New Jersey Declared Corruption Free

Stacy Conundrum,  the FNN political reporter, filed this report from the capital building in Trenton, NJ

The independent Corruption Investigation Commission (CIC) has announced its findings after an exhaustive three-year investigation.  The Commission could not identify any corrupt politicians at any level of the state government.  The investigation covered elected officials and appointees to various boards and regulatory commissions.

Maurice Blowhard, the head of the Commission, said he and his staff interviewed dozens of politicians and regulators.  "We asked tough questions," Blowhard said.  "We pulled no punches.  We asked them straight out if they ever took money from people looking for favorable treatment.  We asked them if they ever gave out political favors.  We asked them if they issued regulations that favored special interest groups at the expense of the public. You can see from these questions that our Commission wasn't fooling around.  We went after the truth. Much to our surprise, all of the people interviewed, every single one of them, swore the answer to all the questions was 'No'.  They vehemently proclaimed their dedication to public service and would never do anything that would compromise their reputations."

The announcement went on to say that the CIC's twenty-million dollar annual budget was money well spent since it served to put the voters' minds at ease.  "The voters can now rest assured that their public servants have their best interests in mind while they hold office."

Blowhard, a major contributor to all political parties, was appointed under the previous administration and has an annual salary of $750,000 .  Serving with him are his daughter, a grandson and a nephew, ". . . the best people I could find to fill the posts," Blowhard said at the time the Commission was formed.

The CIC also recommended that it should be kept in place to continue monitoring the political landscape.  It proposed a budget increase of 25% so it could increase the monitoring at the local level.  "We need to assure the voters that mayors and town officials are just as honest as the politicians at the state level," Blowhard said.