Top Senate Democrats are starting to rally around the possible selection of Loretta Lynch, a U.S. attorney in Brooklyn, as President Obama’s choice to replace Eric Holder as attorney general.
Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., a prominent member of the Senate Judiciary Committee and chairman of the Senate Democrats’ Policy and Communications Center, is a new convert on Lynch for attorney general, two sources familiar with the confirmation process told the Washington Examiner.
His support for a Lynch nomination boosts her candidacy and is viewed as a way to encourage other Democrats to quickly back her selection.
Schumer had twice recommended Lynch to the White House for U.S. attorney and said Friday that she would make “an outstanding attorney general.”
Early in the week, Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee were put on notice that Obama could name his pick for attorney general Thursday or Friday but the choice and timing would depend on election results, two sources said.
Before the election, Labor Secretary Tom Perez and Solicitor General Donald Verrilli were considered the two top choices, with Lynch viewed as the most likely replacement for departing Deputy Attorney General James Cole, the sources said.
After the Democratic drubbing Tuesday, Perez, who previously served as the head of the Justice Department’s politically charged civil rights division, became an untenable selection with Republicans gearing up for a bruising confirmation fight, the sources said.
Perez’ selection would have set a combative tone for Obama’s final two years, as well as heavier emphasis on the president’s civil rights legacy. The Perez choice also would have cost Obama hefty political capital and he the nomination likely still would have gone down in defeat. Perez had to overcome virulent GOP opposition to be confirmed for Labor secretary last year.
One of Lynch’s main strengths is that she is not too closely tied to the Obama administration and doesn’t have a record of defending Obama’s policies. Lynch would be first African-American woman to serve as attorney general, and Holder reportedly encouraged the White House to consider her as his replacement.
Lynch would also be a fresh face with no link to Obama’s policies or record in office. She gained recognition as a top prosecutor in a high-profile police brutality case involving a white New York police officer sodomizing a Haitian immigrant, Abner Louima, with a broken broomstick in 1997.
In addition, the two-time U.S. attorney has a record of Senate approval. In 2000 and again in 2010 the Senate confirmed her by acclamation. In the years since, Lynch has prosecuted several terrorism cases and currently leads the Attorney General’s Advisory Committee, a group of U.S. attorneys who weigh in on top-level Justice Department policy decisions.
Among Democrats closely watching the process, Verrilli was considered a less “inspiring” possibility but was viewed as a serious contender because of his loyalty to Obama.
In 2012, he told the Washington Post that he would be happy to “do anything at the Department of Justice, including sweeping the floors.”
Republicans would undoubtedly target Verrilli for his defense of Obamacare before the Supreme Court in 2012, as well as the administration’s decision last year not to enforce the Defense of Marriage Act’s prohibition on federal benefits for gay and lesbian couples.
Democrats closely watching the nomination process view Schumer’s outspoken support for Lynch as an effort to boost her nomination.
They argue Schumer previously supported Preetinder Singh “Preet” Bharara, who serves as U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York. Bharara, Schumer’s former chief counsel, appeared on the cover of Time magazine with the headline “This Man is Busting Wall Street” and is known for prosecuting several international terrorists including Faisal Shazad, the Times Square Bomber.
Bharara is unlikely to take a deputy attorney general position because that would leave two U.S. attorney positions open in New York. His candidacy also suffers from rivalry between main the Justice Department in Washington and the prominent U.S. attorney’s office for the Southern District of New York because of the hefty, high-profile cases it prosecutes, the sources said.
