Confirmation
hearings were recently held for
President’s Obama’s nominee for U.S. Attorney General, Ms. Loretta Lynch to
replace Eric Holder, who resigned four months ago. Ms. Lynch currently serves as the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York. If confirmed, Ms. Lynch would be the first
African American woman to lead the Department of Justice – certainly a plus for
the President’s legacy. Since the start of the Obama administration, both the President
and Attorney General – both African Americans – have been the source of some
very intense opposition and hostility from Republicans. When Holder announced
his resignation, he was immediately described as “the most divisive U.S.
Attorney General in modern history” by Republican Congressman Dan Issa, who
serves as Chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. This is what Mr. Issa had to say: “Eric
Holder is the most divisive U.S. Attorney General in modern history and, in a
vote supported by 17 Democratic House Members, has the dubious historic
distinction of being the first Attorney General held in criminal contempt by
the U.S. House of Representatives,” said Chairman Issa. “Time and again, Eric
Holder administered justice as the political activist he describes himself as
instead of an unbiased law enforcement official. By needlessly injecting
politics into law enforcement, Attorney General Holder’s legacy has eroded more
confidence in our legal system than any Attorney General before him. Republicans have attacked
Mr. Holder on critical national issues such as voting rights, terrorism, and
immigration while pointing to controversial issues such as the Fast and Furious
and IRS scandals.
