Bloomberg: Brooklyn Prosecutor Said to Top List to Succeed Holder

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http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-11-07/brooklyn-prosecutor-said-to-top-list-to-succeed-holder.html?hootPostID=1600e6be0177940c2bbafa4e9b70310e

Brooklyn Prosecutor Said to Top List to Succeed Holder

 

Loretta Lynch, the federal prosecutor in Brooklyn, has emerged as President Barack Obama’s leading choice to become the next U.S. attorney general, according to three officials familiar with the selection process.

 

Lynch, 55, is in her second stint as U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York and had originally been under consideration for the Justice Department’s No. 2 job. She has risen as a contender for attorney general in the wake of the decision by former White House Counsel Kathryn Ruemmler to pull herself out of contention for the post.

 

A White House official who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss a personnel matter confirmed that Lynch is being vetted for the job. Dan Pfeiffer, a senior adviser to Obama, said the process of picking Holder’s successor was almost done.

 

“I think we will have a nominee soon,” Pfeiffer told reporters and editors at a Bloomberg breakfast today, framing Obama’s timetable in terms of a weeklong trip that begins Nov. 9. “I can’t promise it will be before we go to Asia.”

 

The people familiar with the process, who asked for anonymity, also said the president hasn’t yet made a final decision and they cautioned that issues could emerge as Lynch is being vetted for the job.

 

Even so, she has emerged as the leading candidate for reasons ranging from her background to the chances of her being confirmed in the new, Republican-controlled Senate, which will take over in January.

Lynch, who would be the first black woman to head the Justice Department, is regarded as a law-and-order prosecutor who took on banks and also developed a reputation for knowing how the Justice Department works.

 

She is seen as having an easier path to confirmation than two others under consideration: Solicitor General Donald Verrilli and Labor Secretary Tom Perez, who are closely tied to Obama’s record on issues that will be attacked by Republicans.