Republican consultant Ed Rollins testified Friday that he lied when he said the GOP distributed $500,000 to suppress black voting in the New Jersey gubernatorial election. But the Democratic Party wasn't taking him at his word.
Rollins, who managed Republican Christine Todd Whitman's comeback victory over Democratic Gov. Jim Florio, was grilled all day in a Washington office by lawyers for the Democratic Party. Democrats are suing to overturn the Nov. 2 election on the basis of Rollins' original claim.Theodore W. Geiser, special counsel to the New Jersey Republican State Committee, said Rollins "testified it was a total fabrication.
"He expressed, as I would say, an unqualified act of contrition," Geiser said.
But Democratic State Committee Chairman Raymond J. Lesniak said Rollins' "bizarre explanation" would not end the lawsuit.
"We're not relying on his explanation as being truthful. We have what we've had all along and that is his original statement."
Asked about the chance of overturning the election, he said: "It still is slim. We have a heavy burden to meet. It will be based on further questions and depositions."
Rollins gave the names of others in charge of various aspects of the Republican campaign, attorneys for the Democrats said, suggesting they would want to question some of those people.
They already are scheduled to depose Whitman's brother, Webster Todd, who managed the campaign before Rollins took over.
During the deposition, the Democrats' lawyers also questioned Rollins about Democratic workers who might have been approached with GOP money. Rollins said he knew nothing about such instances, the lawyers said.
In New Jersey, a Whitman spokesman said Rollins' testimony "goes a long way toward convincing people that there's no truth to this story."