The naked body politic
Sen.’s ex-staff rival was fired for porn
A former staffer for a Queens state senator who has been working to unseat his old boss was fired by the pol several months ago — after porn links were found on the aide’s office computer, The Post has learned.
Jeffrey Griffin, 33, a former constituent liaison for Democratic Sen. Joe Addabbo, launched a “Joe’s Gotta Go” campaign last month, teaming up with the farleft political group Rockaway Revolution in the borough to try to enlist a contender to take on the nine-year veteran office-holder.
The move came just a few months after Griffin was fired in June — after he began arguing with other staffers and the XXX links were discovered on his office computer, according to Senate sources and Griffin himself.
Before he was fired, Griffin had told a manager at Addabbo’s Middle Village office to “go f--k” himself as the two men argued over affordable housing. Griffin said the higher-up had just said something offensive about his work ethic.
Griffin filed a personnel complaint with the Senate, saying he was being subjected to “rude” and “hostile” remarks, adding he was the victim of “disparate” treatment because a female staffer in the office was allowed to wear casual shoes and he wasn’t, according to a copy of the letter provided by Griffin.
Addabbo says Griffin’s allegations were unfounded.
But while the Senate was still investigating Griffin’s complaints, his coworkers used his computer and discovered dozens of dirty Web sites bookmarked on the machine, including a PornHub link for Jessa Rhodes, known for her “barely legal” look, according to records submitted to the Senate.
The link was visible directly from Griffin’s Google Chrome toolbar.
Staffers later discovered at least 29 other nudie links, also bookmarked on the taxpayer-funded computer, the records show.
Griffin told The Post the bookmarks were on his personal Google account, which automatically popped up on his office computer because “it just signs in like that.”
“I never actually looked at any porn on my computer there,” he insisted, adding, “That’s actually a huge shock to me’’ that the bookmarks would have shown up.
The situation was reported to the state Senate, which was already investigating Griffin’s personnel complaint against the office manager.
At the end of its probe, the Senate fired the Long Island native, according to sources and Addabbo. The Senate declined to comment.
But Griffin insists the campaign he has since launched to unseat his old boss has nothing to with his ouster.
“We have a lot of big issues that are going to need a lot of big ideas and we are going to need someone that’s going to put their neck out there and fight for someone,” he said. “I’ve been working in progressive politics for years, so it’s not just based on disliking Joe.”
He said he and Rockaway Revolution have already found a “serious candidate” they’re vetting now for the 2020 Senate District 15 race.
Rockaway Revolution, which bills itself as a “women-led’’ group, told The Post in an e-mail it had not been aware of why Griffin was fired by the Senate but said Addabbo was getting “the muchneeded challenge he deserves.”
Addabbo — who hasn’t faced a Democratic challenger since he beat out Republican incumbent Serphin Maltese in 2008 — says, bring it on.
“It’s poor strategy because what it did is, it woke up my constituents and my supporters,” he said of Griffin’s push to oust him.