Ralph Marra

Gov.-elect Christopher Christie told the Star-Ledger that he would not rule out appointments for Ralph Marra and Michele Brown, two of his top colleagues at the U.S. Attorney's office. 

"People who have real problems won't be in the administration. People who have problems that are contrived for attempted political advantage won't be hurt by that.  That doesn't necessary mean they're going to be in, but if they're not in, that won't be the reason why they're not," Christie told the Star-Ledger's Claire Heininger. 

Christie could also be talking about former Morris County Freeholder John Inglesino, who stepped out of the spotlight after he became a campaign issue during the primary election.

Marra has been mentioned, although not by Christie or any of his top advisors, as a possible candidate for Attorney General.  Brown had been viewed as a likely candidate for a top administration post until Democrats made her into a campaign issue.

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Paul Fishman was sworn in today as New Jersey's 54th United States Attorney just after 11AM in a private ceremony attended by his wife, two sons, his mother and his staff.  U.S. District Court Judge Joseph Greenaway, who is President Obama's nominee for the Third Circuit Court of Appeals, administered the oath of office.

"This is a tremendous honor and privilege," Fishman said in a statement. "For me, I am returning to an office I once served where I expect to build on its traditions of excellence, fairness and integrity in enforcing federal criminal and civil statutes."

Fishman replaces Ralph Marra, who has been Acting U.S. Attorney since Christopher Christie resigned last December. Read More >

There have been few clues as to Paul Fishman's plans for key posts in the U.S. Attorney's office after he takes the oath tomorrow morning.  For the time being, Acting U.S. Attorney Ralph Marra will return to his old post as First Assistant (Marra took over when Christopher Christie resigned on December 1), and Marc Larkins, who became Acting First Assistant following Michelle Brown's departure, will be the Executive Assistant U.S. Attorney.  Larkins has held both posts since Brown left last month.

Fishman is not expected to make any immediate announcements regarding key personnel, but new U.S. Attorneys typically assemble their own team.  That may or may not affect Marra, a career federal prosecutor.

Eight years ago, the appointment of a First Assistant U.S. Attorney was part of the deal to convince then-U.S. Senators Robert Torricelli and Jon Corzine, to sign off on Christie's nomination.  Torricelli and Corzine reportedly insisted that they have input on the selection of Christie's second in command.

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Former Jersey City council candidate Jimmy King, a veteran of the Hudson County political scene with a deep resume in government, pleaded guilty today to accepting bribes from a federal informant posing as a developer.

King, 67, took two $5,000 cash payments from FBI informant Solomon Dwek during his unsuccessful campaign for a Ward C council seat earlier this year and agreed to accept more money after the election.  He pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit extortion and is set to be sentenced on January 5.

“Although we are pleased with the outcome in the case against Mr. King, we cannot declare victory in our fight against public corruption,” said FBI Special Agent in Charge Weysan Dun. “We continue to ask the public to contact us with information about corruption, no matter how insignificant one may think it is. We will treat every lead with confidentiality and urgency.”

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The U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee has scheduled a hearing on the nomination of Paul Fishman as U.S. Attorney for next Thursday. The full Senate typically votes on confirmations soon after committee approval; a delay would be suspicious. That means Fishman could be in control of the federal prosecutor's office in Newark by the end of September. 

Fishman now becomes a player in the race for governor.  Democrats have criticized Acting U.S. Attorney Ralph Marra, a Democrat, for delaying the release of documents requested by Gov. Jon Corzine's campaign under the Freedom of Information Act.  Democrats have accused the Office of the U.S. Attorney of deliberately delaying the release of the requested FOIA documents, inferring that they are trying to help Christie.  Marra has said the request involves considerable work, including the removal of legal papers that are not public, and says he's working with the FOIA office at the Department of Justice.  Once Fishman takes over, the decision to release documents related to his predecessor, Republican gubernatorial candidate Christopher Christie, will be is.

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Two Jersey City officials arrested in the July 23 corruption sweep pleaded guilty today to accepting bribes in exchange for real estate development approvals.

Maher Khalil, the city's former Assistant Director of Health and Human Services, admitted he accepted more than $72,000 from a federal cooperating witness, believed to be Solomon Dwek.  Guy Catrillo, a city planning department official who unsuccessfully challenged City Councilman Steven Fulop last spring, said he took $15,000 in bribes from the same cooperating witness.

