Senate OKs new attorney general … after grilling him on Bridgegate

TRENTON — The Senate Judiciary Committee has voted to confirm Gov. Chris Christie’s nomination for state attorney general Monday, — but not until after multiple Democratic senators grilled the governor's former chief counsel for two hours about his role in the Bridgegate fallout.

The same day the full senate approved Christopher Porrino, with a 37-0 vote.

Prior to his position as acting attorney general, Porrino entered the public sector in 2012 working in the Division of Law. Two years later, he served as Christie’s chief counsel until July 2015, with his first day on the job spent at a press conference helping the administration recover from the lane closure scandal.

Porrino stepped down from his position last year to return to private law practice at Lowenstein Sandler, but on June 16, Christie nominated Porrino to become the state attorney general.

Senator Nia H. Gil called Porrino’s nomination “accelerated” and questioned whether his appointment would create the appearance of a conflict of interest . 

“Because of your intimate involvement as chief counsel, we owe it to the state not to foster a conflict of interest that would potentially erode the integrity of the Office of Attorney General or create a system that appears to be rigged or in control of one executive,” Gil said at a Senate Judiciary Hearing on Monday.

Out of the 13-member panel, Gil was the only senator who did not confirm Porrino. She abstained from the vote, saying the Senate should wait until a verdict is reached in the coming case against defendants in the Bridgegate lane closures. A trial for Bill Baroni, the former deputy executive director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and Bridget Anne Kelly, Christie's former deputy chief of staff — both accused of plotting to close lanes of the bridge as political retaliation against the mayor of Fort Lee — is expected to begin Sept. 12.

In the 24 hours leading up to the vote, state Sen. Raymond Lesniak said in a statement that he would vote against confirming Porrino unless there was an independent audit of the $10 million in legal bills incurred from the George Washington Bridge scandal.

Last month, Porrino's office released legal bills spanning the time span of six months showing the state paid $202,827 to the law firm hired by the Christie administration, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher.

Lesniak also voiced suspicion over why Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher did not retain notes taken during witness interviews for the GWB investigation and questioned Porrino's lead role in reaching the $255 million settlement between the state and Exxon Mobil in 2015 over pollution at two New Jersey sites— a deal Democrats criticized as hugely favorable to Exxon Mobil, as the suit was originally seeking nearly $9 billion.

Still, Lesniak, one of the few Democratic senators who intensely questioned the former Christie representative, voted for Porrino's confirmation on Monday. Lesniak said he would rather the state have an attorney general than an acting attorney general — a sentiment shared by many of his colleagues.

"I have a lot of confidence based on your entire hearing, based on recommendations from people who I trust and know," Lesniak told the soon-to-be attorney general.

Porrino will be the first attorney general in three years to be nominated and confirmed by the Senate. Jeff Cheisa was the last confirmed attorney general, and left the position to fill the seat of Sen. Frank Lautenberg after his death in 2013. 

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