STILL SWAMPY:

Lurid Charges Hit Top Donor to New Jersey Governor (RONALD SMOTHERS, 7/13/04, NY Times)

Gov. James E. McGreevey's top contributor was charged on Tuesday in a bizarre scheme to enlist prostitutes in an effort to silence potential witnesses in a federal investigation of possible illegal campaign contributions.

In a criminal complaint that reads like a plot line from an Elmore Leonard novel, Charles Kushner, a New Jersey landowner and businessman with close ties to many religious and political figures, was charged with hiring prostitutes to entice his brother-in-law and his accountant into sexually compromising situations.

The complaint says that the accountant did not take the bait, but that the sister's husband did. The result, prosecutors said, was a sexual encounter between the brother-in-law and a high-priced New York call girl in a Bridgewater motel room last December that was recorded by a hidden camera.

The complaint, which mentions no name except Mr. Kushner's, says that he and his co-conspirators mailed the incriminating tape to a relative with whom he was feuding and who was cooperating with investigators. Based on the allegations in a separate civil suit, that family member is believed to be Esther Schulder and her husband, William E. Schulder. Mr. Schuler did not return calls seeking confirmation that he was involved. Robert Yontef, the accountant, could not be reached either. The mailing, according to the complaint, was an attempt to "retaliate" against the potential witnesses and block any further cooperation.

The complaint against Mr. Kushner, the chief executive officer of the Kushner Companies of Florham Park, is likely to add to the political troubles of Governor McGreevey, who has been plagued throughout his two and a half years in office with questions about his companions.

That "companions" is artful.

Posted by Orrin Judd at July 13, 2004 11:50 PM