Washington (CNN) – Paul J. Fishman, the U.S. attorney tasked with looking into New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie’s bridge controversy, has donated to several Democratic politicians and organizations, according to Federal Election Commission records.
Most notably, Fishman – who was nominated for the post by President Barack Obama in June 2009 – donated to then-Sen. Hillary Clinton’s 2008 presidential campaign on June 30, 2007. At the time of the contribution, Clinton was battling then-Sen. Obama for the Democratic presidential nomination. Fishman donated $2,300 to Clinton, according to the FEC.
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Fishman also supported then-Sen. John Kerry – who ran for president in 2004 – with a $500 contribution on June 25, 2003, and another donation of $1,200 on July 24, 2003.
All of Fishman’s campaign donations, according to the FEC, appear to have come during his time in private practice and all were directed to Democrats.
Rebekah Carmichael, public affairs officer in Fishman’s United States Attorney's Office, said it is “reviewing” whether federal laws were violated when Christie aides authorized access lane closures to the busy George Washington Bridge in September as part of a political vendetta. The closures clogged traffic in Fort Lee, New Jersey, and on Wednesday, news broke that Bridget Anne Kelly, Christie's deputy chief of staff, had ordered the lane closures as apparent political retribution against Fort Lee Mayor Mark Sokolich, who didn't endorse Christie in his 2013 re-election campaign.
Fishman, who became U.S. attorney in 2009, has a sizable resume. He was assistant U.S. attorney from 1983 to 1994, served as a senior adviser to the attorney general from 1994 to 1997 and was a partner at Friedman Kaplan Seiler & Adelman from 1998 to 2009. Fishman graduated magna cum lade from Princeton University and cum lade from Harvard Law School.
Christie is also very familiar with Fishman’s office. President George W. Bush appointed Christie as U.S. attorney for the District of New Jersey - the same office currently held by Fishman - in 2001 where he gained a reputation for rooting out political corruption in the Garden State. The office was a springboard for Christie, who left the post in 2008 after Obama entered the White House, and opted to run for his first term as governor in 2009.
Here is a list of Fishman’s individual donations, according to the FEC:
$1000 to Frank Lautenberg for Senate November 4, 2008
$1000 to Jeanne Shaheen for Senate on September 18, 2008
$500 to John Alder for Congress on March 3, 2008
$2,300 to Hillary Clinton for President on June 30, 2007
$500 to Phyllis Busansky for Congress on September 30, 2006
$250 to Democratic National Committee on June 12, 2006
$1000 to Lautenberg NJ Victory Committee on March 23, 2005
$1000 to Lautenberg for Senate on March 23, 2005
$300 to Kerry Victory 2004 on August 6, 2004
$500 to John Kerry for President Inc. on June 23, 2004
$1200 to John Kerry for President Inc. on July 24, 2004
$700 to Women’s Campaign Fund on March 7, 2004
$250 to Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee on October 5, 2004
$500 to John Kerry for President Inc. on June 25, 2003
$1000 to Lautenberg for Senate on November 1, 2002
$250 to Mark Pryor for Senate on October 28, 2002