We wrote it! We really wrote it! Reputations in tatters, Steinberg joins Needleman in refuting 12/19 opinion piece that appeared under their names.

Two hard nights for energy committee co-chairs Senator Norm Needleman (D-Essex) and Representative Jonathan Steinberg (D-Fairfield) as each tried to wash away the stain of their failure of candor over who wrote a wild-eyed, conspiracy-laden opinion piece that appeared on the CT Mirror website on December 19th.

On Monday night, Needleman appeared to be reading remarks as he struggled to summarize the energy bill that did not include a power grab for the chair of the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (PURA). Needleman made a fleeting reference to the 12/19 op-ed that accused the utilities of conspiring with ratings agencies to lower their bond ratings. Neither Needleman nor Steinberg recanted their op-ed screed against the Hartford Courant’s reporting. Demagoguery remains in season.

What the damaged duo did not do on Monday, Tuesday or any other day is release the op-ed draft PURA chair Marissa Gillett told Steinberg in a text that she appears to no longer have that she had finished an op-ed and would be sending it to him—just days before it appeared in the left-leaning Mirror.

Steinberg said on the floor of the House Tuesday evening, “The rhetoric has gone way overboard, including both sides.” He added, “I myself regret contributing to the tension, including the unwarranted speculation as to the relationship between the utilities and the ratings agencies….That was was with regard to the opinion piece Senator Needleman and I penned.”

”Penned” is a funny old world. Not as clear or emphatic as “wrote.” Better would be an end-of-session announcement that he and Needleman will produce all texts, emails, attachments and metadata pertaining to the 12/19 venting of someone’s spleen. The pair’s contempt for the Freedom of Information Act has not abated. They may soon learn that a subpoena is a more powerful tool than the FOIA in the righteous search for truth.

If Steinberg and Needleman do not augment their FOI disclosures, their positions will be in considerable jeopardy when the complete story emerges.

Published June 3, 2025.