PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — South Jersey power broker George Norcross is suing The Philadelphia Inquirer and an editor at the paper for $100 million in a lawsuit filed in Philadelphia’s Court of Common Pleas Thursday morning.
Norcross alleges that editor Nancy Phillips provided fabricated notes to New Jersey’s Attorney General’s Office ahead of racketeering charges being filed against him.
He said Phillips held a personal vendetta against him stemming from a previous battle over the paper’s ownership with Lewis Katz, who was romantically involved with Phillips. A group led by Norcross lost out to Katz in that battle over ownership of The Inquirer.
With that bad blood in mind, Norcross said he was assured by the paper that Phillips wouldn’t cover stories related to him. But, Norcross said, Phillips covered him anyway and alleges she fabricated statements from an off-the-record interview with a former Camden County official.
Norcross said Phillips then funneled those fabricated interview notes into the hands of New Jersey’s Attorney General’s Office, and they were used as evidence in the racketeering case against him and several others. That case was dismissed last year, the former AG lost an appeal, and the current AG has declined to pursue it any further.
Norcross seeks $100 million for defamation, emotional distress, and other damages, and said he will donate any money awarded to charity.
The Philadelphia Inquirer declined to comment on the pending litigation.
