Secret files reveal how pay-to-play works in N.J.

Birdsall, bankrupt and a shadow of its former self, admitted in state court this month to dumping loads of illegal campaign donations into the coffers of elected officials, a practice one former employee said "regularly won contracts" for the company. It was classic Jersey: Banned by law from giving more than $300 to many politicians, Birdsall instead had its employees write personal checks to candidates and then later reimbursed the staffers with salary bonuses and lied to the state on disclosure forms. The company had created the perfect political machine, one that could skirt laws and churn out checks like a printing press, all without raising a single suspicion because each donation was for such a small sum of money it did not have to be reported to the public.

NJ.com