Journalists Targeted by Brad Badal and NJ Lawyer Jessica Sprague After Exposing Hidden Millions Related to Criminal Case and Police Fleet Contracts
By Dick LaFontaine with Richard Luthmann and Michael Volpe
Reporter Michael Volpe is in the crosshairs. He’ll never be at liberty to see the Garden State again if a Scumbag lawyer and her crooked connected client have their way in Sussex County, New Jersey Court.
Former Mendham Borough councilman J. Bradley Badal wants the press gagged—and he’s using a family court case to do it.
After facing mounting scrutiny over his secret financial partnership with convicted tax fraudster Bruce Bendell, Badal and his attorney Jessica Ragno Sprague are now trying to weaponize the courts to silence The Unknown Podcast, Substack, this now World-Famous outlet, and others from reporting on the scandal.
Judge Swap, Same Gag Push: NJ Court Becomes a Battlefield for Press Freedom
The family court case—originally in Morris County—was just moved to Sussex County after public exposure and allegations of political favoritism. Judge Peter Bogaard, a Christie-era appointee with deep GOP ties, is off the case.
A new judge is now reviewing motions filed by Attorney Sprague to ban journalists from reporting, force takedowns of published articles, and block ex-wife Cristin Badal from speaking publicly.
“This is a core First Amendment issue,” said Michael Volpe, journalist and co-host of The Unknown Podcast. “They’re using family court to cover up a massive public corruption story.”
Sprague’s filings call for contempt penalties against Volpe and Richard Luthmann for reporting on Badal’s business ties to Bendell—despite the fact the articles are backed by court documents, contracts, and direct quotes from Badal himself.
Volpe isn’t happy. He asked Attorney Sprague for answers. She hasn’t responded. Here is what he asked:
From: Michael Volpe <mvolpe998@gmail.com>
Date: Thu, Mar 27, 2025 at 2:13 PM
Subject: Badal case
To: <jessica@jmslawyers.com>Counselor,
This is Michael Volpe. I run this site, and it appears you know who I am.
I am in receipt of a recently filed affidavit by your client which mentions several of my articles. I am trying to understand your view on the first amendment. If your client doesn’t lik an article, does this mean a judge can order it be removed from existence? This seems to be the argument you make. Am I wrong?
We also sought answers. We asked noted Law Professor and First Amendment Scholar Euguene Volokh, who has been following the case, to opine on Badal’s latest legal volley.
Badal’s statements, palpably drafted by Attorney Sprague, are Orwellian at best. They basically ask the NJ Courts to use the Bill of Rights as toilet paper:
[T]his court has substantial authority to restrict media access, coverage and broadcasting. Again, while the First Amendment protects free speech, it does not protect false speech. The information being reported by these alleged news sources is all false information being provided directly to them by the Defendant, including confidential documentation, inappropriate recordings, and copies of Court pleadings that are not immediately accessible to the public.
Badal says the Court should impose prior restraints on speech because he says the statements are false. But that’s not what free speech means, is it Professor Volokh? We invited a few others to the First Amendment party:
From: Richard Luthmann <richard.luthmann@protonmail.com>
Date: On Thursday, March 27th, 2025 at 1:32 PM
Subject: Journalist Mike Volpe to Jail?
