Fishman formally sworn in as U.S. Attorney

Pledging not to alter the traditional focuses of the U.S. Attorney's Office, Paul Fishman, already in office for two months, was formally sworn in this afternoon as the state's top federal prosecutor in a star studded ceremony that included both of the state's U.S. senators, its incoming and outgoing governors, the U.S. Attorney General and U.S. Supreme Court Justice.

"Even with terrorism and national security as our number one priority, and even with new critical areas like health care fraud and mortgage fraud, I can assure you that my commitment and the commitment of the office on other traditional things on which we focus will not flag, and we will not relent," said Fishman in his address, after he was sworn in by Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito, Jr., a Hamilton native who served as the state's U.S. Attorney from 1987 to 1990.   

Fishman, a 52-year-old Montclair resident, will oversee a staff of about 140 in the office where he built his career and which he was almost tapped to lead 10 years ago. 

"Today the truth is, that I have achieved something that has been a huge ambition and longing of mine to be the United States Attorney for this district," he said.

Fishman started at the U.S. Attorney's Office in 1983 --  a year after graduating from Harvard Law, where he edited the Harvard Law Review- and worked his way up to become First Assistant U.S. Attorney under then-U.S. Attorney Michael Chertoff.  In 1994, he move to Washington to work as an advisor to then-Attorney General Janet Reno, before starting a private practice as a white collar defense attorney in 1997. 

Two years later, Fishman was U.S. Sen. Frank Lautenberg's (D-Cliffside Park) choice to lead the office after then-U.S. Attorney Faith Hochberg was tapped to become a U.S. District Court judge.  But then-U.S. Sen. Robert Torricelli's choice, Robert Cleary, won out. 

Fishman's decade long wait to get to the position was the subject of a couple jokes at the jocular ceremony, in which Fishman's closest colleagues joked about everything from Fishman's slow confirmation process, to Fishman's fondness for Yogi Berra (he's a trustee at the Yogi Berra Museum and Learning Center), to his diminutive stature. 

"You can also say he's not afraid to be around people who are taller than he is," said former Deputy U.S. Attorney General Jamie Gorelick. 

Fishman himself called his almost-nomination to the job ten years ago "the elephant in the room" and joked that Lautenberg came back from retirement in 2002 to make sure that he ultimately got the job.

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Alito will swear in Fishman on Monday; Holder and Chertoff to attend

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito will return to New Jersey on Monday to administer the formal oath of office to U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman.  Fishman has been the state's federal prosecutor since October 14; this is his formal investiture.  Former U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff will also attend; Alito and Chertoff are former U.S. Attorneys for New Jersey.  U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder will speak; U.S. Senators Frank Lautenberg and Robert Menendez are on the program as speakers, and plan to attend as long as the Senate is not voting that afternoon.  Also attending: Gov. Jon Corzine and Gov.-elect Christopher Christie, who was U.S. Attorney from 2002 to 2008.

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Jackson: Chertoff calls complaints with Marra a 'stretch'

Michael Chertoff, who was New Jersey's U.S. Attorney in the 1990's, says it's a stretch to accuse Acting U.S. Attorney Ralph Marra of trying to help Chris Christie's campaign for governor. The Record's Herb Jackson asked the former U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security about reports that the Justice Department was investigating Marra's comments:

Q: Did Marra cross a line with his comments?

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Chertoff praises Guadagno candidacy

Chertoff praises Guadagno candidacy
Michael Chertoff is praising the selection of Kim Guadagno as the GOP candidate for Lt. Governor. Guadagno worked for Chertoff when he served as U.S. Attorney for New Jersey in the 1990's.
Credit: Getty Images Photo

Former U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff generally stays away from the political realm, but he made an exception today to praise newly minted lieutenant governor candidate Kim Guadagno.

Guadagno's time working as an assistant U.S. Attorney in New Jersey overlapped with Chertoff's leadership of the office in the early 1990s. 

“I generally stay out of political commentary, but I will tell you that she was an outstanding public servant and prosecutor.  She worked on some really high profile and significant cases.  Great judgment, lots of integrity and very smart,” he said in a phone interview with PolitickerNJ.com.

