Company Behind Hoboken Project Has Long Trail Of Jersey Campaign Cash

Rockefeller Group, the company at the center of explosive allegations made by the mayor of Hoboken, N.J. over the weekend, has an extensive history of spreading campaign cash around New Jersey.

Records show the company and its executives have doled out more than $70,000 to Jersey candidates and committees from both parties, including $2,500 to Gov. Chris Christie.

Rockefeller Group became a focus of attention Saturday when Hoboken Mayor Dawn Zimmer alleged that Christie aides had threatened to withhold hurricane relief money unless she approved a development project that involves the company. Rockefeller owns the land where the project was to be built and was also represented by a law firm founded by a close Christie ally.

In an email to TPM Monday, Dwayne Doherty, a spokesman for Rockefeller Group, said the company allows its employees to make "personal donations."

"The Rockefeller Group has a long-standing company policy that prohibits political contributions on behalf of the company. Employees may make political contributions personally," Doherty wrote.

But even though Doherty initially said Rockefeller Group does not make campaign contributions as a company, campaign finance records show the company has been making political donations for more than two decades. From 1989 until 2011, records show Rockefeller Group has made 21 campaign contributions in New Jersey totaling $77,500.


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