First Sikh nominated to be NJ attorney general

TRENTON » Democratic Gov.elect Phil Murphy on Tuesday announced his nomination for attorney general, picking a Chris Christie-appointed prosecutor who Murphy said would stand up to President Donald Trump.

Murphy said at his Trenton transition office that Bergen County Prosecutor Gurbir Grewal would be the first Sikh attorney general in the state and country. Murphy pointed to a frequent campaign promise to select a prosecutor who would push back against the Republican Trump administration.

“New Jersey needs an Attorney General with a steel backbone, one that will stand up for New Jersey against

everything coming our way from Washington,” Murphy said.

New Jersey will go from a Republican to Democratic administration on Jan. 16 when Murphy takes over from Christie, a friend and at-times adviser to Trump. Among other things, the change means New Jersey is poised to join other states’ attorneys general suing the Trump administration.

Christie tapped Grewal in 2016 to be prosecutor in Bergen, New Jersey’s most populous county. He is a former assistant U.S. attorney in the criminal division in the New Jersey district and also served as a prosecutor in the Eastern District of New York.

Grewal, a Democrat, said he’s “honored” to be nominated.