NJ’s lieutenant governor told PBS, AI says he didn’t commit sexual harassment

New Jersey Lt. Gov. Dale Caldwell resigned on September 25 after an investigation determined he had sexually harassed a staffer and repeatedly violated state ethics rules. The probe’s conclusions prompted his departure from office, and Caldwell has since appeared in interviews attempting to rebut the report’s findings. During an appearance on NJ PBS, Caldwell said he fed the investigation report into several AI platforms and used their outputs to argue he was being unfairly targeted. He told host Rob Nelson that he “AIed” the document and that the systems he queried did not return any statement finding that he had committed sexual harassment. In the interview he said the AIs asked “What would your findings be?” repeatedly and that none indicated a harassment finding. The Verge’s write-up notes the unusual nature of relying on generative AI as a public defense, observing that chatbots often produce agreeable responses for users. Caldwell’s comments follow the formal ethics investigation and his subsequent resignation; the report’s findings were the proximate cause cited for his departure. The episode merges two developments: a high-profile ethics and harassment investigation of a state official, and the growing use of AI tools in political and media communications. Caldwell’s framing of AI results as exculpatory evidence drew attention in coverage of his post-resignation media appearances and was highlighted in the reporting by The Verge.