Amid criticism of Eric Holder, attorney general nominee promises to 'be Loretta Lynch'
Loretta Lynch, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York.
Senate Republicans heaped criticism on U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder but were mostly cordial on Wednesday as they questioned the woman nominated to replace him.
The nominee, Brooklyn U.S. Attorney Loretta Lynch, repeatedly promised to discuss controversial issues and repeated the phrase “legal framework” as she fielded skeptical questions, the National Law Journal (sub. req.) reports.
“I will be myself. I will be Loretta Lynch,” she declared.
Lynch’s long career as a federal prosecutor in the Eastern District of New York provided little grist for senators scrutinizing her record for political decisions, the New York Times reports.
Lynch noted her office’s use of capital punishment and called it an “effective policy,” though she has previously expressed concern about its disparate racial impact. She said the government’s surveillance program is “constitutional and effective,” but pledged to abide by court decisions on the issue.
Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., was able to pin Lynch down on immigration as he grilled her about Holder’s support for “a pathway to earned citizenship for the 11 million unauthorized immigrants in this country.” Holder had said he saw the pathway as a “matter of civil and human rights.”
Lynch finally responded that citizenship “is a privilege that has to be earned” for those who weren’t born here. “Within the panoply of civil rights that are recognized by our jurisprudence now, I don’t see one as such that you are describing,” she said.
