TOMS RIVER, NJ – New Jersey Assemblyman Gregory P. McGuckin said he will not resign from his publicly appointed six-figure job as the Director of Public Law in Toms River after it was exposed that he paid a private investigator to spy on a sitting Toms River councilman and his wife, who serves on the Toms River Board of Education.
McGuckin, according to emails obtained from the Ocean County GOP paid $8,000 to a private investigator using GOP funds, disguised as payments to attorney Kevin Riordan.
Under McGuckin’s direction, Riordan then funneled the money to On Target Law Enforcement & Security Consultants LLC who initiated a surveillance operation of Lavallette police officer Justin Lamb and his wife Ashley.
The findings of that report have not been made public, but on Wednesday, Lamb called for McGuckin’s resignation.
McGuckin’s investigation of the Lamb family raised eyebrows about government overreach in the wake of the FBI’s raid of President Donald J. Trump’s home in Mar-A-Lago.
McGuckin, an elected official most likely broke no laws during his voyeuristic endeavor against Lamb and his wife, but concerns about ethics were raised as McGuckin serves as the Director of Public law for the township where Lamb serves as a councilman.
McGuckin says descriptions of his clandestine peeping operation against the Lamb family is being misrepresented and ‘inaccurate’.
Ocean County GOP Chairman George Gilmore said this week that he is filing a lawsuit against McGuckin to return the misappropriated funds to the Ocean County GOP.