Joanne Corzine Goes On The Record

Joanne Corzine talks candidly to the Star-Ledger and the New York Times and Jon Corzine blames Doug Forrester. Here you have a credible witness to Jon Corzine’s Machiavellian actions, but we are supposed to avert our eyes and cover our ears because “it’s a personal matter.”

Did anyone force Mrs. Corzine to talk to reporters? Did Republicans put her up to this, provide her with a script? No, she came forward and spoke her mind because she thought she owed it to the voters of New Jersey. She could have gone further, much further.

Everything Mrs. Corzine has said is merely confirmation of what is already well known by those that follow the news. Corzine made deals with the political bosses and power brokers in New Jersey to get what he wanted, a face-saving job in the senate and power. Now he’s hell bent on more.

Is this the man we want for the next Governor of New Jersey?

U.S. Sen. Jon Corzine's ex-wife said yesterday he "compromised his ideals" to get elected by cutting deals with political bosses, and that his pursuit of power "destroyed" their family.

Joanne Corzine said she was reluctantly breaking her silence because her ex-husband is giving an inaccurate portrayal of himself in his campaign for governor.

She said that when she campaigned by his side five years ago, she urged him not to get involved with Democratic political bosses, but he contributed millions of dollars to them to "buy their loyalty."

"It changed him. I think once you go down that road of making deals, compromising your ideals to get somewhere, it's easier to do it the next time," she told The Star-Ledger in an interview.

For the first time, she also said her ex-husband's affair with Carla Katz, president of New Jersey's largest state workers union, led to the breakup of their marriage.

"We grew up together. We came from first grade on. And our family was a unit and I think with the ambition that kind of took over our life -- his ambition -- it really destroyed our family as we knew it," she said.

"When he ran for Senate, family values were an important part of his campaign. We all helped campaign. And then when he got into the political arena, that changed, and I think people should know that because values are the core of what a person is."

Joanne Corzine's comments last night expanded on remarks in a New York Times interview published yesterday.

"I am a very private person and have kept quiet thinking some things would get better, but they've gotten worse," she told The Star-Ledger. "The way it's affected our family, the way it's affected my life. And I just think that people should know who they are going to vote for -- or not."

She added of her ex-husband, "He was very Machiavellian in what he wanted. Whatever it took to get there was what he was going to do."