TRENTON, N.J. _ Al Alvarez, a former official in New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy's administration who has been accused of sexual assault, told state lawmakers Tuesday that he had been falsely accused and that the allegation had "devastated" his career.
Appearing in public for the first time to address a controversy that has consumed Trenton for months, Alvarez maintained that his sexual contact with Katie Brennan, a Murphy campaign volunteer who now works in the administration, was consensual.
He said the difficulties he had faced were not comparable to the "trauma faced by survivors," but added that the episode had brought an emotional toll on his family that "no one should have to go through."
For months, lawmakers have been grilling top aides to Murphy over his administration's handling of Brennan's allegation.
Despite dozens of hours of testimony from Murphy administration officials and others, lawmakers have been unable to find an answer to a simple question: Who hired Alvarez, the former chief of staff at the Schools Development Authority?
As it turns out, not even Alvarez himself could give a definitive answer. Alvarez, who worked as deputy director of personnel on Murphy's transition team following the 2017 election, said he had spoken with the transition chief and Murphy's incoming chief of staff about working at the SDA, which manages school construction.
Alvarez ended up with the $140,000-a-year job, but he couldn't say who directly authorized the hiring. He was later given a $30,000 raise.
"Who hired you?" asked Michael Critchley, an outside attorney for the legislative committee investigating the controversy.
"I couldn't tell you," Alvarez responded.
He did agree with Critchley that it was a "safe assumption" that either Pete Cammarano, Murphy's first chief of staff, or chief counsel Matt Platkin approved his employment.
Alvarez's testimony offered the latest drama in a scandal that has dogged the Democratic governor.
In December, Brennan, chief of staff of the New Jersey Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency, told lawmakers that top Murphy aides failed to act when she alerted them that she had been sexually assaulted by Alvarez during the 2017 campaign.
Alvarez, through his attorney, had denied the accusations and said he had consensual sexual contact with Brennan.
The administration on multiple occasions told Alvarez he needed to leave state government, according to testimony from Murphy aides. But he didn't resign his position until he was contacted by a reporter for The Wall Street Journal months later in October 2018.
In February, a law firm hired by the governor's office to investigate the matter wrote in a report that it was unable to determine who hired Alvarez.
"No witness during our interviews or before the Legislature stated that he or she hired Mr. Alvarez or recommended him for placement at the SDA," the report said. "Nor did anyone identify the person who did. Additionally, there does not appear to be any documentary evidence that answers that question."
It concluded that "regardless of who made the ultimate hiring decision, Mr. Alvarez's placement at the SDA was a foregone conclusion based on his affiliation with the Murphy campaign and the transition office, and due to the fact that he was well known and presumably viewed positively within the Murphy hiring circle."
Two county prosecutor's offices have investigated the sexual assault allegations and declined to bring charges against Alvarez.
On Monday, Politico reported that prosecutors informed Brennan in October 2017 that the DNA evidence they had collected did not match Alvarez.
"I'm sure as you know it's very hard in he-said, she-said cases. That's why we look for DNA," Hudson County assistant prosecutor Jane Weiner told Brennan in an October 2017 videotaped interview, which was obtained by Politico from Alvarez's lawyers. "We're not suggesting this didn't happen. I'm not suggesting that we don't believe you. They're just very difficult to prosecute."
