U.S. Attorney Philip Sellinger, who served as the state’s top federal prosecutor for the past three years, is stepping down before start of the Trump administration.
His resignation, announced Monday, will take effect on Jan. 8, according to a statement from his office.
First Assistant U.S. Attorney Vikas Khanna will become the acting U.S. Attorney once Sellinger leaves office.
“Serving as the United States Attorney has been the honor of a lifetime. My sincere thanks to President (Joe) Biden for appointing me the temporary steward of the U.S. Attorney’s Office,” Sellinger said in a statement.
His departure was expected. Most U.S. Attorneys step down when a new president is sworn into office, or are sometimes fired — as was the case of Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara, one of 46 United States attorneys appointed by President Barack Obama who were asked to resign, and immediately clean out their offices.
Craig Carpenito served as U.S. attorney during President Trump’s first term, before resigning after Joe Biden’s victory.
“I leave knowing the storied traditions of this office will continue through our dedicated career assistant U.S. attorneys and staff,” he said.
A longtime lawyer and Democratic donor, Sellinger was nominated by President Biden to become New Jersey’s U.S. Attorney in 2021 He served as an assistant U.S. attorney in New Jersey from 1981 to 1984 before going into private practice.
Sellinger established the first stand-alone Civil Rights Division at any U.S. Attorney’s Office, to bring civil and criminal Assistant United States Attorneys together to combat hate and protect civil rights, he said.
The move nearly doubled the number of civil and criminal attorneys working on civil rights, according he said.
Still, he was peppered with questions earlier this month by frustrated Trenton residents in the wake of a scathing report that found the city’s police officers routinely used excessive force and engaged in a pattern of searches and arrests without reasonable suspicion or probable cause.
Where are the indictments, residents demanded during group break-out sessions at a North Trenton church. Are police officers going to be charged?
Sellinger told the residents that the investigation of the police department was conducted by civil attorneys, and had looked to see if there was a “pattern or practice” in their police work.
But he also said he’s aware of the concern of about the incoming rump administration and the differences on policing matters with the Biden administration. He told the group the next administration will decide their own policy and direction for the Department of Justice and local U.S. attorneys’ offices.
In announcing his resignation, Sellinger said the attorneys and staff members of his office are some of the finest public servants in the country.
“They work extraordinarily hard, uphold the highest standards of excellence, and ceaselessly pursue the cause of justice,” Sellinger.
“It is their dedication and commitment that has enabled this office to achieve so much over the past three years,” he added.
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Vashti Harris may be reached at vharris@njadvancemedia.com.
