The Democratic primary for U.S. Attorney: Timpone will be a non-starter

One name that probably won't receive much consideration for United States Attorney, if Barack Obama wins the presidency:  Walter Timpone, a politically connected ex-federal prosecutor who has coveted the job for years.  Timpone gave the maximum $4,600 to Rob Andrews' campaign for the Democratic U.S. Senate nomination earlier this year, and his contributions in the presidential race went to Hillary Clinton and John Edwards, not Obama.  Timpone spent eleven years as an Assistant U.S. Attorney, and was named by a panel of Judges to monitor elections in Passaic County.  He currently represents Laborers International Union of America (LIUNA), which backed Andrews against Lautenberg in the Senate primary.

Back in 2002, Timpone, a Democrat, was a very real contender to be First Assistant U.S. Attorney under Christopher Christie, a Republican.  According to published reports, U.S. Senators Bob Torricelli and Jon Corzine made Timpone's apppointment a condition of signing off on Christie's nomination.  But Timpone's campaign for First Assistant imploded after revelations that he held a meeting with Torricelli in 2001 while representing Hudson County Executive Robert Jansizewski, whom federal agents were looking to recruit as a confidential informant in their probe of Torricelli.  Timpone insisted at the time that he never discussed the investigation with the Democratic U.S. Senator.

Another potential candidate for U.S. Attorney is Julien Neils, the Newark Corporation Counsel and the former Chief Municipal Court Judge.