Caldwell fights back, threatens legal action after stunning resignation

🔴 Former Lt. Gov. Dale Caldwell is mounting an aggressive challenge to the investigation that forced him from office.

⚖️ Caldwell says he is exploring legal remedies and wants his name cleared of the sexual harassment finding.

📂 A Republican lawmaker is now demanding the Sherrill administration release the records behind the investigation.

Former New Jersey Lt. Gov. Dale Caldwell is no longer quietly walking away from Trenton.

Days after resigning under pressure from Gov. Mikie Sherrill, Caldwell is mounting an aggressive challenge to the investigation that ended his brief tenure in office — and he is considering legal action.

In an exclusive interview with CBS News New York, Caldwell disputed the sexual harassment and ethics findings contained in the 61-page report commissioned by the Sherrill administration.

"For some reason, people wanted me out," Caldwell told CBS News New York's Christine Sloan. "Politics is a nasty game."

Caldwell fights back against report that forced him from office and threatens legal action after stunning NJ resignation. (Getty Images/Canva/TSQ illustration)

Caldwell challenges sexual harassment finding

Among the most serious findings was an allegation that Caldwell made a sexual comment to a female staffer while riding in his State Police vehicle.

Caldwell flatly denies making the comment.

In a detailed written rebuttal obtained by the New Jersey Globe, Caldwell argues other people in the vehicle did not corroborate the staffer's account. Investigators said they found the staffer credible based on the consistency of her statements, a photograph she took during the incident and other evidence.

Caldwell also complains that the staffer is referenced dozens of times in the report while he was interviewed only once.

He says investigators never gave him an opportunity to respond to their final conclusions before the report was released and Sherrill demanded his resignation.

Lt. Gov. Dale Caldwell

Caldwell considers legal action after resignation

The former lieutenant governor is also pushing back against findings that he improperly advocated for a state employee with whom he had a romantic relationship and brought personal guests to ticketed events without properly paying or seeking ethics clearance.

Caldwell contends the ethics rules were complicated and that he did not intentionally misuse his office.

CBS News New York reports Caldwell is now exploring legal remedies, including possible action involving the New Jersey Civil Service Commission, in an effort to clear himself of the sexual harassment finding.

Despite resigning, Caldwell insists he could have continued fighting.

"The priority has to be the people of New Jersey," Caldwell told CBS when asked why he stepped down.

The Sherrill administration is standing firmly behind the investigation. A spokesman said the independent investigation substantiated serious ethics violations and found Caldwell's conduct constituted sexual harassment.

Calls grow to release Caldwell investigation records

Republican Assemblywoman Vicky Flynn is calling on Sherrill to release the interview memoranda, attorney notes and supporting documents behind the investigation.

Republican Assemblywoman Vicky Flynn is calling on Gov. Sherrill to release all supporting documents behind the investigation into former Lt. Gov. Dale Caldwell. (Vicky Flynn via Facebook)

Flynn argues Democrats demanded similar records from former Gov. Chris Christie's administration during the Bridgegate investigation. If Sherrill refuses to release the Caldwell material voluntarily, Flynn wants lawmakers to consider forming a bipartisan investigative committee with subpoena power.

That could keep a controversy Sherrill hoped to put behind her very much alive.

Caldwell is out of office.

But the fight over why he left — and whether the investigation that forced him out was fair and got it right — is far from over.

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