Corzine changes course and reveals SOS donors; DeMicco must be worried about his wife's confirmation

Sometimes a little tone deaf to process issues, Governor Jon Corzine is not exactly the poster child for full disclosure. That’s something that began with his refusal to release his federal income tax returns during his 2000 U.S. Senate bid, and his initial failure to release a list of contributions his charitable foundation made as he launched his political career in 1999. An Op-Ed written last year by a member of his own administration alleged that “Jon Corzine has engaged in unprecedented secretive decision-making, without consulting community leaders, elected officials, legislators, government affairs professionals, or government agencies.”

Published reports indicated last week that an opinion from the state Attorney General’s office suggested that the paid family leave bill didn’t leave enough protection for business owners and could expose them to lawsuits – and that the administration held the legal opinion until after the Legislature voted.

On Friday, Save Our State NJ, Corzine’s toll hike advocacy group, released their list of donors after taking heat from Republican legislators and the media. Interestingly, they changed their course only after a link was made by this website to a potential conflict that could endanger the Senate confirmation of Board of Public Utilities President Jeanne Fox, the wife of Corzine political advisor Steve DeMicco.

Jennifer Godowski, a spokeswoman for SOS told The Record that an Inside Edge report that PSE&G contributed $100,000 “was the result of conjecture and speculation on what possibly was a slow news day.” The Inside Edge stands behind our report that the utility company pledged a contribution to the Corzine group.

SOS and the Corzine administration had declined to release the names of donors all week, despite some pressure from news organizations and Republican legislative leaders. SOS fundraising has been a bit of a failure (some insiders say that's because several checks have not been cashed); Corzine's personal contribution is about half of the total haul.  And the donors released were as of February 29, so there were potentially seven days worth of contributions that were not included.

There is some light at the end of the tunnel: Angelo Genova, a politically active Democratic lawyer who represents SOS, says the group will release their donors one more time this year, and twice more in 2009.