In ritzy Greenwich, Connecticut, even the cops play dirty politics.
A police captain in the posh suburb admitted he tried to sabotage a local GOP candidate by deploying dozens of faux political ads linking him to President Trump.
Fred Camillo, a state representative since 2008 running for first selectman, said he first saw the lawn signs last weekend after friends called to alert him.
“Those signs are horrible,” Camillo told The Post. “They have to come down.”
The signs, placed in 39 locations around town, were made to look like the president and the state lawmaker were running together on the same ticket.
“Trump/Camillo” they blared. “Local elections matter. Vote Republican, Vote Team. Make Greenwich Great Again.”
The ads put Camillo in an awkward spot by highlighting his continuing support for Trump in a town where locals voted for Hillary Clinton over the billionaire in the 2016 presidential race, 57 to 39 percent.
Camillo was careful not to criticize the signs’ message, only the messenger.
“He was very deceptive. He was deliberately misleading the voters. This is a police officer,” Camillo fumed. “It could have been Camillo/Reagan or Camillo/Roosevelt. I didn’t authorize this. That’s the issue here.”
After a couple of days of town-wide speculation, Capt. Mark Kordick was confronted by his bosses at the Greenwich PD. He confessed and was put on paid administrative leave.
“I was trying to point out [Camillo’s] hypocrisy,” said Kordick, a 31-year-year veteran of the force. “You can’t distance yourself from your own party. I was making an honest association. It was certainly designed to provoke thought.”
The 54-year-old registered Democrat added in a statement: “Every person in Greenwich who doesn’t have the same privilege I do as a white male heterosexual is affected by Republican national politics when it comes to issues of racial equality, ethnic equality, women’s rights and LBGTQ rights.”
Kordick told The Post he was one of the few “progressively minded police officers” on the force.”
It’s not the first time Kordick has been disciplined by his department. In 2015 he used his official email for political purposes and was forced to undergo counseling, the Greenwich Times reported.
Kordick said he’s broken no laws with his signs and even checked with the Connecticut State Elections Enforcement Commission before he spent $253.55 on the effort.
“They haven’t actually identified any violation of policy,” he told The Post of the police force. “I edited our 600-page policy manual. I am certainly not aware of protected political speech that occurs off duty that is a violation of policy in any way.”
Greenwich police said they would “reserve passing judgment until all the facts are reviewed,” and declined to comment further on the case.
Greenwich’s first selectman, the rough equivalent of a mayor, leads the town with two other selectmen and presides over the elected 230-member representative town meeting.
Camillo’s opponent in the race, Jill Oberlander, said, “Neither I nor my campaign had anything to do with this sign issue. We don’t create controversy or distraction.”
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