To: Eugene Volokh <volokh@stanford.edu>
CC: jessica@jmslawyers.com <jessica@jmslawyers.com>, Michael Volpe <mvolpe998@gmail.com>, Paul Boyne <paboyne@gmail.com>, Rick LaRivière <RickLaRiviere@proton.me>, Security Court-Judicial <Security.Court-Judicial@njcourts.gov>, anthony.monticello@njcourts.gov <anthony.monticello@njcourts.gov>, leopoldina.tomcho@njcourts.gov <leopoldina.tomcho@njcourts.gov>, juliea005@proton.me <juliea005@proton.me>, kconway@jmslawyers.com <kconway@jmslawyers.com>, Jill Jones-Soderman <director@fcvfc.org>, aptrenton@ap.org <aptrenton@ap.org>, tom@jmslawyers.com <tom@jmslawyers.com>, rich@jmslawyers.com <rich@jmslawyers.com>, ssalmon@jmslawyers.com <ssalmon@jmslawyers.com>, bennet@jmslawyers.com <bennet@jmslawyers.com>, ebrueche@jmslawyers.com <ebrueche@jmslawyers.com>, rcatalina@jmslawyers.com <rcatalina@jmslawyers.com>, c.gage@jmslawyers.com <c.gage@jmslawyers.com>, nancygiacumbo@jmslawyers.com <nancygiacumbo@jmslawyers.com>, mgilberti@jmslawyers.com <mgilberti@jmslawyers.com>, dgleason@jmslawyers.com <dgleason@jmslawyers.com>, tlyons@jmslawyers.com <tlyons@jmslawyers.com>, fmagaletta@jmslawyers.com <fmagaletta@jmslawyers.com>, tlucas@jmslawyers.com <tlucas@jmslawyers.com>, jen@jmslawyers.com <jen@jmslawyers.com>, kwinters@jmslawyers.com <kwinters@jmslawyers.com>, deanh@jmslawyers.com <deanh@jmslawyers.com>, ametwally@jmslawyers.com <ametwally@jmslawyers.com>, deborahm@jmslawyers.com <deborahm@jmslawyers.com>, jburzynski@jmslawyers.com <jburzynski@jmslawyers.com>, jmooney@njspotlight.com <jmooney@njspotlight.com>, adam_clark@njadvancemedia.com <adam_clark@njadvancemedia.com>, kheyboer@njadvancemedia.com <kheyboer@njadvancemedia.com>, rspahr@njadvancemedia.com <rspahr@njadvancemedia.com>, pgrzella@gannettnj.com <pgrzella@gannettnj.com>, kryzewicz@gannettnj.com <kryzewicz@gannettnj.com>, hadely@gannett.com <hadely@gannett.com>, katzban@northjersey.com <katzban@northjersey.com>, kelleher@northjersey.com <kelleher@northjersey.com>, noda@northjersey.com <noda@northjersey.com>, presinzanoj@northjersey.com <presinzanoj@northjersey.com>, jalt@gannettnj.com <jalt@gannettnj.com>, jungaro@gannettnj.com <jungaro@gannettnj.com>, lruse@gannettnj.com <lruse@gannettnj.com>, mdeak@gannettnj.com <mdeak@gannettnj.com>, sloyer@gannettnj.com <sloyer@gannettnj.com>, bjordan4@gannettnj.com <bjordan4@gannettnj.com>, jalt@gannett.com <jalt@gannett.com>, jsmith@thedailyjournal.com <jsmith@thedailyjournal.com>, letters@njherald.com <letters@njherald.com>, Jason.Koestenblatt@patch.com <Jason.Koestenblatt@patch.com>, neighbor@northjersey.com <neighbor@northjersey.com>, gherzog@newjerseyhills.com <gherzog@newjerseyhills.com>, jlent@newjerseyhills.com <jlent@newjerseyhills.com>, emily.everson@Patch.com <emily.everson@Patch.com>, editor@tapinto.net <editor@tapinto.net>Professor Volokh,
Please find attached the documents filed in New Jersey state court in the Badal v. Badal matter. It appears the First Amendment issues have mushroomed. Now, journalist Michael Volpe is mentioned in the papers as violating some New Jersey Court Rules through the heinous act of reporting and commenting on the news.
I believe Mr. Badal’s lawyer, Jessica Ragno Sprague (copied), wishes to put Mr. Volpe on “NJ Courts Super Secret Probation.” They already have a “BLACK LIST‘ for litigants and quite possibly a “KILL LIST” for pesky journalists. The NJ Courts “Security Unit” is copied if you would like to query them.
Not only is this a chilling effect on reporting, but it is also an affront to Michael Volpe’s ability to live a fully human existence. Now, Michael may never have the chance to experience the rich culture the State of New Jersey has to offer.
Reporter Rick LaRivière is also under assault for his journalistic work. And you have already corresponded with Jill Jones Soderman of the Foundation for the Child Victims of the Family Courts (www.fcvfc.org). Outlets including Substack, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, NYNewsPress.com, TheFamilyCourtCircus.com, and others, have published and disseminted the quite heinous (and true) journalistic and media product complained of by Mr. Badal.
Query (for journalistic, informational, and public discussion purposes): When did the First and Fourteenth Amendments stop applying in New Jersey? And if these “Ancient Privisions” still apply in the Garden State, are these filed papers patently sanctionable insofar as they request relief against reporters and the press over whom the New Jersey Courts have no jurisdiction for claims that are not entertainable in our constitutional republic? Are the actions of Mr. Badal and Attorney Jessica Ragno Sprauge as frivilous as frivilous can get? Do these journalsists and outlets have palpable anti-SLAPP claims against Mr. Badal, Attorney Jessica Ragno Sprauge, her law firm (copied), and Mr. Badal’s businesses (if they are funding this nefarius endeavor)?