Khalil admitted to arranging meetings between the cooperating witness and several local officials who would, in exchange for bribes, exercise influence over development projects.  He specifically identified Jersey City Council President Mariano Vega and Edward Cheatam, and said he converted cash payments into illegal campaign contributions from straw donors to Vega's re-election campaign.

"We are pleased with the progress we witnessed today and with the investigation as a whole," said Acting U.S. Attorney Ralph Marra. "There's still plenty to do and we will press on accordingly."

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Acting U.S. Attorney Ralph Marra says that the delay in fulfilling a document request by Gov. Jon Corzine's campaign is partly a result of the need to remove references to confidential witnesses and in some cases the protection of attorney-client privilege. 

"We  have devoted and continue and devote significant resources daily to the task of fulfilling these FOIA requests," Marra said in a statement released this afternoon, several hours after U.S. Rep. Frank Pallone (D-Long Branch) wrote U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder to complain about the delays.

The Corzine campaign is seeking documents related to the seven-year tenure of his GOP opponent, Christopher Christie, as the U.S. Attorney.

The full text of Marra's statement:

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In a letter to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, Representative Frank Pallone (D-Long Branch) charged that Acting U.S. Attorney Ralph Marra has “completely compromised any sense of neutrality” and committed a “serious breach of ethics” in written comments he made to his office’s staffers.

In an email announcing First Assistant U.S. Attorney Michele Brown’s resignation, Marra wrote that the office -- which was run by Republican gubernatorial nominee Chris Christie until December -- “has been unfairly drawn into a political campaign through the barrage of FOIA requests; the purported controversy over Michele's personal loan, and a wholly trumped up (and then apparently leaked) complaint, reportedly about my generic and general comments at the Bid Rig press conference and the timing of the Bid Rig takedown.

“The dedicated professionals in that office have no agenda and work in a professional, non-partisan manner to make sure the law is properly enforced.  His internal e-mail appears to be an attempt to make basic requests for information appear to be somehow unfair and ‘political’” wrote Pallone.   

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Acting U.S. Attorney Ralph Marra calls reports of an internal ethics investigation into his comments "a wholly trumped up complaint" and say that his office has been  "unfairly drawn into a political campaign through the barrage of FOIA requests," according to an e-mail he sent to employees that was obtained by PolitickerNJ.com. 

Marra made his comments following the resignation of First Assistant U.S. Attorney Michele Brown, who became an issue in the race for governor after the disclosure that she received a $46,000 personal loan from Christopher Christie, the GOP gubernatorial candidate and the former U.S. Attorney.   The clearly annoyed Marra referred to the loan as a "purported controversy."

Marc Larkins will become the Acting First Assistant tomorrow, and Marc Ferzan will serve as  Acting Executive Assistant and as Acting Deputy U.S. Attorney for the South.

"We owe it to the public and ourselves to keep the work of the office going at our usual pace and at our usual standard of excellence," Marra wrote.

The full text of Marra's e-mail:

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First Assistant U.S. Attorney Michele Brown, who found herself at the center of the contest for governor over a $46,000 loan Republican gubernatorial nominee Chris Christie gave her when he still headed up the office, has resigned, the Star-Ledger reports.

Brown said she did not want to "become a distraction."

"I am extraordinarily proud of all the work we have done and all the good we have accomplished on behalf of the people of this state," Brown wrote in her resignation letter. "I also know how important it is that we continue to pursue our mission, and I do not want to become a distraction from the critically important work we do."

Brown was prosecutor in the office since 1991, predating Christie by a decade.  After Christie was appointed to head the office up, she became close friends with him and his wife, Mary Pat. She was promoted to the No. 2 spot by Christie shortly before he resigned in December, 2008.  

In October, 2007, Christie loaned Brown $46,000 by taking out a mortgage on her house, and she continues to pay him back in monthly installments.  That revelation cost Christie political points as the Cozine campaign seized on it and Christie's failure to disclose it to point to conflicts of interest and weaken him on ethical issues.  

Christie told reporters today that he would not ask Brown to pay the loan off early.

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