Republicans allege cover-up of encounter with cops
TRENTON >> Mercer County Executive Brian Hughes faces allegations that his administration covered up an encounter he had with Pennsylvania State Police last year during the height of the pandemic in New Jersey.
The Democrat-controlled Board of County Commissioners first learned of Hughes’ out-of-state excursion from The Trentonian, which reported on the encounter last week after obtaining a copy of the police report from a source.
The revelation has led to intense speculation about why Hughes was driving around Pennsylvania in a county-owned vehicle, more than 100 miles away from New Jersey’s capital city.
Pennsylvania State Police confirmed Hughes did not face criminal charges after a trooper learned from Hughes’ wife, Pamela, that he suffered from a medical condition that sometimes caused confusion.
Pennsylvania State Police Trooper James Fassnacht found Hughes wandering by himself outside the Lawn Service Plaza, about 20 miles southeast of the capitol of Harrisburg.
The county executive had abandoned his county-issued vehicle along the side of the Pennsylvania Turnpike on June 1, 2020, according to the police report.
Hughes claimed that the vehicle ran out of gas, but the cop noted that Hughes appeared “very confused” and thought he was involved in a race with four other people in Paris, France.
Hughes was transported by ambulance to Hershey Medical Center, after paramedics determined he was also suffering from an irregular heartbeat.
Fassnacht contacted Hughes’ chief of staff, Kelly Ganges, who arranged for someone to pick up the county vehicle, which was gassed up and left parked for Hughes’ associates to retrieve at the Lawn Service Plaza.
Prominent Republicans have demanded answers about whether the Democratic kingmaker, in his fifth term as county executive, is fit to continue carrying out the functions of his office.
They also wondered whether Ganges and others conspired to cover up the episode in order to blunt public criticism of Hughes.
“The Democrat machine on the 5th Floor of the Mercer County Administration Building has been running interference and covering for him for years and years,” said Lisa Richford, the chairwoman of the Mercer County Republican Committee.
Richford, who ran against Hughes for county executive in 2015, previously questioned if Hughes was “physically and mentally fit” to lead Mercer County.
She demanded that he submit to a physical and drug and alcohol screening.
Richford struck somewhat of a more compassionate tone in a statement Monday, blaming Democrats for exploiting Hughes and “perpetuating the lie that he is okay and can do his job.”
But she also took issue with the way the Hughes administration has handled rollout of local COVID-19 vaccinations, saying the county “lags” behind the rest of the state.”
The county has two vaccination sites — at the CURE Arena and the Mercer County Community College branch campus in West Windsor. More than 115,000 residents have been vaccinated against the deadly respiratory disease, according to the county website.
Last year, Hughes faced pushback from local mayors in the early months of the pandemic over the perception that his administration should have taken a more active role in fighting COVID-19.
Trenton Mayor Reed Gusciora and Robbinsville Mayor Dave Fried were among the frustrated mayors who felt that Hughes left much of the onus on the municipalities to coordinate the local response to the public health crisis.
Gusciora laid into Hughes with an expletive-laden tirade during a March 2020 coronavirus call over the county’s lack of testing kits.
Hughes downplayed the exchange at the time, which occurred months before his encounter with Pennsylvania authorities.
“We’re not slamming the door of county government,” he told The Trentonian in March 17 interview. “We realize we are the face of regional government. We will continue to work on solutions to this regional problem. We are not abandoning the cities at all.”
Gusciora, a longtime Democrat and former assemblyman, dismissed political attacks on Hughes in a statement Monday, saying Hughes is “more than capable of carrying out his job.”
Meanwhile, Fried said Hughes owed a more transparent public account to assuage lingering concerns about his fitness for office.
“He should have to fully answer questions,” he said. “One party rule really doesn’t really create great government.”
Authorities have refused to release additional information about the incident, but a spokesman attempted to learn how The Trentonian obtained a copy of the police report, saying police records aren’t public records.
While there was no indication from the trooper’s report that drugs or alcohol were a factor in Hughes’ apparent confusion, the county executive has spoken openly about his past struggles with drugs and alcohol, which included a prior arrest in Washington, D.C., and stints at three treatment centers.
He has professed that he got clean over 30 years ago.
Hughes acknowledged that he didn’t undergo fieldsobriety tests because he did not smell like alcohol.
He chalked the incident up to an adverse reaction to the prescribed drug, Trileptal, which he’s been taking for a decade to treat trigeminal neuralgia, a rare nerve disorder that causes shooting facial pain.
Hughes did not respond to a phone call seeking comment Monday, but his office released a statement indicating he does not plan to provide more clarity on the matter.
“Although he is a public official, that role does not require him to give up his right to some privacy when it comes to health matters,” county spokeswoman Julie Willmot wrote. “His record speaks for itself, and he is fully capable of, and committed to, performing his duties as County Executive, and serving the residents of Mercer County.”
That response is unlikely to satisfy Hughes’ critics, who speculated about whether cops properly handled the the call about the county executive’s abandoned county vehicle partially obstructing the right lane of the highway. Hughes was not issued any driving citations.
It’s unclear whether the trooper knew or learned of the pedigree of Hughes, who is the son of former New Jersey Gov. and Supreme Court Justice Richard J. Hughes, during the call.
“As a taxpayer who funds his salary and funds his office, we have the right to know: Is he capable of doing his duties?” said Ileana Schirmer, the chairwoman of the Hamilton Republican Committee.
She has filed a public records request that she hopes sheds light on the county executive’s work schedule and a listing of events he attends in his role.
“It’s been quiet news that he never shows up for work, that no one every sees him, that it’s other people working on his behalf,” Schirmer said.
Samuel Frisby, the chairman of the Democrat-controlled Board of County Commissioners, acknowledged that the board was not made aware of Hughes’ medical episode when it happened and learned of the episode from an article in The Trentonian last week.
Frisby conceded the Hughes administration should have been more transparent with the board about the incident since it involved a county vehicle.
“It would probably should be something you would want to say, ‘Hey this happened’ because it’s a county vehicle,” Frisby said.
The board chairman said he accepted Hughes’ explanation of the incident and dismissed the idea that Hughes is an “absentee” leader..
“I’m not going to cast aspersions on unknowns based on his history,” he said, adding he’s known Hughes for a decade and the county executive has “acted the same, reacted the same” over that period.
“He’s governed the same way. He’s been leading his team. I’m more apt to believe that it is what he said it was,” Frisby said. “Every meeting that I’m on, he was in his office. When he comes onto our commissioner meeting, he is in his office. With COVID, everybody thinks that everybody is absentee.”
East Windsor Mayor Janice Mironov, the chairwoman of the Mercer County Democratic Committee, did not respond to an email seeking comment.
She was said to have been caught off guard by Hughes’ issues, according to an informed source.