By Pete Forcelli and Tommy Joyce, Ten-Four Tavern
In New Jersey, the political class just pulled off one of the most cynical plays we’ve seen in modern government. A leaked phone call allegedly exposing illegal ballot harvesting doesn’t spark outrage or reform; it sparks a bill to make sure no one can ever record such a call again.
That’s not protecting privacy. That’s protecting power.
State Sen. Joseph Cryan’s Bill S4739 would make it a crime to record a phone call unless every person on the line agrees. If this passes, it won’t just silence political opposition, it will muzzle whistleblowers, journalists, and everyday citizens who try to expose corruption.
For decades, single-party consent laws have been the only shield standing between truth-tellers and the people who’d prefer the truth buried. Turning New Jersey into a “two-party consent” state doesn’t stop corruption, it just stops the recording of it.
We at Ten-Four Tavern have spent our lives in law enforcement. We’ve seen the worst of what happens when systems of accountability are weakened or ignored.
Pete knows this all too well as a former ATF Deputy Assistant Director who exposed government misconduct in the Fast and Furious gun-running scandal, he stood up when it mattered most.
He blew the whistle on a federal operation that allowed firearms to walk into the hands of violent criminals and paid the price for telling the truth.
When lawmakers use their power to make the truth itself illegal, people like Pete and anyone else with the courage to speak up become the next targets.
This bill isn’t about privacy. It’s about preventing embarrassment.
It’s about ensuring that when politicians get caught crossing the line, they can simply erase the line.
We’ve worn the shields. We’ve investigated crimes. We know the difference between serving the people and serving yourself. And this is self-service of the highest order.
If New Jersey’s leaders were truly interested in protecting democracy, they’d fix the corruption, not the law that uncovered it.
Source: Shore News Network — “Leaked ballot-harvesting recording sparks New Jersey Democrats’ push to outlaw secret phone tapes”