MER-L-001007-19 07/19/2019 1:00:58 PM Pg 1 of 24 Trans ID: LCV20191258709 Bnowx & CoNnnRY, LLP ATToRNEYS AT LAW :i;o uaoooN AveNue WESTMONT, NEW JERSEY 08108 (856) 8s4-8900 FAX (8s6) 858-4967 William M. Tambussi, Esq. Certified by the Supreme Court ofNew Jersey as a Civil Trial Attomey wtambuss i@brownconnery. com Direct Dial: (856) 858-8 175 July 19,2019 VIA eCOURTS Honorable Mary C. Jacobson, A.J.S.C. Superior Court of New Jersey Mercer County Criminal Courthouse 400 S. Warren Street, 4th Floor Trenton, NJ 08650 Re: George E. Norcross, et al. v. Philip D. Murphy, et al. Docket No. MER-L-001 007-l 9 Dear Judge Jacobson: We write, on behalf of Plaintiffs, in response to Defendants' request for a telephonic case management conference. Plaintiffs do not believe that a telephonic case management conference is necessary to address the issues raised in Defendants' July 19, 2019 correspondence. The context is as follows. On July 12 and 15,2019, it was reported in the media that certain members of Governor Philip Murphy's staff were engaged in weekly telephone conferences with certain outside political advisors. The role of the outside political advisors came into focus in a July 10,2019 media report that an outside political advisor to Govemor Murphy wrote "No pain, no gain" in reference to Govemor Murphy's decision to freeze budgetary funding to Cooper Health Care. On July 15, 2019 and thereafter, it was reported that discussions about the NJEDA, one of the issues before the Court, were had in the weekly telephone calls referred to as "Inside/Outside Calls." The new reports are attached for the Court's reference. As a consequence of this reporting, Litigation Hold Notices on behalf of Plaintiffs were sent to all individuals identified in the media reports as having participated in the Inside/Outside Calls. Those Litigation Hold Notices called for the preservation of all information related to the NJEDA and the subjects of the litigation presently before the Court in the possession of those individuals participating in the Inside/Outside Calls. In addition, subpoenas returnable August 19,2019 calling for the production of the same information were served on those individuals participating in the InsideiOutside Calls. None of the individuals served with Litigation Hold 7694871 MER-L-001007-19 07/19/2019 1:00:58 PM Pg 2 of 24 Trans ID: LCV20191258709 Bnowx & CorwnRY, LLP July 19,2019 Page2 Notices or subpoenas are parties to the litigation before the Court or have been identified as individuals represented by counsel for the Defendants in the litigation before the Court. The Litigation Hold Notices are not impacted by the Court's Order regarding discovery and compliance with subpoenas. The t,itigation Hold Notices simply require the preservation of evidence. The subpoenas are not retumable until after the July 3I,2019 retum date of the motions pending before the Court. It is respectfully submitted that Plaintiffs' efforts to preserve what will be relevant evidence of the political underpinnings of the Task Force's investigation does violate the Court's Order regarding discovery and that compliance with the subpoenas can be addressed on July 31,2019. Thank you for your consideration of this submission. Respectfully submitted, BROWN & CONNERY, LLP M. WMTimmd cc: All Counsel of Record 7694871 MER-L-001007-19 07/19/2019 1:00:58 PM Pg 3 of 24 Trans ID: LCV20191258709 7 t16t2019 ln e-mail, Murphy advisor implies political retaliation in hospital budget cuts - New Jersey Globe ',#* NEW JERSEY 6LOBE Home > Feature Right > ln E-Mail, Murphy Advisor lmplies Political Retaliation ln Hospital Budget Cuts Democratic political consultant Steve DeMicco https://newjerseyglobe.com/governor/in-e-mail-murphy-advisor-implies-political-retaliation-in-hospital-budget-cutsi 1t7 MER-L-001007-19 07/19/2019 1:00:58 PM Pg 4 of 24 Trans ID: LCV20191258709 711612019 ln e-mail, Murphy advisor implies political retaliation in hospital budget cuts - New Jersey Globe ".tij budget= cuts "No pain, no gain," says DeMicco in response ta press release criticizing Cooper funding freeze By David Wildstein, July 1O 2019 2:50 pm A four-word e-mail from Gov, Phil Murphy's political consultant to George Norcross'spokesman gives legitimacy to claims that a $l million budget cut to Cooper Health Care was an act of political retribution "No pain, no gain," wrote Steve DeMicco, who also runs the Murphy-tied New Direction New Jersey dark monev group, in an e-mail to Daniel Fee, who works for Norcross. DeMicco's comments could be interpreted as a move by Murphy to punish Norcross and other South Jersey Democrats as the governor fights a bitter intra-party war. Fee had sent out a press release on July 3 responding to Murphy's line item veto of money for Cooper and his announcementthat he had frozen $Zl,t* million in funds earmarked forthe hospital system, DeMicco's