Paul Fishman (fksa)
Paul Fishman, whose nomination languished in Senate Judiciary Committee for more than three months, was confirmed tonight as the Garden State’s next U.S. Attorney. The Star-Ledger has the story. And click here for our previous coverage on the delay.
Fishman, 52, was confirmed by unanimous consent of the Senate. He will replace Ralph Marra, who has been acting U.S. Attorney since Chris Christie resigned to run for governor.
“I’m delighted, and I’m looking forward to going to work,” Fishman told The Star-Ledger. “I am very grateful to Sen. [Frank] Lautenberg and Sen. [Robert] Menendez for their confidence and their support.”
The two Democrats recommended Fishman for the post in February, and President Barack Obama nominated him in May.
Fishman takes over an office that’s been roiled by fallout from the nasty New Jersey gubernatorial campaign between former U.S. Attorney Chris Christie (R) and Gov. Jon Corzine (D). The DOJ’s Office of Professional Responsibility is examining whether Marra acted improperly at a news conference announcing arrests in major public corruption case; the Corzine camp construed his remarks as a slap at the ethical record of the Democratic incumbent.
The Corzine campaign has complained the office has been slow in answering their Freedom of Information Act requests seeking information about Christie’s controversial awards of lucrative court monitoring contracts to, among others, former Attorney General John Ashcroft’s firm. An Assistant U.S. Attorney in the office resigned after it was revealed Christie had loaned her money that he didn’t report on his financial disclosure forms or tax returns. And Marra lashed out at the office’s critics in an email to staff that was published on a New Jersey political blog.
Fishman (Princeton University, Harvard Law) is a partner at Friedman Kaplan Seiler & Adelman, where he specializes in white-collar criminal matters, corporate investigations and complex civil litigation. Click here for his firm bio, and click here for our summary of his Senate questionnaire.
The Senate has now confirmed 15 U.S. Attorneys.
