Anti-corruption prosecutor left AG’s Office to work for Fulop during Jersey City investigation

The employment timeline of a former anti-corruption prosecutor raises questions about the integrity of the New Jersey Office of the Attorney General (NJOAG). 

HudPost previously reported that attorney Matt O’Donnell, the NJOAG’s Star Witness in a Major Criminal Investigation, tied Mayor Steven Fulop to a pay-to-play scheme in Jersey City during a proffer session with investigators on February 16, 2018.

The AG’s Office declined to pursue a case against Fulop, which was consistent with other public officials and political consultants identified by O’Donnell. Only those who took cash bribes from O’Donnell during an undercover sting operation conducted by the NJOAG were charged.

In March 2018, nearly a month after O’Donnell’s proffer session revealing the apparent Jersey City pay-to-play scheme, Peter Baker – a deputy attorney general in the NJOAG’s corruption bureau – left the AG’s Office to become the corporation counsel for the Fulop administration.

Notably, The Jersey Journal reported that Baker’s wife, Megan Morey, hosted a fundraiser for Fulop’s 2017 mayoral campaign on November 1, 2016, and worked in the Jersey City law department until leaving in January 2017. According to NJ.com, the state’s criminal investigation into O’Donnell began in December 2016.

During the proffer session on February 16, 2018, Det. Kristin Maier asked O’Donnell to call Fulop, per Maier’s report. O’Donnell stated “it would be an ‘odd call’ since he mostly deals with Jeremy Farrell” and added “it would be an ‘unnatural call’ too since he last saw him two months ago at a meeting.”

From the beginning of Fulop’s tenure as mayor until the end of 2017, the late attorney Jeremy Farrell served as Jersey City’s corporation counsel. In between the time of Farrell’s departure and Baker’s hiring, and shortly after meeting with investigators, O’Donnell lost his contract with Jersey City.

A spokesperson for Fulop previously stated that “at no point did he ever have a conversation with Matt O’Donnell.”

After the AG’s Office announced the “Major Corruption Investigation” in December 2019, NJ Globe reported that “close allies of Fulop, who spoke to the Globe on the condition of anonymity out of fear of retaliation, insist that they were aware O’Donnell was wearing a wire – something that could point to a leak from the attorney general’s office.”

NJOAG officials declined to confirm or deny if Baker had knowledge of allegations against O’Donnell prior to leaving the corruption bureau to work for Fulop.

On February 15, 2024, after nearly six years with the City of Jersey City, Baker left the Fulop administration to become a Hudson County Superior Court judge after being appointed by Gov. Phil Murphy. Morey became a Jersey City Municipal Court judge on September 27, 2024, after being appointed by Fulop.

A spokesperson for the New Jersey Superior Courts stated Baker is not able to comment on whether he had knowledge that O’Donnell was a target of the Attorney General’s Office during his time working in the Corruption Bureau.