response a little more than 2'/,haurs after the release was sent by Fee, whose e-mail address him as affiliated with Connor Strong, the insurance company Norcross runs. On Monday, Senate President Steve Sweeney said that he viewed Murphy's decision to cut or freeze some budget items as politically motivated, "lt is obvious that services and programs associated with those who have legitimate disagreements with Vou were targeted," Sweeney said. "The facts and financial figures tell the truth. The fact that you instituted a freeze was overtly political to begin withi' The Cooper release criticized Murphy for freezing $t s.l* million in funding for cancer patients - funding that the governor had proposed that funding in his own budget. "What changedl' Cooper asked, noting that Murphy did not freeze $:O million in funding for North lersey cancer programs. The press release also alleged that Murphy targeted $t Z million that was supposed to go to Cooper Medical School of Rowan University. According to Cooper, Murphy said "there's not {a) better medical school I the state that fooperJ' DeMicco did not immediately respond to a 1:45 PM call seeking comment, https://newjerseyglobe.com/governor/in-e-mail-murphy-advisor-implies-political-retaliation-in-hospital-budget-cuts/ 217 MER-L-001007-19 07/19/2019 1:00:58 PM Pg 5 of 24 Trans ID: LCV20191258709 7 t16t2019 ln e-mail, Murphy advisor implies political retaliation in hospital budget cuts - New Jersey Globe i#*t "Steve DeMicco is an outside political consultant to the Governor and to manv other clients, He played no role in the drafting or implementation of Executive Order 73," Dan Bryan, a senior advisor to the governor, told the New Jersey Globe. "The Governor's budget actions were driven by his fiduciary responsibility to the people of New Jersey, not politicsJ' This story was updated at 3:39 PM with comment from Murphy's office. From: ,*" ,L nesday, July To: Daniel F. Fee <[email protected]> Subject: Re: cooper university Health care's statement in Response to Governor Murphy's Freezing $15.4 million for life-saving treatment for patients suffering with cancer in so uth Jersey * No pain. no gain * Sent from my iPhone on Jul 3, 2019, at 3:53 PM, Daniel F. Fee <[email protected]> wrote: For lmmediate Release July 3,2019 https://newjerseyglobe.com/governor/in-e-mail-murphy-advisor-implies-political-retaliation-in-hospital-budget-cuts/ 3t7 MER-L-001007-19 07/19/2019 1:00:58 PM Pg 6 of 24 Trans ID: LCV20191258709 7 t16t2019 ln e-mail, Murphy advisor implies political retaliation in hospital budget cuts - New Jersey Globe #*. rrsirlrlrlt.rs ]1, \rarTt;t Ilt l rulllt l,l!y D Freezing $15.4 million for life-saving treatment for patients suffering with cancer in South Jersey Governor Murphy has cut 55 million and frozen 5zl.+ million in the state budget dedicated to cooper university Health care and cooper Medical I Spread the news: l) Tagged Dan Fee, George Norcross, Phil Murphy, Steve Sweeney RELATED ARTICLES "a; @::x:,.* ' , ,-,j -. -it'+oeq m& fl{ ffi ln Camden, more voters mailed Coughlin slams Murphy gr Essex Prosecutor investi gating in their ballots then went to for'unacceptable' e-mail Cedar Grove vote-by-mail polling locations ballots Speaker demands Murphy id author of New Direction N.J VBM exceeded machine count for the first time Probe follows incident where message, hold them defeated councilman rang June 26, 201 9 4:35 pm 5, 201 9 5:09 am June doorbells hours after polls June 6, 201 9 5:04 pm Leave a Reply 4t7 MER-L-001007-19 07/19/2019 1:00:58 PM Pg 7 of 24 Trans ID: LCV20191258709 7 t16t2019 ln e-mail, Murphy advisor implies political retaliation in hospital budget cuts - New Jersey Globe {*= Comment Name * Ernail * Website I'm not a robot TeCAPTCHA Privacy - Terms Posl Conrmenl M Enter your email address Signup 517 MER-L-001007-19 07/19/2019 1:00:58 PM Pg 8 of 24 Trans ID: LCV20191258709 7 t16t2019 ln e-mail, Murphy advisor implies political retaliation in hospital budget cuts - New Jersey Globe FOLLOW U5 https://newjerseyg lobe.com/governor/in-e-mail-murphy-advisor-implies-political-retaliation-in-hospital-budget-cuts/ 617 MER-L-001007-19 07/19/2019 1:00:58 PM Pg 9 of 24 Trans ID: LCV20191258709 7 t16t2019 ln e-mail, Murphy advisor implies political retaliation in hospital budget cuts - New Jersey Globe # g&r-WW&bhrn N @trr-fltkb&fi*w il €mCrd ffiryxfffinnFn8- h(strr sn&rs -- ffi-!ry&'1g'|& Seo ol Reeds 'mn*ggnvGbba MEDIA , goCI&ffidmft@ 'ffiftb@ " Frc'kt&be "Mrft€wtrF "fuqk#ren@ About Us lTerms & Conditions I Privacy Policy lAdvertise with us o 2019 New Jersey Globe 717 MER-L-001007-19 07/19/2019 1:00:58 PM Pg 10 of 24 Trans ID: LCV20191258709 7 t16t2019 Phil Murphy's lnside/Outside Call - New Jersey Globe r-'...) :al:..1 : ), /ta 1':) NEW JERSEY GLOBE 'll.'l.r' q Home > Feature Right > Phil Murphy's Inside/Outside Call Gov, Phil Murphy.