U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions has tapped Craig Carpenito, a white-collar defense and securities lawyer who represented outgoing Gov. Chris Christie in matters related to the "Bridgegate" lane-closure scandal, as New Jersey's top federal prosecutor on an interim basis.

In a statement Wednesday, the U.S. Attorney's Office said Carpenito, a partner in the firm of Alston & Bird, on Friday will replace Acting U.S. Attorney William E. Fitzpatrick, who has led the office since Paul Fishman resigned in March at Sessions' request along with 45 other Obama-appointed U.S. attorneys.

The appointment of Carpenito came in a sweeping announcement naming 16 other interim U.S. attorneys across the country, including the top federal law enforcement officers in Manhattan and Brooklyn.

The timing was apparently necessitated by a statutory deadline that was about to run out with just a day left on the clock. The acting U.S. attorneys they replace had served the maximum amount of allowed in that role by law.

Carpenito's appointment will last 120 days, or until President Donald Trump appoints and the U.S. Senate confirms a permanent replacement for Fishman. If no formal nominee is announced and confirmed within that timeframe, the U.S. District Court would be able to appoint a replacement, according to a Justice Department official. Such a move would be unprecedented.

Carpenito previously defended Christie against a since-dismissed criminal complaint brought by a North Jersey activist, who alleged the governor knew about the lane-closure plot -- a charge Christie has repeatedly denied. Carpenito also previously represented Matt Mowers, a former Christie aide since hired by the White House, during state Legislature hearings over the lane-closure scandal.

Congrats to great friend (and superb lawyer) Craig Carpenito on his appointment as the new US Attorney for the District of New Jersey! He'll do the Garden State proudhttps://t.co/1ovLaYuBoU — Matt Mowers (@mowers) January 3, 2018

In a statement, the governor said he commended Sessions for choosing Carpenito. "Craig is an outstanding lawyer and the type of decisive leader the office really needs," Christie said. "I am confident he will be a U.S. attorney that everyone in New Jersey will be proud of in the years ahead."

A source with knowledge of the process told NJ Advance Media in May that Trump was deciding between Carpenito and Geoffrey Berman, a law partner of Trump ally Rudy Giuliani, as Fishman's replacement.

But the Justice Department on Wednesday announced Berman had similarly been named as interim head of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York, in Manhattan, where he spent four years as a federal prosecutor in the 1990s. Berman fills the U.S. attorney position vacatated by Preet Bharara, who refused to resign at Sessions' request and was fired.

Trump has yet to announce his own nominees for either the New Jersey or Manhattan posts.

A graduate of Rider University and Seton Hall Law School, Carpenito previously worked under Christie at the New Jersey U.S. Attorney's Office from 2005 to 2008. He also previously served as senior counsel for the U.S. Security and Exchange Commission's enforcement division in New York.

Fitzpatrick, a career prosecutor, will continue in the office as Carpenito's first assistant U.S. attorney, the U.S. Attorney's Office said.

Ted Sherman and Claude Brodesser-Akner contributed to this report.

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