4:00 PM- Last up: Ryan Yacco of Bluewater Operations.
3:15 PM- Let the People Decide Treasurer, Andrew Canonico, is on the stand.
2:30 PM- Source inside the courtroom reports "a couple of random voters" and "a guy who used to work for the Board of Elections" have testified after the lunch break. "No one important, " was how the person put it.
12:15PM- The court is on a lunch break, the government's first witness, Matt Calicchio has completed cross examination. He's done on the stand.
An observer in the court room called GA with this shocking update: on direct and cross-examination, Calicchio revealed he had recorded Hoboken political candidates and politicos, including but not limited to: Anthony Romano, Perry Belfiore, Eduardo Gonzalez and Frank Raia.
The "surreptitious recordings" were made between June 2017 when Calicchio first met with the F.B.I. until the present date.
The "surreptitious recordings" were made between June 2017 when Calicchio first met with the F.B.I. until the present date.
Calicchio also testified to collecting VBMs in 2015 5th Ward Candidate Eduardo Gonzalez. he did not identify the 2015 municipal candidate who was allegedly directing him.
GA will post any updates that come in.
it aint looking good for eduardo.
ReplyDeleteThe feds don't give a damn about Eduardo so as long as he sings whatever songs he knows, he's probably not in any real trouble.
ReplyDeleteHis BFF's over the years have been Ruben Ramos and Carmelo Garcia, both juicier targets than Eduardo. In Garcia's case, he could lead to even juicier targets in Newark.
Eduardo may have nothing actionable to offer on these guys or on anyone else for that matter, but you can bet the feds are interested in learning whether he does. Lots of folks probably pretty nervous right now.
John’s doing a nice job with coverage. Comments are south of stupid, but that’s not news on HCV.
ReplyDeleteHe sure is. So many juicy nuggets to chew on. John wrote that today on cross, Pupie's attorney accused Calicchio of lying to the grand jury in June 2017, which is a crime. Did the feds use that as leverage to get him talking? Or did the feds already have evidence of his involvement in vbm harvesting? Once in the Fed's clutches, they directed Calicchio to secretly record Hoboken politicos and operatives. The feds instructed him on who to tape. Calicchio mentioned a few of their names. So, throughout the 2017 mayoral, Calicchio was recording and handing the tapes to the government. Another witness, Mike Holmes, may testify to same-or maybe not. So, how many witnesses did the feds turn? How many Hoboken politicos and operatives are on tape? Why did the feds want tape of Perry B.? And Ryan Yacco... is he helping the government, too? There are so many connections to current council members and former candidates. Where is the government going next?
DeleteAgreed. The comments, as usual are just doofuses being doofuses (can't get enough of the Dawn and Pupie in the elevator video).
ReplyDeleteBut the trial coverage is fascinating. We all knew in broad terms what these guys were doing, but learning the brazenness with which they committed their crimes is still eye opening.
numbers, you know that Roman "I depict Sikhs as Muslims" Brice and his angry and vicious sidekick, two-faced Tony Soares are politically irrelevant, oozing carbuncles- ignore their inane drivel! 😂😂😂😂😂
DeleteYep, the trial sure is fascinating!
Agreed. The brazeness is why imo the DOJ is not stopping with Frank. When Matthew C named the 2015 candidate he was working for, the govt clearly did not want Eduardo Gs name out...... And the DOJ always notify targets prior to indictment so they can retain counsel and so on, negotiate, plea out, etc. like Holmes did. If I'm EG I've retained counsel yesterday and meeting with the U. S. Attorneys office. Maybe EGs not a target. But his name is out there now. If he is in trouble then what or who could he trade for a deal?
DeleteI think the doofuses are annoyed that the vote farming operation they were hoping would help their preferred candidates has just been demolished in a very public fashion. Anyone that tries to do any vote farming this upcoming election cycle does so at extreme risk.
ReplyDeleteThe issue is that they are stuck with Ruben forever now, so they defend him as bitterly as they once would have defended an actual reformer - like Dawn (who gets regularly thrown under the bus).
DeleteAny speculation that Ruben might be in the feds net is taken as a knock on someone who is as pure as the driven snow. It’s comical to watch, but you’d have to have a sense of humor to see that, and none of them do. That’s kind of their unifying characteristic.
Ha, those folks are as pure as that snow that was being piled uptown on streets near vacant lots after 2 back to back blizzards. That snow is full of rubbish, salt, dirt and other assorted crap and it will remain tainted like that for the rest of their political careers.
DeleteIf Eduardo's really in trouble he'll sing like a canary.... an ex-assemblyman and sitting councilman is a much bigger catch than a charter school board president and so are two former mayoral candidates, both office holders. Wonder what Perry b said on the tape.
ReplyDeleteI think they'll quit when they feel like it. Getting one more bigger fish won't make the decision. Corruption is endless in New Jersey. All they can do is scare it away for a while. It will come back strong after they leave. Occhipinti's vbm haul came right around the time Cammarano was being sent to prison.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.nj.com/hudson/2019/06/new-details-of-hoboken-cash-for-votes-scheme-revealed-during-day-2-of-developers-trial.html
ReplyDeleteso Ryan Yacco, from the Passaic County Dems, whose firm cut the checks, is working on the DeFusco campaign?
Ryan Yacco was Michael's campaign manager. https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryan-yacco-99a4ba8
ReplyDelete