NJ attorney general gets new job tackling white-collar crime

Attorney General Gurbir Grewal will be resigning to take a position with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Grewal has been appointed Director of the SEC’s Division of Enforcement, effective July 26.

“I’m excited to get to work with the talented team of public servants to uncover and prosecute misconduct and protect investors. I thank Governor Murphy for the opportunity to serve the people of New Jersey and all of the colleagues with whom I’ve had the pleasure to work during my career in the state,” Grewal said in a written statement on Tuesday.

The 48-year-old Grewal in 2018 became the first Sikh American to serve as a state attorney general, when he was confirmed by the state Senate after being nominated by Gov. Phil Murphy.

In confirming Grewal’s resignation, Murphy called him “an invaluable member of our administration and a dedicated public servant to the residents of New Jersey.”

Previously, Grewal served as Bergen County Prosecutor and also spent six years as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in New Jersey, as well as another three years in the Eastern District of New York.

From 2014 to 2016, he oversaw the investigation and federal prosecution of all major white collar and cybercrimes in New Jersey.

Republican opponent in the governor's race, Jack Ciattarelli, had a vastly different response to the announcement.

"No Attorney General was as anti-cop as Gurbir Grewal, so this is good news for our law enforcement community. Unless, of course, Murphy replaces Grewal with another extreme partisan who is also going to disarm our police," Ciattarelli said on Twitter.

The news was first reported by the New Jersey Globe, which also pointed to at least one previous instance where a new A.G. was not named for some time.

In June 2013, then-Attorney General Jeff Chiesa was appointed to the U.S. Senate, following late U.S. Senator Frank Lautenberg.

John Jay Hoffman became Acting Attorney General and continued in that capacity for nearly three years, until leaving for a prominent post with Rutgers University.

A permanent replacement wasn’t confirmed by the state Senate until August 2016.