Matt Friedman @mattfriedmannj.bsky.social · 01/04/2025Important news about the future of NJ Playbook 460
Matt Friedman @mattfriedmannj.bsky.social · 17/03/2025New Jersey political insiders have been getting anonymous emails resembling news publications that are trashing George Norcross' foes, including AG Matt Platkin. URL Registration records show at least one of them is linked to Norcross-aligned operative subscriber.politicopro.com/article/2025... 3105
Matt Friedman @mattfriedmannj.bsky.social · 24/02/2025Here's the summary of the bill. Small-time dealers would also be severely punished. 011
Matt Friedman @mattfriedmannj.bsky.social · 24/02/2025The main argument NJ Dems used to legalize weed was that criminalization hurt minorities communities. Meanwhile, NJ's legal weed market has been criticized for high prices. 141
Matt Friedman @mattfriedmannj.bsky.social · 24/02/2025Under the proposal, buying weed from an unlicensed source would be a disorderly persons offense. Selling even a small amount would be a third-degree crime. Currently, if you're caught selling less than an ounce, you face only a warning for a first offense. 110
Matt Friedman @mattfriedmannj.bsky.social · 24/02/2025Four years after NJ legalized weed, @SenPresScutari just introduced legislation to re-criminalize buying weed — any amount — from an unlicensed source. 🔒 subscriber.politicopro.com/article/2025...subscriber.politicopro.comPOLITICO Pro: Scutari seeks to re-criminalize buying small amounts of cannabis from unlicensed dealersThe Senate president said "we want the public to be safeguarded." 365
Matt Friedman @mattfriedmannj.bsky.social · 19/02/2025Consider yourselves owned, lefties nj1015.com/three-reason... 281
Matt Friedman @mattfriedmannj.bsky.social · 13/02/2025The Assembly Judiciary Committee today is scheduled to consider a bill that would make it a more serious crime to pay for sex than to sell it. www.njleg.state.nj.us/bill-search/... 120
Matt Friedman @mattfriedmannj.bsky.social · 10/02/2025This is a controversial practice the Trump campaign used before. There have been efforts to ban it, but they haven't advanced. www.nytimes.com/2021/04/03/u...nytimes.comHow Trump Steered Supporters Into Unwitting Donations (Published 2021)Online donors were guided into weekly recurring contributions. Demands for refunds spiked. Complaints to banks and credit card companies soared. But the money helped keep Donald Trump’s struggling cam... 091
Matt Friedman @mattfriedmannj.bsky.social · 10/02/2025How's that happening? One possibility: Fundraising emails and texts from Spadea's campaign and PAC have an automatically-checked box to make the donation recurring. Donors have to opt out instead of opting in. 272
Matt Friedman @mattfriedmannj.bsky.social · 10/02/2025Many out-of-state retirees are funding Bill Spadea's gubernatorial campaign and PAC with recurring small donations. We reached out to a bunch. Most didn't know who Spadea was. Just two knew they were making frequent donations. www.politico.com/news/2025/02...politico.com‘So dirty and rotten’: Candidate for NJ governor’s fundraising tactic confuses some donorsBill Spadea uses a fundraising strategy that’s come under scrutiny in recent years 2154
Matt Friedman @mattfriedmannj.bsky.social · 10/02/2025Many out-of-state retirees are funding Bill Spadea's campaign and PAC with recurring small donations. Madison Fernandez and I reached out to a bunch. Most didn't know who Spadea was. Just two knew they were making frequent donations. www.politico.com/news/2025/02... 296
Matt Friedman @mattfriedmannj.bsky.social · 10/02/2025Today in NJ Playbook: What do Phil Murphy and Bill Spadea have in common? www.politico.com/newsletters/... 140
Matt Friedman @mattfriedmannj.bsky.social · 07/02/2025This is pretty typical politician speak. Structuring your sentences to make one clear impression but also giving yourself a plausible out. 220
Matt Friedman @mattfriedmannj.bsky.social · 07/02/2025www.politico.com/newsletters/...politico.comThe New Jersey GOP debate could have used a steel cage 110
Matt Friedman @mattfriedmannj.bsky.social · 07/02/2025Bill Spadea said at a debate "I’m going to commit to you tonight to serve one term as your governor." The "common sense" meaning was plain, like Murphy's migrant remark. But if you parse the words, as I did, you'll see it could actually mean nothing. See Spadea's comment today. 140
