Gov. Jon Corzine is meeting with President-elect Barack Obama next week (along with several other area Governors) and could bring up his short list of three candidates for U.S. Attorney: the Governor likes Paul Fishman and Joseph Hayden, and Attorney General Anne Milgram. And there are two names — both former federal prosecutors — sources say, that Corzine opposes to replace Republican Christopher Christie: Essex County Prosecutor Paula Dow and Monmouth County Prosecutor Luis Valentin.
It's possible that none of Corzine's three picks will get the job: Milgram would be opposed by some serious Democratic players, and Hayden has some pending legal matters — he's the attorney for Bergen County Democratic Chairman Joseph Ferriero who is under federal indictment and awaiting trial. Fishman, who reportedly has the backing of U.S. Senator Frank Lautenberg, is an interesting pick for Corzine: he's representing labor leader Carla Katz, the Governor's former girlfriend, in a lawsuit about private emails between the two.
Fishman, a former federal prosecutor and top aide to Attorney General Janet Reno, was Lautenberg's choice for U.S. Attorney in 1999, but didn't get the job when the Clinton White House sided with Robert Torricelli in a hefty internal Senate battle.
