New Jersey’s Least Mysterious Mystery Solved

The Sunlight Policy Center of New Jersey made its debut with a bang this week, revealing details about the funding source of New Direction New Jersey, a dark money political advocacy organization that backs NJ Gov. Phil Murphy.

SPCNJ is run by Mike Lilley, a former adjunct scholar at the American Enterprise Institute. He released the center’s first report yesterday, titled “NJEA: New Jersey’s Political Machine.” He didn’t bury the lede:

Lilley discovered the donation in internal NJEA documents from 2018. Politico picked up the story, which then made the rounds of the New Jersey press.

NJEA confirmed it was financially backing New Direction. In typical fashion, the union coupled its admission with killing the messenger. “I’m not surprised that Mike and his billionaire corporate funders are terrified of the power of working people united. They want all the political power for themselves,” said an NJEA spokesman.

Mike must be commended for turning up the hard evidence for what everyone believed to be true for the longest time. It looks like NJ Senate president Steve Sweeney just saved himself a load of money on dinners.