Matt Friedman @mattfriedmannj.bsky.social · 06/02/2025I want to ban the Super Bowl because I don't like to watch football. I am a crackpot. 010
Matt Friedman @mattfriedmannj.bsky.social · 06/02/2025Some NJ schools are delaying opening Monday because of the Super Bowl. www.politico.com/newjerseypla... 200
Matt Friedman @mattfriedmannj.bsky.social · 06/02/2025It's an idea pushed by The Heritage Foundation that has been floated in several far redder states. There's virtually no chance of passage in NJ now, but it could be a sign of things to come if GOP momentum in NJ continues. 120
Matt Friedman @mattfriedmannj.bsky.social · 06/02/2025A NJ lawmaker wants to charge tuition to families of undocumented immigrant public school students or face expulsion. The point is to overturn a 42-year-old U.S. Supreme Court decision that these kids have the right to an education. 🔒 subscriber.politicopro.com/article/2025...subscriber.politicopro.comPOLITICO Pro: Lawmaker moves to charge public school tuition for undocumented studentsThe measure adds to what far more conservative states have done in trying to overturn a U.S. Supreme Court decision 142
Matt Friedman @mattfriedmannj.bsky.social · 05/02/2025Judge dismisses NJ's climate change lawsuit against oil companies. 001
Matt Friedman @mattfriedmannj.bsky.social · 03/02/2025It's now harder to get on the ballot in NJ. Gov. Murphy just signed a bill increasing the number of petition signatures required. 213
Matt Friedman @mattfriedmannj.bsky.social · 29/01/2025If the feds drop the charges against Eric Adams and Bob Menendez gets the clemency he seems to be gunning for here, it could usher in a golden age for corruption. www.nytimes.com/2025/01/29/u...nytimes.comJustice Dept. Is Said to Discuss Dropping Case Against Eric AdamsSenior officials under President Trump have talked with prosecutors in Manhattan about the possibility of abandoning the corruption case against New York City’s mayor. 1113
Reposted by Matt FriedmanMolly Crane-Newman @mollycranenewman.bsky.social · 29/01/2025BREAKING: New York Federal Judge Sidney Stein just said he's sentencing Bob Menendez to 11 years in prison for engaging in a sweeping bribery scheme while head of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee “Somewhere along the way, you became, I’m sorry to say, a corrupt politician” 26707147
Matt Friedman @mattfriedmannj.bsky.social · 29/01/2025The continuing credulous coverage of the drone situation, along the unskeptical reporting on Trump's statement that raises more questions than it answers, doesn't give me faith in our information ecosystem. 120
Matt Friedman @mattfriedmannj.bsky.social · 29/01/2025Since December 9, the Absury Park Press has used photos of two helicopters and an American Airlines jet over its "drone' articles. No matter how hard I rag on them. The airplane, at the very least, is painfully obvious. 150
Matt Friedman @mattfriedmannj.bsky.social · 27/01/2025Great. Now congestion pricing is causing heart disease. www.nytimes.com/2025/01/26/n... 0101
Matt Friedman @mattfriedmannj.bsky.social · 27/01/2025I'm scared of societal upheaval AI could bring about if millions of people lose their jobs. I hate where social media has taken us. I never thought I'd be a luddite. But here I am, thanking my wife every day for opening a bookshop that goes against the tech tide. 2150
Matt Friedman @mattfriedmannj.bsky.social · 27/01/2025HOOP SCREAMS www.nj.com/union/2025/0...nj.comA once disgraced coach is making $160K at a N.J. school. But is it just to win games?The district made waves by hiring the infamous coach. A closer look reveals it's at the cost of a six-figure salary. 130
Matt Friedman @mattfriedmannj.bsky.social · 23/01/2025Left: How Bill Spadea characterized a Jan. 6 rioter he just hosted on his show. Right: Descriptions of the video from that day that the rioter posted himself, then deleted, according to the criminal complaint. 130
Matt Friedman @mattfriedmannj.bsky.social · 22/01/2025Loved walking the dog this morning. Even he, a pyrenees, was like 'wtf?' 050
