Son of Hoax-a-caust survivors. OY!

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Corzine taps Rabner as attorney general
Friday, August 25, 2006

By MITCHEL MADDUX
TRENTON BUREAU

A former federal prosecutor with a zealot's thirst for obliterating corruption was nominated as New Jersey's attorney general on Thursday.

Stuart Rabner, a buttoned-down, by-the-book career Justice Department attorney who served as Governor Corzine's "ethical bodyguard," is expected to restore public confidence in a post tarnished by the missteps of recent predecessors.

"There are few people in my experience with the integrity, intelligence and commitment to excellence that Stu Rabner has demonstrated over the course of his career," Corzine said at a press conference. "He will make an outstanding attorney general."

If confirmed by the Senate, Rabner will replace Zulima Farber, who announced her resignation last week after an investigation found she had committed ethics violations by appearing at a traffic checkpoint where police had stopped her boyfriend.

Rabner's appointment is a sea change at an Attorney General's Office where past corruption cases often foundered on the rocks of unseen political influences.

The 46-year-old is an apolitical Harvard-trained attorney who has a reputation for zero tolerance for government officials who cross legal and ethical boundaries.

In one noted case, Rabner led a corruption probe into Somerset County Prosecutor Nicholas Bissell. He also spearheaded the investigation into the kidnapping and murder of Bergen County businessman Nelson Gross.

The appointment means that the triumvirate of power at the pinnacle of New Jersey law enforcement -- Rabner, First Assistant Anne Milgram and Greg Paw, director of the Division of Criminal Justice -- are all veterans of the ethically austere world of the U.S. Justice Department.

The choices demonstrate Corzine's preference for relying on former federal officials to meet his campaign pledge of curbing the corruption that has long tainted New Jersey government.

Rabner made his intentions clear during the press conference in Corzine's outer office.

"The law has to be above any considerations of politics or power or wealth," said Rabner, with the governor at his side. "Honest public officials have no reason to be nervous."

Rabner promised to begin a new era of partnership between the state Attorney General's Office and the U.S. Attorney's Office in Newark, his former employer. Relationships between the two agencies soured during the tenure of Attorney General Peter Harvey, who served in the administration of Gov. James E. McGreevey.

U.S. Attorney Christopher J. Christie wrote a scathing letter criticizing Harvey's handling of a probe into George Norcross, a South Jersey political boss who was the target of corruption allegations from political opponents.

Christie, whose probes into official and political corruption statewide made reform a leading theme in last year's gubernatorial campaign, was enthusiastic about the Democratic governor's choice.

"Stu Rabner will be an outstanding attorney general," said Christie, a Republican. "He is as good a prosecutor as the U.S. Attorney's Office has ever produced. Just as importantly, I have never met a person with higher standards of professional and personal integrity."

Rabner, a Passaic native and son of Holocaust survivors, is a graduate of Princeton and Harvard Law School. He lives in Essex County with his wife and three children.

A registered Democrat, he first met Corzine while the two were volunteering at a soup kitchen in Newark on Thanksgiving Day 2001.

Since the beginning of the year, Rabner has been serving as Corzine's chief counsel. The post involves giving the governor legal advice, screening candidates for ranking executive branch posts and judgeships, and reviewing legislation and executive orders.

But Corzine, administration officials say, has increasingly sought Rabner's advice on the propriety of a wide range of policy matters normally not handled by the chief counsel.

Sen. John Adler, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, also praised Rabner's appointment.

"If he brings as much intelligence, integrity and competence to the Attorney General's Office as he brought to the Governor's Counsel's Office, New Jersey will benefit enormously," Adler said.

Rabner will replace Farber, who will step down on Sept. 1. Milgram will serve as acting attorney general until Rabner completes his Senate confirmation process.

Farber announced her resignation last week only hours after a special prosecutor released the findings of his investigation into her actions at the Fairview traffic checkpoint during the Memorial Day weekend.

Farber, the special prosecutor found, improperly influenced officers who let her boyfriend drive away from the scene with a suspended driver's license and expired registration.

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