WABC Scrubs Alleged Corzine Campaign Aide's Drug Arrest From Website

Early Saturday morning, 7Online.com, the website for ABC's New York affiliate WABC-TV, reported the previous night's arrest of Jason Shih, an alleged campaign worker for Governor Jon Corzine (D-NJ) charged with "possession of a controlled narcotic and paraphernalia that is used for distribution."

Although the headline "Corzine campaign worker arrested" shows up in a Google News search, the page is no longer available: "We are sorry, but the URL you requested could not be found. The page you are looking for may have been renamed, moved, or deleted."

A search of "Jason Shih" and "Corzine" at 7Online.com did not produce a new article concerning Shih's arrest.

[UPDATE, 1pm EDT: According to the New York Post: "Corzine spokeswoman Elisabeth Smith said Shih is not on the payroll of the campaign or the New Jersey Democratic State Committee, and that the campaign doesn't know who he is."]

Fortunately, the website Drug Policy Central captured the 7Online report for its readers (h/t Twitter follower NYfitter):

US: Corzine campaign worker arrested

Found: Sat Oct 31 06:33:06 2009 PDT
Webpage: http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/story?section=...
Newshawk: http://drugpolicycentral.com/bot/

Corzine campaign worker arrested Corzine campaign worker arrested - 10/31/09 - New York News and Tri-State News - 7online.com

WABC-TV New York, NY

Eyewitness News

Politics & Elections

Corzine campaign worker arrested

New Jersey Senate President Richard J. Codey, right, D-West Orange and Assembly Speaker Joseph J. Roberts Jr., D-Camden, listen as Gov. Jon S. Corzine, center, delivers his State of the State address to a joint session of the Assembly and Senate in the Assembly chambers of the Statehouse Tuesday Jan. 13, 2009, in Trenton, N.J. During his annual address, the Democratic governor also braced the Democratic-controlled Legislature for a new round of budget cuts on top of $1.4 billion already cut this fiscal year. (AP Photo/Mel Evans)

EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ (WABC) -- Jason Shih, an Assistant Deputy Director to the campaign of NJ Gov. Jon Corzine was arrested last night on drug charges.

East Rutherford police say they pulled over the 25-year-old on Route 17 for driving while using a cell phone.

Police say they found 19 ecstasy pills and several hundred glassine envelopes.

He was charged with possession of a controlled narcotic and paraphernalia that is used for distribution.

Story continues below

He was released on $15,000 bail.

(Copyright (c)2009 WABC-TV/DT. All Rights Reserved.)

For the record, the New York Post has also reported Shih's arrest, with a denial from a Corzine spokeswoman of his employment by the campaign:

Corzine spokeswoman Elisabeth Smith said Shih is not on the payroll of the campaign or the New Jersey Democratic State Committee, and that the campaign doesn't know who he is.

The 7Online report said Shih was "an Assistant Deputy Director."

If that's not the case, should they have removed the article completely or issued a correction?

Stay tuned. 

*****Update: Someone posted this 7Online piece at the message board of the website Broker Outpost.