Chertoff served as a U.S. Appeals Court Judge and as Assistant U.S. Attorney General before President Bush appointed him to head the Department of Homeland Security in 2005.  The Union County native now practices law in Washington.

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U.S. Attorneys from New Jersey

U.S. Attorneys from New Jersey

Jackson's not in the line of succession

Jackson's not in the line of succession
EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson is not officially a member of the cabinet, though she is accorded cabinet status.
Credit: Getty Images Photo

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency administrator Lisa Jackson has been granted cabinet level status in Barack Obama’s administration – as Christie Whitman when George W. Bush was President.  But the EPA is not a cabinet level department and Jackson will lack some of the legal duties of a cabinet member.  Jackson is not in the line of presidential succession and would not have a vote if the cabinet discussed invoking the 25th amendment. The last New Jerseyan in the line of succession was Michael Chertoff, who was 18th during his tenure as U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security.  Click here to view a list of New Jerseyans who have served in the President’s cabinet.

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Bush taps three New Jerseyans as last minute appointees

President Bush made some last minute appointments that included three New Jerseyans: U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff and GOP fundraiser Cheryl Halpern were appointed to five-year terms on the United States Holocaust Memorial Council. And the general manager of the New York Mets, Omar Minaya, was named to the President’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports.

Jackson is New Jersey's 18th cabinet member

Jackson is New Jersey's 18th cabinet member

Lisa Jackson, Barack Obama's choice to head the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, becomes the 18th New Jerseyan to serve in the President's cabinet since James Madison picked Samuel Southard to serve as U.S. Secretary of the Navy.  Jackson also becomes the first African American from New Jersey to serve in the cabinet.

CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE SLIDESHOW OF NEW JERSEYANS IN THE CABINET

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Andrews praises departing Chertoff

On the day Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff came back to his hometown to address students at Kean University in the waning days of his term of service with the Bush administration, U.S. Rep. Rob Andrews (D-Haddon Heights) took a moment to access his legacy.

“We were fortunate to have a person of Secretary Chertoff's abilities and level of commitment serving our country,” said Andrews said in a statement. “He served well at a difficult time.”

In his speech at Kean, the Union County-born secretary expressed frustration with the traditional committee system in Congress.

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Political or apolitical, Homeland Security secretary returns to his hometown

Political or apolitical, Homeland Security secretary returns to his hometown
Michael Chertoff with President George W. Bush in a 2005 White House photograph.

UNION – Talk to people in New Jersey’s legal profession and no one denies that what Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff perhaps lacks in charisma or courtroom presence, he compensates for with something more fundamental:  profound powers of reason. 

“Going back 20 years, he was a great lawyer, a brilliant lawyer – hard but fair,” said attorney Ted Wells.

His friends in the New Jersey political world say Chertoff’s a creature of hard analysis not politics.  “This is one of the brilliant legal minds of the country,” said Assemblyman Jon Bramnick (R-Westfield), who introduced Chertoff today at Kean University, where the Homeland Security Secretary and author of the USA Patriot Act reflected on his three-year term in the Bush administration.

His tenure included his grim mea culpa in front of Congress following what he acknowledged was his department’s 2005 failure to respond effectively to Hurricane Katrina. 

But Katrina didn’t come up today as a cross-section of audience members in friendly fashion mostly picked the Elizabeth native’s brain about general public policy during the question and answer portion of his presentation.

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Wake-Up Call

Morning News Digest: March 12, 2010

Weinberg: 'history is going to defend Jon Corzine’s legacy'Former Gov. Jon Corzine has not gone quietly, not that current Gov. Christopher Christie has let the public forget him.

Virtually every time Christie announces a new budget fix in response to a problem that he pins squarely on the previous administration,...

