(2017 Dem Primary) Opponents make a "Devil's bargain" against Mayor Mapp

"Devil's bargain" flyer being circulated by Tracey Brown
supporters (falsely) as a real story from Essex News Daily,
is full of lies and distortions.
(Click on image for larger view or to print.)

Compare with the real story from
the Essex Daily News of Jan. 10, 2017.
(Click on image for larger view or to print.)

Tracey Brown's supporters were passing out the anonymous flyer above this past Friday, wrapped inside her campaign literature. Is she hoping a bargain with the Devil will give her the upper hand on Primary Day, June 6?

The "Devil's bargain" is a flyer smearing Mayor Mapp as if it were a story from the media. The flyer purports to reproduce a (January 19, 2017) story from the Essex News Daily, an online news site (see complete story here) covering Essex County communities.

First, a little background. The FBI is indeed probing what happened to a $48,000 HUD grant to the Orange Public Library, as the story says --

The warrant and subpoena served on the Orange Public Library and City Hall in 2016 are tied to a $48,000 federal Housing and Urban Development Department grant received through Essex County and then repaid to the county after questions about its origin and use arose that attracted the attention of the feds.

Mayor Mapp is an employee of the City of Orange Township, not the Orange Public Library.

His name appears nowhere in the public record in connection with this matter. He has not been subpoenaed or mentioned in any way in connection to the investigation -- though plenty of other people have.

So, let's take a look at the "Devil's bargain" flyer --

• For openers, assertions that Mapp is "being investigated by the FBI", and will "soon be arrested" are untrue.
  
  
• Next, the reader is advised to "read the newspaper article below". Trouble is, it is not a newspaper story, it is a reworking of the story to insert Mapp's name.

Compare the "Devil's bargain" story at the top with a screen shot of the actual online story that was cribbed --

• The actual "story" from the Essex Daily News is an extended photo caption, not the entire story.
  
  
• Going through the "Devil's bargain" version, you will note that "Federal Bureau of Investigation" is bold-faced to call attention to the words. In the original it is not.
  
  
• That sentence stops with the word "Wednesday" as though it refers to the current week. In the original, the date is given: January 10 (2017). The "Devil's bargain" piece wants this to look like new news, which it is not.
  
  
• Finally, the sentence beginning "Adrian Mapp works for..." is entirely made up for the "Devil's bargain" flyer and appears nowhere in the original.

Lastly, there are two callouts at the end of the "Devil's bargain" flyer --

• The first refers to Mapp as a "criminal", which is not true.
  
  
• The second says Mapp is an "embarrassment" for Orange and Plainfield -- also not true.

Why do people put out such rubbish?

Seems to me that those distributing this flyer -- which reminds me of the ones that used to appear under windshield wipers in City Hall parking lot -- believe that anyone who picks one up is an ignorant fool and will be taken in by this faked "news". And that Mapp's opponents' only hope in the election is to spread lies.

You can always count on one thing: Those who are too cowardly to put their name on such a piece are not looking to do right by the voters.

They are looking to benefit from a "Devil's bargain".

Pastor Brown, of all people, should know the Devil will get his due.

---

  -- Dan Damon [follow]

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