years russo fed them dead ends and garbage. then ricciardi got nailed in 2011 and the russo double-cross was discovered.. of course he knew about the email hack. janet ricciardi told you hubby and russo were buds and used to meet up on the weekend. you think they were shooting hoops? but the feds already made a deal with the devil so instead of exposing him they punished him- closed down the russo civic association. gone. and they're not letting him reopen. when the big bust comes we'll see what they do with him.This guy/gal sounds like he/she knows something- but what? "Someone is being watched."
in the meantime, someone else is being watched. very closely.
he's next.
Well, GA will let you in on a little secret. I've posted once or twice about getting those visits. Well, they've popped in more than I've let on.
Not going to tell you who they've read about. (I did the other day- but no more.) I will tell you that the visits started AFTER the raid on City Hall.
Officially, "person of interest" means..well, nothing. No one has ever formally defined it — not police, not prosecutors, not journalists. The terms "accused," "allege," "arrest" and "indict" all are dealt with in the Associated Press Stylebook, but there is no listing for "person of interest." Similarly, the U.S. Attorneys' Manual — the official guide to federal criminal prosecution — uses the terms "suspect," "subject," "target" and "material witness," but "person of interest" gets no mention. So what are reporters to do?
"The reporter should be on notice that it is a vague term that has no real understandable definition," says Gerald B. Lefcourt, a New York defense attorney and past president of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. His advice to journalists: "You have to ask the police what they mean."