I contact you as a member of the media and urge your outlet to weigh in on the coverage and the chilling designs these litigants have on the free press using the NJ Courts as their weapon of mass media destruction.
Maybe Attorney Jessica Ragno Sprauge is misinformed? Maybe she slept through Seton Hall Law School the day they taught the First Amendment? Some have postulated that she is part wildebeest and part beached whale – and while neither species has the use of language, maybe it makes sense that she gives little weight to the import of free speech? Maybe you can find out if any of these theories are correct?
Here is some of the “offending” media:
https://nynewspress.com/protecting-cops-exposing-crooks-retired-nypd-fleet-chief-bob-martinez-breaks-silence-defending-his-legacy-and-exposing-crooked-vendors/
https://nynewspress.com/major-police-supply-corruption-secret-cash-deal-between-nypd-supplier-brad-badal-and-tax-felon-bruce-bendell-exposed-doj-scrutiny-mounts/
https://thefamilycourtcircus.com/2025/03/20/censorship-crusade-busted-nj-family-court-faces-backlash-as-ex-pol-badal-fights-a-gag-order-targeting-him-and-journalists-hearing-march-31/
https://thefamilycourtcircus.com/2025/03/17/nj-legal-mafia-exposed-ex-politician-j-bradley-badal-uses-courts-to-silence-ex-wife-press-censorship-corruption-anti-slapp-lawsuits/
https://thefamilycourtcircus.com/2025/03/10/judge-bogaards-courtroom-scandal-deep-corruption-in-morris-county-family-court-political-connections-rule-justice-doesnt/
https://thefamilycourtcircus.com/2025/03/06/nj-courts-exposed-shocking-documents-expose-a-secret-nj-court-police-unit-blacklisting-family-court-victims-journalists-whistleblowers/
https://luthmann.substack.com/p/censorship-crusade-busted-nj-family
https://michaelvolpe.substack.com/cp/159481535
Let us know if you need anything else.
Also, the NJ Court hears the application on March 31 in Sussex County, NJ. Maybe you can send someone out to cover Michael Volpe’s lethal injection (or firing squad if they give him the option). I’ve copied the NJ Courts personnel so that we can coordinate once we take up a collection to retrieve his remains. Poor Michael’s mother will be so upset. She think’s he’s a good Jewish boy. I did too until I read these papers!
Regards,
Richard Luthmann
Writer, Journalist, and Commentator
The issues reported here are not about Brad Badal and Cristing Badal and their divorce qua a divorce proceeding. The reported isssues are stand-alone matters of grave public concern.
This outlet has reported on a Family Court “BLACK LIST” compiled and enforced by the NJ Courts Security Office, a roster that would warm the iron heart of Felix Dzerzhinsky.
NJ Courts Exposed: Secret ‘Hit List’ Targets Family Court Litigants and Journalists
Additionally, this outlet has reported on questionable public corruption and conflicts of interest in the Badal v. Badal case. Morris County Judge Peter Bogaard’s wife worked for Brad Badal in a political capacity. Badal is linked to a down payment for a Bogaard family condominium in Florida with 30 days of the case being assigned to Judge Bogaard, who did not recuse himself from the case. These entanglements, which may all be “innocent” nonetheless create a public perception of the appearance of impropriety and considerations of institutional integrity demand judicial recusal.
This outlet has reported on the audacity of certain politically-connected figures in Morris County, New Jersey, Brad Badal being just one of them, using the courts in a manner that can charitably be described as “questionable.” The general legal test is whether the casual non-legal observer would have reason to believe that something was awry in the integrity of the proceedings. Bluntly stated, can the judicial process be said to be fair?
The Morris-Sussex Vicinage, overseen by Assignment Judge Stuart A. Minkowitz, more than arguably fails any derivation of this test for every case this outlet covers. The question is no longer whether, but has become to what extent this is by design.
Gagged Where It Stinks: Badal, Bendell, and the Hidden Money Trail
The journalists revealed a bombshell: for over 30 years, Brad Badal has been secretly paying Bruce Bendell 25% of the revenue from Major Police Supply. That’s the same Bruce Bendell who pled guilty in 2018 to federal tax fraud, paid $3.8 million in restitution, and claimed under oath that he had fully disclosed all financial ties.
“Either Bendell lied to the Feds, or Badal’s records are fake,” Luthmann said. “Both can’t be true.”
