New Jersey's Top US Prosecutor Resigns After Trump Request
NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — New Jersey's top federal prosecutor says he is resigning at midnight after the Trump administration requested the resignations of 46 United States attorneys appointed during the prior presidential administration.
Paul Fishman addressed the resignation in a statement:
"This afternoon, the President requested my resignation, along with the remaining presidentially appointed U.S. Attorneys across the country, effective at midnight tonight. It has been the greatest professional experience that I can possibly imagine to have served in this office for the past seven-and-a-half years. Having spent so much of my career working to protect the interests of the people of New Jersey, I can think of no greater form of public service. I am enormously grateful for the opportunity I was given to lead the men and women who work in this office. They are the most extraordinary group of public servants I have ever known, and I am more than honored to have been their colleague."
The Justice Department says the request was similar to ones made in past presidential transitions.
The department said many federal prosecutors appointed in the Obama administration have already left, but that Attorney General Jeff Sessions is now seeking the resignations of 46 holdovers.
There are 93 U.S. Attorney posts.
For Fishman, the resignation comes only days before the sentencings of two former allies of Republican Gov. Chris Christie in the George Washington Bridge lane-closing case.
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