Loretta Lynch
Loretta Elizabeth Lynch (born May 21, 1959) is an American lawyer who served as the 83rd attorney general of the United States from 2015 to 2017. She was appointed by President Barack Obama to succeed Eric Holder and previously served as the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York under Presidents Bill Clinton (1999–2001), George W. Bush (2001) and Obama (2010–2015). As a U.S. attorney, Lynch oversaw federal prosecutions in Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island, and Long Island.
Not to be confused with Loretta Lynn.
Loretta Lynch
Robert Capers
Lynch is a Harvard Law School graduate. She then practiced law in New York and became a federal prosecutor in 1990, rising to become head of the Eastern District office. She later returned to private law practice until she became the top district prosecutor again. From 2003 to 2005, she served on the Federal Reserve Bank of New York board.
In November 2014, President Barack Obama nominated her to succeed Eric Holder as Attorney General.[1] In February 2015, the Judiciary Committee of the United States Senate recommended her confirmation by a 12–8 vote, with all Democrats of the committee and three Republicans in favor. In April 2015, Lynch was confirmed by the Senate by a 56–43 vote, making her the second African American, the second woman and the first African-American woman to be confirmed for the position. She was sworn in as Attorney General in April 2015. Her tenure ended in January 2017. In May 2019, law firm Paul, Weiss announced that Lynch would be joining the firm as a partner in the litigation department.[2]
Early life and education[edit]
Lynch was born in Greensboro, North Carolina. Her mother, Lorine Lynch, a school librarian, and her father, Lorenzo Lynch, a Baptist minister, both graduated from the HBCU Shaw University. The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) was founded [3] on the campus of Shaw University.[4][5] As a child, she spent hours with her father, watching court proceedings in the courthouse of Durham, North Carolina. Her early interest in court proceedings was increased by hearing stories about her grandfather, a sharecropper and pastor, who in the 1930s had helped people move to the north to escape racial persecution under the Jim Crow laws of the time.[4][6] She also attended the Governor's School of North Carolina, a prestigious summer program for academically and intellectually gifted high school students.[7] Lynch earned a Bachelor of Arts in English and American literature from Harvard College in 1981 and a Juris Doctor from Harvard Law School in 1984, where she was a member of the Harvard Legal Aid Bureau.[8][9] She is a member of Delta Sigma Theta sorority, and was a charter member of the Xi Tau chapter of the sorority while at Harvard.[10][11] In 2017, Lynch was awarded an honorary degree from Duke University.[12]
Career[edit]
Lynch's first job in the legal field was working as a litigation associate for Cahill Gordon & Reindel in New York City. She joined the Eastern District as a drug and violent-crime prosecutor in the U.S. Attorney's office in 1990. From 1994 to 1998, she served as the chief of the Long Island office and worked on several political corruption cases involving the government of Brookhaven, New York. From 1998 to 1999, she was the chief assistant U.S. Attorney in the Eastern District and headed the Brooklyn office.
In 1999, she was nominated by President Bill Clinton to serve as the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York.[13] During her term as U.S. Attorney, Lynch oversaw prosecution of New York City police officers in the Abner Louima case.
In 2001, Lynch left the U.S. Attorney's office to become a partner at Hogan & Hartson (later Hogan Lovells). She remained there until January 20, 2010, when President Barack Obama nominated Lynch to again serve as United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York.[9][14] From 2003 to 2005, she was a member of the board of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.[15]
Following the July 2014 death of Eric Garner, an unarmed man who died after being held in a department-prohibited chokehold by a New York City police officer, Lynch agreed to meet with Garner's family to discuss possible federal prosecution of the officer believed to be responsible for Garner's death.[16][17]
Lynch's office prosecuted Republican congressman Michael Grimm; prosecuted Democratic politicians Pedro Espada Jr. and William Boyland, Jr.; investigated Citigroup over mortgage securities sold by the bank, resulting in a US$7 billion settlement; and was involved in the US$1.2 billion settlement with HSBC over violations of the Bank Secrecy Act.[4][18][19]
While Lynch was U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, she supervised the investigation into senior FIFA officials from its earliest stages. The investigation culminated in the indictment of 14 senior FIFA officials and sports marketing executives shortly after Lynch was confirmed as Attorney General.[20] For her work in the case, which eventually led to the resignation of FIFA President Sepp Blatter, Lynch was presented with the 3rd annual Golden Blazer by NBC Sports' Men in Blazers (Roger Bennett and Michael Davies).[21] (The other winners so far include ESPN's Bob Ley, NBC's Rebecca Lowe, FOX's Rob Stone and former US women's national team captains and FIFA Women's World Cup winners Julie Foudy and Megan Rapinoe.)
Replacing Lynch, Robert Capers was confirmed by the U.S. Senate as U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York on December 15, 2015, taking his oath of office on January 4, 2016.[22][23]
In May 2019, Lynch returned to the private sector and moved to Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison. She became a partner in the firm’s litigation department, where she represents individuals, companies, and corporate boards of directors in high-stakes cases, regulatory matters, and investigations.[24]
In December 2020, Lynch was hired by the National Football League to help investigate allegations of misconduct among the owners of the Washington Football Team, one of the league's member clubs.[25]
Attorney General of the United States[edit]
Nomination[edit]
On November 8, 2014, President Barack Obama nominated Lynch for the position of U.S. Attorney General, to succeed Eric Holder, who had previously announced his resignation, pending confirmation of his replacement. She was confirmed by the Senate Judiciary Committee on February 26, 2015, and approved by the Senate in a 56–43 vote on April 23,[26] thereby becoming the first African-American woman, the second African-American after Holder, and the second woman, after Janet Reno, to hold this office.[1][27]
Several Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee including chairman Chuck Grassley, opposed Lynch's confirmation, saying it was important to find out more about Lynch's role in settling a $1.9 billion money-laundering deal with HSBC when she served as United States Attorney in New York.[28] Rand Paul, though not on the committee, opposed her nomination for her support of civil forfeiture.[29] On April 23, 2015, cloture was invoked on her nomination by a vote of 66 to 34.[30] Her appointment was confirmed the same day by a 56 to 43 vote.[26][31] Her nomination process was one of the longest in the history of the United States, taking 166 days after she was first nominated for the post.[32] She was sworn in by Vice President Joe Biden on April 27, 2015.[33]