Former Bayonne mayoral candidate and Democratic Assemblyman Jason O’Donnell will face bribery charges. O’Donnell was accused of accepting a $10,000 bribe in December 2019 while unsuccessfully running for mayor. In exchange he promised a tax attorney, who was secretly working with the Attorney General’s Office, a position with the city.
An appeals court reinstated his case this week, overturning a controversial lower court ruling that tossed the charges because O’Donnell wasn’t an elected public official at the time of the bribe. This week. an appellate panel ruled that a bribe is a bribe, whether you win the election or not. A bill to expand the state’s anti-bribery law to include candidates running for office is on Gov. Phil Murphy’s desk.
