Gov. Phil Murphy’s chief counsel, Matt Platkin, on Friday became the latest state official to testify that he did not know who hired Albert J. Alvarez, the ex-Murphy administration staffer accused of rape, leaving the legislative committee investigating Katie Brennan’s allegations searching for answers.
“It doesn’t seem to me that anyone knows who hired Mr. Alvarez,” a frustrated committee co-chairwoman, state Assemblywoman Eliana Pintor Marin, D-Essex, said during the panel’s fifth public hearing at the Statehouse in Trenton.
Platkin also defended his decision to not inform Murphy of Brennan’s allegations, even after she emailed Murphy directly in June and asked to speak to him about “a sensitive matter” that occurred during the governor’s 2017 campaign.
When the committee again and again fired questions at Platkin about why he kept the allegation from Murphy, Platkin said he had received training on how to handle sexual harassment and other workplace complaints just weeks before and was operating under those guidelines, which emphasize strict confidentiality.
“In the weeks since then, I have often considered and reconsidered whether it was the right decision to not inform the governor of Ms. Brennan’s allegations,” Platkin told the committee. “And I can understand why, especially with the benefit of hindsight, a different conclusion might be appropriate. But I acted in accordance with what I understood, based on the training I received.”
Michael Critchley, one of the attorneys for the committee, said Platkin missed numerous opportunities to inform the governor that Alvarez had been asked to leave, and why. Murphy must have known Alvarez well, Critchley said.
“He was someone who has worked what the governor personally - he worked for New Way for New Jersey," a nonprofit Murphy created leading up to his campaign, Critchley said. “He worked on the campaign. He was a high level position in transition.”
“I am having a hard time believing you did not tell the governor," Critchley said. “It’s a head-scratcher.”
Brennan has said Alvarez sexually assaulted her in her apartment in Jersey City in April 2017. He had driven her home from a campaign-related social gathering and asked to use the bathroom, Brennan has said. The Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office declined to file charges against him.
Alvarez was chief of staff to the New Jersey Schools Development Authority until he resigned Oct. 2 after he was contacted by the Wall Street Journal, which was preparing to publish a story about Brennan’s allegation and the administration’s failure to investigate or hold Alvarez accountable.
Murphy campaign and administration officials testified that Alvarez was told twice to look for a new job. But none have said they actually hired Alvarez in the his then $140,000-a-year job at the Schools Development Authority.
Platkin said Friday that it wasn’t him, either.
“I can’t speak for everyone in the administration, but I was not involved in the process for hiring Mr. Alvarez,” he said, adding he had no formal role in the transition and was largely filling out the governor’s Cabinet and drafting executive orders. “I was very infrequently involved in the discussion on staff."
Marin seemed perplexed. “That concerns me and everyone on this committee. Someone had to make an actual offer of employment," she said.
“I understand,” Platkin replied.
Murphy’s chief of staff, Pete Cammarano, testified earlier that Platkin was in charge of the authorities, while he was involved with selecting cabinet members.
At an unrelated news conference in West Trenton on Friday, Murphy was asked if he knew who hired Alvarez.
“I have nothing new on that front to offer,” the governor said.
Much of the testimony from nine previous witnesses over four hearings singled out Platkin as the key decision-maker in how the administration responded to Brennan’s complaint and who was or wasn’t brought into the fold.
Brennan earlier this month sued the Murphy administration for violating her confidentiality and mishandling her complaint.
Platkin described how he followed the policy by flagging the chief ethics officer in the governor’s office after Brennan told him in March 2018 that she was raped.
He recused himself from the equal employment opportunity investigation because he knew both Brennan and Alvarez, he said Thursday. But the recusal was not necessary, Murphy’s chief ethics officer, Heather Taylor, told him, because the Attorney General’s Office concluded it did not have jurisdiction to investigation Brennan’s allegation, Platkin said.
Alvarez has denied he raped Brennan and has declined to comment on the hearings. In his testimony Friday, Platkin offered a window into Alvarez’s state of mind after his he was told for the second time to find a new job.
“He was very emotional and was sobbing,” Platkin said, describing a telephone conversation with Alvarez in June. “He felt he had rights, too, and that he was having his career unfairly ended by an allegation already rejected by the prosecutor’s office.”
Platkin said he did not waiver. “I nevertheless told him that he should leave state government. He informed me in clear terms that he would do, but since he was the caretaker for two minor children, he needed some more time to find other employment so that he could continue to support his family.”
Alvarez told Platkin he was considering pursuing a job at Rutgers University, but he never applied, Platkin said. Platkin said he understood Alvarez was planning to leave in October.
Platkin also denied helping Alvarez find new employment. In appealing his rejected unemployment claim last week, Alvarez wrote that state officials had agreed to assist him in his job search. Cammarano, the chief of staff, also denied doing so.
State Sen. Kristen Corrado, R-Passaic, asked Platkin if he believed Brennan’s allegation — he said he did — before she read aloud a text exchange between Platkin and Charlie McKenna, Alvarez’s boss at the Schools Development Authority. McKenna was not told about Brennan’s allegation. He wrote: “He really is a decent guy.”
Platkin responded with a text that he agreed.
“So Mr. Alvarez is a decent guy?" Corrado said.
“I just wanted to end the text conversation,” Platkin said.
Platkin, a 32-year-old New Jersey native and Stanford graduate, joined Murphy’s campaign for governor at the inception, serving as policy director and fleshing out the candidate’s platform. Before the campaign, he served a similar role in Murphy’s pre-campaign vehicle, New Way For New Jersey.
As chief counsel, Platkin is the governor’s top lawyer, with an office just steps away from Murphy’s door. Political insiders say he is a trusted — even indispensable — adviser who got in on the ground floor of the governor’s political career and has remained a key aide even under the intense glare brought by the scandal.
NJ Advance Media staff writer Brent Johnson contributed to this report.
Samantha Marcus may be reached at smarcus@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @samanthamarcus. Find NJ.com Politics on Facebook.
Susan K. Livio may be reached at slivio@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @SusanKLivio. Find NJ.com Politics on Facebook.