Dale Caldwell
Role at the time: Former New Jersey lieutenant governor, speaking to reporters outside his home
Statement summary
A day after resigning as New Jersey's lieutenant governor, Dale Caldwell said the independent investigation's report was "specious" and contained "wrong things and mistakes," and said he was not resigning because of the report but to avoid distracting from Gov. Sherrill's administration. His attorney said counsel would continue to challenge the report's findings and was exploring legal remedies.
“The report, I think, was just specious. There are all sorts of wrong things and mistakes. I'm not resigning because of that ridiculous report. I'm resigning because I don't want to be a distraction to the Mikie Sherrill administration.”
Why we used this label
Relative to the investigation's findings, which led Sherrill to call for his resignation, Caldwell calls the report specious and mistaken, an explicit denial of its validity, consistent with his earlier denial of the underlying allegations. He resigned, but says the report itself is not the reason, so the denial stands apart from the resignation.