OpenCdA hopes that Loretta E. Lynch will soon be confirmed by the Senate Judiciary Committee and then the full Senate to be the next Attorney General of the United States.  She is currently serving as the US Attorney for the Eastern District of New York.  Lynch has a strong record of criminal prosecutions in public corruption, civil rights, and white collar crime cases, but she is perceived to be less an ideologue than her predecessor Eric Holder.   She is not particularly close to President Obama and was not his first choice to replace Holder.  She currently chairs the Attorney General’s Advisory Committee which represents the voice of the U.S. Attorneys and provides advice and counsel to the Attorney General on policy, management and operational issues impacting the Offices of the U.S. Attorneys.

We hope that if confirmed as Holder’s successor, Lynch would encourage President Obama to quickly replace the US Attorney for the District of Idaho (Wendy J. Olson) with one who mirrors Lynch’s own commitment, competence, and experience in prosecuting public corruption and white collar crime cases.   Hopefully a Lynch recommendation for Idaho would be an aggressive, experienced go-getter on his or her way up rather than someone trying to transition into a retirement position with an Idaho law firm.  We would prefer she recommend a US Attorney replacement from outside Idaho, although that would certainly deviate from protocol and rankle Idaho’s Congressional delegation.

Before too long, Lynch will complete a Senate Judiciary Questionnaire for Non-Judicial Nominees and submit it to the Senate Judiciary Committee to use in preparing for Lynch’s confirmation hearing.  As an example of the kinds of information sought from Lynch, here is the Questionnaire submitted by Elena Kagan when she was nominated to be President Obama’s Solicitor General in 2009.

Lynch’s questionnaire responses are public record, so they will be posted on OpenCdA when they become available.