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US Attorney Paul Fishman: No "Culture of Corruption" in New Jersey

When President Obama nominated Montclair resident Paul Fishman to succeed Chris Christie as US Attorney for New Jersey I wrote:

Mr. Fishman's forte appears to be keeping corrupt union officials out of prison. That puts him in marked contrast to Mr. Christie and it's probably one reason why our state's two Senators (both democrats) and a whole host of other democratic party panjandrums are such enthusiastic boosters of his nomination. They will sigh with relief when he is confirmed.

Mr. Fishman's prior gig was as lead defense attorney for (allegedly) corrupt public employee union head Carla Katz, former Governor Jon Corzine's main squeeze. Ms. Katz was fired by her union for (alleged) improprieties.

Yesterday Mr. Fishman was asked to comment on the rampant corruption undercovered by his predecessor. After the latest round of arrests Ed Kahrer, the FBI agent in charge of the office's public corruption unit, told a press conference, "New Jersey's corruption problem is one of the worst, if not the worst, in the nation."

Fishman's response?

No Mr. Fishman. It is "demoralizing" to know you live in the most corrupt state in the union only to find out that your chief federal law enforcement officer is a "see no evil" kind of guy.

And while dismissing past allegations of politically motivated prosecutions it isn't helpful to backhandedly lend them credence by noting:

"It's the responsibility of every United States attorney to guard against that perception. Perhaps, I feel that responsibility a little more acutely because the accusation was made."

See no evil. Hear no evil. Speak no evil. It's a trifecta of prosecutorial mendacity!

Rod Blagojevich, I think you've found your new home.

Posted at 10:54 by Chris Wysocki   [/democrats]   Comments | Archived | Perm Link |
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