Thread: N.J.'s Gurbir Grewal, the nation's first Sikh attorney general, says American dream i

Senate confirms Grewal as nation's first Sikh attorney general



Grewal is the first member of Murphy’s Cabinet to be approved by lawmakers and is likely to be the most influential. | AP Photo

January 16, 2018

Ryan Hutchins



TRENTON — New Jersey lawmakers on Tuesday confirmed former Bergen County Prosecutor Gurbir Grewal as state attorney general, placing him in one of New Jersey’s most powerful unelected offices just hours after Gov. Phil Murphy took office.

In a late afternoon session, the state Senate voted 29-0 in favor of the nomination, installing Grewal as the nation’s first Sikh attorney general and New Jersey’s first attorney general of South Asian-American descent. He was born in Jersey City to Indian-American parents and raised in Bergen and Hudson counties.

“I never imagined that my life's journey could bring me here today,” Grewal told lawmakers at a confirmation hearing earlier in the day.

Grewal, 44, is the first member of Murphy’s Cabinet to be approved by lawmakers and is likely to be the most influential, with a broad mandate to oversee all law enforcement agencies and county prosecutors across the state, and to head up the massive Department of Law in Trenton.

The historic nature of his appointment was hailed by both Democrats and Republicans, some of whom noted he had also been picked by former Gov. Chris Christie for the role of prosecutor.

State Sen. Gerald Cardinale, a Bergen County Republican, said Grewal’s nomination for prosecutor had initially faced resistance “because he was not part of the good ol‘ boys network.” Eventually, he won over county residents “through his meritorious action,” the senator said, calling Grewal an “exceptional human being.”
“I believe he is one of the best attorney generals we’re ever going to have in the state of New Jersey,” Cardinale said on the Senate floor before the vote.

Grewal, a Democrat, had sailed through a confirmation hearing in the Senate Judiciary Committee just minutes earlier, winning the approval of every member of the panel. He faced questions on how he would handle a number of policy issues, from going after polluters to drawing a line between state and federal law.

The attorney general vowed to focus litigation efforts on environmental and consumer protection issues. And he said the fight against opioids — one of Christie’s top initiatives — would be among his key priorities. He said he’d look to better coordinate how county prosecutors handle heroin and opioid cases and would look to leverage the Division of Consumer Affairs in the battle against the opioid crisis.

But Grewal will also be looked to as Murphy, who has positioned himself as a leader in the Trump resistance, tries to combat federal policies that have angered Democrats. Murphy has said he’ll turn New Jersey into a “sanctuary state” if necessary, is looking to legalize recreational marijuana despite a federal prohibition and is considering legal action to combat the federal tax code changes President Donald Trump signed in December.

In introducing Grewal as his nominee last month, Murphy said the state needs “an attorney general unafraid to join our fellow states in using the law to protect all New Jersey residents.”

But Murphy, who was sworn-in at a noontime ceremony at the War Memorial on Tuesday, also promised to not to influence Grewal in any unethical ways, allowing the Attorney General’s Office to “be fully independent and free to conduct its business without political interference from the governor’s office or anywhere else.”

At Tuesday’s committee hearing, Grewal was questioned about federal policy issues, including immigration and drug issues. Asked by Cardinale what he would do if Murphy ever told him to issue a broad directive to county prosecutors to prioritize the enforcement of some laws over others, Grewal said he would decline to do so.

“My reaction would be to have a discussion with the governor’s office and advise them on what can be done and can’t be done,” he said.

Grewal was sworn in as Bergen County prosecutor last year. The Glen Rock resident abandoned his work in private practice several years ago to pursue a career as a prosecutor.

Before his appointment by Christie, Grewal was an assistant U.S. Attorney under Paul Fishman, a Democrat who was ousted this year in a shakeup of federal prosecutors across the country and also attended the hearing on Tuesday in the statehouse.

Grewal headed up the economic crimes unit for several years and oversaw the investigation and prosecution of all major white collar and cyber crimes. He also worked briefly in the federal prosecutor’s office in Brooklyn.

Grewal graduated from the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University and obtained his law degree from the College of William & Mary in 1999.



https://www.politico.com/states/new-...general-192003