Handwritten notes from Badal correlating with numbers submitted in sworn court documents confirm the deal: a $130,000 investment from Bendell in the late ’80s, in exchange for a permanent cut of police fleet profits.
The pair dominated state and municipal contracts for decades, inlcuding in New York and New Jersey, and up and down the Eastern Seaboard.
Bendell’s Major World Chevorlet, LLC provided cars.
Badal’s Major Police Supply upfitted them with lights, radios, and armor.
With inside help and exclusive deals—like a sweetheart agreement with Federal Signal Corporation—they locked competitors out.
“This looks like money being funneled through secret profit-sharing deals,” Volpe said. “And now that it’s out, they want to use the court to get it buried.”
Gagged Where It Stinks: Courtroom Theater and Attorney Sprague’s Clumsy Legal Play
Attorney Sprague’s legal strategy is blunt: suppress the press, smear Cristin Badal, and bury the corruption under a pile of motions. Here’s the relief requested:
[A]n Order to seal the record for this matter, placing restrains on the dissemination of information relating to this matter, requiring the Foundation for Child Victims of Family Courts, Jill Jones Soderman, and other authors to remove their article from all sources and prohibit them from publishing same again, prohibiting the Defendant from discussing parenting time with the minor child, and requiring the Defendant to immediately undergo her psychiatric evaluation at the risk of losing rights to access to our son, and last counsel fees and costs.
In filings, Sprague argues that Cristin is “leaking materials” to reporters and should be punished. She demands articles “removed,” journalists “silenced,” and even pushes for mental health sanctions if Cristin won’t “shut up.”
“This is a clear request for judicial censorship,” said Jill Jones-Soderman, director of the Foundation for the Child Victims of the Family Courts (fcvfc.org), a watchdog outlet that has drawn Badal and Sprague’s ire. “I’ve seen this pattern before—silencing whistleblowers to protect powerful players.”
The timing is no accident. Badal’s public image is unraveling. He’s now facing questions not only about his role in NYPD fleet procurement but also about possible federal violations tied to Bendell’s undisclosed income.
Badal admits as much in his Certification to the Court: “The Court should be aware that I was informed about the existence of the first article attached hereto by one of my suppliers.”
Meanwhile, Bendell has refused to answer questions sent by reporters. He’s kept quiet since his name reappeared in headlines.
Gagged Where It Stinks: From Family Court to Federal Exposure
Cristin Badal has accused her ex-husband of forging a prenup, fabricating domestic violence claims, and using the legal system to take their son and silence her.
To date, Brad Badal has used his influence with the courts to keep the truth at bay. But that all might all be about to change.
Medical records from Dr. Gregory Hipskind, a board-certified forensic neurologist, support her claims of injury after a physical altercation with Badal in 2021.
The scan shows clear evidence of trauma consistent with a head injury, acording to a March 27 medical report.
“[N]uclear brain SPECT imaging suggest objective evidence of organic brain damage resulting, based on current information, more probably than not from an altercation in her previous domestic arrangement,” the report reads.
In plain English, the factual basis of the report is that Brad Badal beat Cristin Badal while they were together. Brad Badal put his hands on the woman he is now trying to divorce, impoverish, and destroy. And that’s not enough for him. He seeks to have her tagged as “mentally ill” and ensure that she never sees her child ever again.
He put his hands on her.
Despite this, the Morris County Family Court has shown more interest in protecting Badal’s business interests than examining Cristin’s abuse claims—or the misconduct now coming to light through aggressive investigative journalism.
And we won’t even talk about the scumbag lawyers, who palpably knowingly turn a blind eye to wife-beating. We sincerely hope that Dr. Hipskind’s report and our report is news to them and that they have been hoodwinked by Brad Badal who, as more information becomes known, is revealed to be a “Leonardo Da Vinci of Liars.”
“This isn’t about custody, forgeries, or property distribution anymore,” said Luthmann. “It’s about corruption, cover-up, and control. It’s about who is complict in systemic and institutional violence against women. It’s a textbook case in weaponized justice that’s now about who’s going down when Alina Habba rolls through Morristown like Wyatt Earp in a pair of Ferragamos.”
With the case now in Sussex County, press advocates are watching closely.
If the new judge grants the gag requests, it could set a dangerous precedent for free speech, press protections, and whistleblower rights.
“This isn’t just about one bad actor,” Volpe said. “It’s about whether political power and shady lawyers can silence the truth in a courtroom.”
The First Amendment is on trial in New Jersey—and now the public is paying attention.