Matt Friedman @mattfriedmannj.bsky.social · 22/01/2025I'm trying. I wish their was more political diversity on here, and I doubt there will be, but Twitter just makes me feel icky most times I open it. 110
Matt Friedman @mattfriedmannj.bsky.social · 21/01/2025And yet Van Drew voted against certifying the 2020 election, citing vague concerns "that some really wrong things did happen." 110
Matt Friedman @mattfriedmannj.bsky.social · 21/01/2025Callaway's mail-in ballot operation was notorious in NJ and especially South Jersey long before these charges, even though candidates from both parties continued to hire him. The idea that Van Drew was unaware just isn't realistic. www.politico.com/newsletters/...politico.comVan Drew hires notorious Democratic operative 120
Matt Friedman @mattfriedmannj.bsky.social · 21/01/2025Van Drew was not accused of any wrongdoing. But Callaway has been notorious in NJ politics for years. A former Atlantic City council president, Callaway served prison time for bribery and blackmail (he admitted taping a rival's encounter with a prostitute). 300
Matt Friedman @mattfriedmannj.bsky.social · 21/01/2025Craig Callaway, the notorious operative charged with voter fraud while working on Rep. Jeff Van Drew's 2022 campaign, has reached a plea deal. No details yet. 🔒https://subscriber.politicopro.com/article/2025/01/craig-callaway-reaches-plea-deal-with-the-feds-over-voter-fraud-allegations-00199650 140
Matt Friedman @mattfriedmannj.bsky.social · 21/01/2025The big hearing on George Norcross' motion to dismiss his corruption indictment is tomorrow. Here's how Norcross spent the weekend. 010
Matt Friedman @mattfriedmannj.bsky.social · 12/01/2025This came in the mail with Gus's (the big one) therapy dog license. Note that the "please" is underlined. 010
Matt Friedman @mattfriedmannj.bsky.social · 23/12/2024In April, Rep. Josh Gottheimer held a press conference in front of a Planned Parenthood office to announce a bill to protect access to the abortion pill. Eight months later, Gottheimer has not introduced it, despite campaign statements claiming to have done so. www.politico.com/news/2024/12...politico.comJosh Gottheimer promised an abortion protection bill. Eight months later, he hasn’t moved it.The House Democrat is running for New Jersey governor in a crowded primary field. 74315
Matt Friedman @mattfriedmannj.bsky.social · 19/12/2024One of the many things I love about growing weed is giving out eighths as Christmas gifts. What costs me ~$2-$3 to grow would cost the recipients $40-$60 at a dispensary. They think I'm being generous, but I'm actually not. Suckers. 271
Matt Friedman @mattfriedmannj.bsky.social · 18/12/2024Drone hysteria jumps the shark www.politico.com/newsletters/...politico.comDrone hysteria jumps the shark 120
Matt Friedman @mattfriedmannj.bsky.social · 11/12/2024Josh Gottheimer faked his Spotify wrapped to make all his top songs Springsteen. Here's the online footprint of real Springsteen super fan Chris Christie from the Napster era www.politico.com/states/new-j... 384
Matt Friedman @mattfriedmannj.bsky.social · 11/12/2024A NJ Assembly committee committee plans to vote on a ballot design bill tomorrow afternoon, after holding five public hearings. But they're not releasing the proposal to the public until tomorrow. 🔒 subscriber.politicopro.com/article/2024...subscriber.politicopro.comPOLITICO Pro: Ballot design bill, still not public, expected to get a committee vote ThursdayThe committee meeting is scheduled for 1 p.m. 130
Matt Friedman @mattfriedmannj.bsky.social · 10/12/2024Another probe in South Jersey — this time involving COVID cleaning contracts www.politico.com/newsletters/...politico.comAnother probe in South Jersey 000
Matt Friedman @mattfriedmannj.bsky.social · 26/11/2024I do not believe the lieutenant governor has the authority to issue pardons while the governor is in New Jersey. I will consult the law on this. If I'm right, I will make sure the turkey is dealt with. 2151
Matt Friedman @mattfriedmannj.bsky.social · 25/11/2024The Norcross & Co defense team repeatedly wrote that in declining to press charges after wiretapping George Norcross, federal prosecutors had found "no crime." But prosecutors did not write that. www.politico.com/newsletters/...politico.comMurphy again helps raise money for Norcross super PAC 051
