February 08, 2012

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

By Noel Sheppard | October 31, 2009 | 11:30

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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.

About the Author

Noel Sheppard is the Associate Editor of NewsBusters. Click here to follow Noel Sheppard on Twitter.

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Comments

I never doubted that drug use

Submitted by maggied on Wed, 03/02/2011 - 4:05pm.

I never doubted that drug use is done in all levels, the fact that am campaign worker of Corzine was arrested for drug dealing doesn't tell me anything about Corzine, I don't understand why this should be on the news. If I were Jason Shih I would probably check some drug rehab centers after this is done, this is the first step in getting clean...