Wally Edge

In the increasingly contentious Republican primary for the Congress in the twelfth district, Fair Haven Mayor Michael Halfacre might want to become a little more thorough with his opposition research.  This week, Halfacre alleged that rival...
Today is bittersweet for PolitickerNJ.com as we announce the departure of Matt Friedman from our reporting staff.   Matt will be joining the Star-Ledger statehouse bureau, and we are extraordinarily proud of him as he begins the next...
Barack Obama has made his first appointment from Bergen: Victor Herlinsky, an early supporter and Newark Mayor Cory Booker’s ex-law partner, was named to the President’s Advisory Committee on the Arts for the John F. Kennedy Center for the...
Former Edison Mayor Jun Choi is the new managing director of the Government Strategy Group, a New Providence-based firm that provides financial management consulting services to governments.  He has also joined the Eagleton Institute of...
The Middlesex County Republican Organization Screening Committee has recommended that newspaper publisher Diane Gooch be the organization candidate for Congress in the sixth district.  Party rules state that the screening committee...

Contributors

This is going to be a budget that is going to be unlike any other you’ve probably seen in NJ in at least the last 20 years and maybe... more »
Everybody needs to start a new job with a list of priorities and Chris Christie is no exception. There might be a thousand things that need to get done... more »
Trivia Question --- A Democrat Chief Executive elected by an overwhelming margin cannot convince overwhelming Democrat Majorities in the Legislative Branch to enact his agenda, and faces increasing public... more »
As part of his solution to New Jersey’s current budget deficit, Gov. Chris Christie announced that, effective yesterday, he will not allow any additional parents to enroll in FamilyCare,... more »
The First BankAmericano was started in Elizabeth with a mission to serve the traditionally underserved Hispanic population by bringing them into the financial system through savings and checking accounts... more »
Let me get this straight.  The state has a “cap” or limit on how much municipalities can increase their annual budget every year—four percent.  The goal is to keep... more »
My New Jersey Mort Zuckerman Story Both national and local media have been reporting about the possibility of New York Daily News publisher Mort Zuckerman seeking the Republican nomination... more »
You’ve got to hand it to Christie; he calls it as he sees it.  I don’t mean the newly crowned Governor, Chris Christie, but his nine-year-old son, Patrick.  ... more »
Anyone involved in governing and administrating a town or county in New Jersey understands the economic problems outlined in The Star-Ledger editorials of February 28 and March 1.  The... more »
It is widely anticipated that Gov. Chris Christie’s first budget message, to be delivered on March 16, will show the harsh reality of New Jersey’s bleak financial outlook. No... more »
In keeping with the commitment I made to you in the November election, I am looking at every possible way to cut wasteful government spending and relieve your tax... more »
Republican Playbook:  Fear, Scorn & Partisanship -- Instill fear.  Sow uncertainty.   Create doubt.  Demonize.   These tactics may be the unfortunate norm for campaigning, but they are bad – if not... more »
Our new Governor suffers from no lack of advice.  Much of it, contained in the transition reports, deserves prompt attention.  Obviously, economic prosperity benefits everyone, and – as... more »
I have to genuinely wonder if this legislature will go down as the most taxing legislature in the history of the state of New Jersey surpassing the legislative actions... more »
Now that  the dust has finally settled after the grueling campaign for governor, there are a number of lessons that we can draw from this election. First and... more »
March 14, 2010  Governor Christie Cuts The Day to Just 23 Hours   In yet another Executive Order sure to rile clock and calendar makers, Governor Chris Christie... more »
Sheriff Larkin must go:  no ifs ands or buts.According to published reports, Mercer County Sheriff Kevin Larkin entered the Political Science class of associate professor Michael Glass at Mercer... more »
On January 11th New Jersey’s 213th Legislature ended its session, followed the next day by the commencement of the 214th Legislature, with newly elected officials being sworn into office,... more »
On January 6, 2010, several newspapers published articles with titles like “no more aid for struggling cities”, “Christie will cut state aid” and the like; furthermore, in the body... more »
New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, you target teachers. That’s not a positive note to start your tenure. You forget that the Teachers’ Union makes decisions on its own, such... more »
On the day of his inauguration, Governor Christopher Christie inherited a gaping $2 billion hole in the state’s budget and swiftly set about the people’s business in meeting our... more »