In case you needed further proof of the insane levels of corruption within the Democrat party, New Jersey’s highest-ranking unelected Democrat power broker has just been indicted for running a criminal enterprise.
Along with his brother and 4 other Democrats, George Norcross has been charged with first-degree racketeering in relation to his company, Norcross Enterprise.
More of this, please.
Top Democratic Power Broker Is Charged With Racketeering https://t.co/TemuptbnWL
— Bo Snerdley (@BoSnerdley) June 18, 2024
This post on X summed up the situation:
BREAKING: The highest ranking Democrat in New Jersey politics has been indicted for running a criminal enterprise to benefit himself & others. According to the indictment, George Norcross, his brother Philip, and four other Democrats are charged with first-degree racketeering… pic.twitter.com/Yivt8XaXkJ
— George (@BehizyTweets) June 18, 2024
New Jersey is a state deeply entrenched in the influence of powerful, unelected individuals and institutions.
However, with the indictment of Norcross, such figures’ long-standing grip on power finally be unraveling…
According to ChatGPT, George Norcross is the No. 1 unelected power broker in the state.
Here’s something you don’t see every day.
During his indictment, George Norcross sat in the front row of the press conference while he was being accused of leading a criminal enterprise.
See for yourself:
Incredible. Just watching himself get accused of leading a criminal organization. pic.twitter.com/ZDkcfSB8bQ
— Joe Colangelo (@Itsjoeco) June 17, 2024
George Norcross is sitting in the front row of a press conference where he's getting indicted. Reporter takes his picture, asks how you doin'
New Jersey things. https://t.co/TDXc3u0koq pic.twitter.com/415lZPIFvV
— Joe Colangelo (@Itsjoeco) June 17, 2024
We’ll see how long that confidence lasts.
Norcross’ indictment could be a sign of things to come for the New Jersey political machine, and Democrat corruption at large.
The New York Times has more details on the charges Norcross is facing:
George E. Norcross III, an insurance executive who for decades has been one of New Jersey’s most powerful Democratic kingmakers, was charged on Monday with racketeering in what prosecutors say was a 12-year scheme that involved his brother, his lawyer and a former mayor of Camden, N.J.
ADVERTISEMENTThe 13-count indictment unsealed by New Jersey’s attorney general, Matthew J. Platkin, accused Mr. Norcross and five co-defendants of unlawfully obtaining property and property rights along Camden’s waterfront, fraudulently collecting millions of dollars in government-issued tax breaks and influencing government officials.
“Instead of contributing to the successes of the city of Camden,” Mr. Platkin said as he announced the charges, Mr. Norcross led a “criminal enterprise” that “took the Camden waterfront all for themselves.”
The indictment accuses Mr. Norcross of bullying rival developers who were also trying to capitalize on a push to revitalize the waterfront in Camden, a poor city outside Philadelphia long plagued by violent crime.
“Are you threatening me?” one developer asked, according to a recorded telephone call mentioned in the indictment.
“Absolutely,” Mr. Norcross replied.
Mr. Norcross’s brother, Philip A. Norcross, the chief executive of a Camden-based law firm, and the city’s former mayor, Dana L. Redd, were also charged with racketeering in the first degree, a crime punishable by up to 20 years in prison.
Politico added:
One of America’s most deeply entrenched political machines is finally coming apart.
ADVERTISEMENTNew Jersey political insiders struggled to come up with big enough words Monday morning morning to describe what they were hearing: The state attorney general was about to indict South Jersey Democratic power broker George Norcross, one of the most formidable and fearsome operators in state history, on corruption charges.
“Earthquake,” one told POLITICO. “Atomic bomb,” said another.
Norcross ruled much of New Jersey for decades and, at his peak, wielded power rivaling governors — shaping elections, legislation and the political careers of Democrats across the state.
His indictment is just the latest in a series of political shockwaves that have struck New Jersey over the past year. Sen. Bob Menendez, another powerful political boss held in awe by lower-level political players, is in the middle of a corruption trial. And that comes just months after a federal judge struck down the “county line” — a tool long used by New Jersey’s political machines to suppress intra-party challengers — for the 2024 Democratic primary.
New Jersey’s notoriously boss-driven political system has never been imperiled like this before, at least not in living memory. And now, a crop of younger New Jersey Democrats are ready to dance on its grave.
“2024 is going to go down as the most significant change that New Jersey has ever seen for its electoral and political process,” said Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop, 47, who at times fought publicly with Norcross and who’s now running for governor in 2025. “You’ve had this culture of a handful of people with disproportionate influence. The public didn’t necessarily realize how all of this stuff was monetized, and now the situation has changed.”
Norcross was charged along with his brother Phil, former Camden Mayor Dana Redd and three other longtime associates. The indictment alleges a dozen years of extortion and other corruption by the “Norcross enterprise” at the expense of a downtrodden city located across the Delaware River from Philadelphia. (Another Norcross brother, Democratic Rep. Donald Norcross, is not facing any charges).
“George Norcross has been running a criminal enterprise in the state for at least the last 12 years. This alleged conduct of the Norcross enterprise has caused great harm to individuals, businesses, nonprofits, the people of the state of New Jersey and especially — especially — to the city of Camden and its residents,” state attorney general Matt Platkin said at a news conference — with Norcross, uninvited, sitting just feet in front of him. “That stops today.”
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