Invited to Murphy staff party: Corrupt pol, man accused of sex assault

Raise your glasses to second chances.

Two former Murphy administration officials at the center of separate hiring scandals were invited to a "mandatory fun" staff reunion in Princeton this week, according to a copy of the email invitation obtained by the New Jersey Globe.

Marcellus Jackson — the convicted Passaic County politician who was illegally given a job in Gov. Murphy's Department of Education — and Albert Alvarez — who resigned from the New Jersey Schools Development Authority this month after being accused months earlier of sexual assault — were both invited Oct. 10 to the Oct. 18 shindig at Alchemist & Barrister.

The email was sent nine days after Alvarez resigned and hours after Politico New Jersey broke the news about the sexual assault allegations, which have not resulted in any criminal charges.

The email also was sent weeks after Jackson's Sept. 28 resignation, which was announced by Attorney General Gurbir Grewal, whose office is investigating why Jackson was given a state job even though his corruption conviction should have barred him from doing so.

Despite the furor over Jackson, Murphy has continued to defend giving the ex-con a "second chance" even though he was not legally allowed to do so.

Murphy has had less to say about Alvarez.

NJ.com reported this week that the accuser approached Murphy's people at least three times about the allegations and first contacted the campaign before Murphy took office in January.

The revelations about Alvarez come after the contentious U.S. Senate hearings and confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh to the U.S. Supreme Court. The justice was accused by a woman of an attempted sexual assault when they were teenagers three decades ago. A limited FBI investigation did not turn up corroborating witnesses or evidence.

Republican lawmakers have called for an investigation into Alvarez's hiring.