Lynch to defend Obama on immigration

Lynch to defend Obama on immigration

Attorney General nominee will walk fine line on ‘amnesty’

By John Bresnahan and Manu Raju

1/27/15 6:43 PM EST

Updated 1/27/15 7:31 PM EST

http://www.politico.com/story/2015/01/loretta-lynch-hearing-114659.html#ixzz3Q7ph2t2w

Attorney general nominee Loretta Lynch plans to tell senators that she doesn’t believe President Barack Obama has blanket power to grant “amnesty” to undocumented immigrants, but she’ll argue that the president’s sweeping moves on the issue have stayed within the bounds of the Constitution.

As her confirmation hearings begin Wednesday in the Senate Judiciary Committee, Lynch will aim for a balancing act with Republicans who hope to derail her nomination by seizing on her views about immigration and Obama’s use of executive power, according to a person involved in her preparations.

Lynch, 55, will not be drawn into “political back-and-forth on issues” such as immigration and will “calmly and dispassionately emphasize her record as an independent, career prosecutor,” the person said. While she will support Obama’s legal rationale for his actions on immigration, she will express caution about going too far, the source said — and she’ll contend that the president’s latest unilateral steps don’t amount to “amnesty.”

She also will tell the panel that the Constitution will be her “lodestar” in determining the legality of the president’s actions, the source said.

Lynch, a federal prosecutor who would be the first African-American woman to serve as attorney general, has been methodically preparing for her hearings since early December in closed-door sessions with senior administration officials.

White House and Justice Department officials predict that committee Chairman Chuck Grassley of Iowa and other Republicans will focus most heavily on Obama’s immigration decisions. In November, shortly after Republicans won control of the Senate, Obama issued executive orders granting work permits and a three-year reprieve from deportation for nearly 5 million undocumented immigrants. The move infuriated Republicans while delighting immigration reform supporters, setting off a political and legal battle that continues to play out on Capitol Hill and across the country.

As the current U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York in Brooklyn, Lynch will contend she had “no part” in the Obama administration’s formulation of the policy, although Lynch will note she has reviewed the memo from the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel that laid out its legal parameters.

“[Lynch] has said that she believes that a unilateral attempt to grant outright amnesty would amount to an unlawful overreach, but that she understands the OLC memo to outline a reasonable, legal basis for the Department of Homeland Security’s removal priorities,” the source said. “She does not believe that the policy setting these priorities grants amnesty or provides automatic work permits.”

Lynch has made similar statements in her private sessions with senators, and administration officials are prepared to make the case that it would be unfair for Republicans to block a qualified nominee on the basis of the president’s immigration policies.

Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont, the ranking Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, offered a similar argument in a statement on Tuesday. “Ms. Lynch deserves to be judged on her own record,” he said. “I am confident that if we stay focused on Ms. Lynch’s impeccable qualifications and her reputation for fairness, she will be quickly confirmed by the Senate.”

Whether such remarks will pass muster with most Republicans is an open question.

“I’d be troubled that you could say the president has the authority to issue work permits” for undocumented immigrants, said Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), a senior member on the Judiciary panel and chief foe of loosening immigration laws. “At the end, attorney generals — it’s always been known — have to say ‘no’ sometimes. They have to walk to the White House and say: ‘Mr. President, this is too far. You can’t do this. This will weaken the rule of the law in the country.’ … I want to see if she will do that.”

Likely presidential candidate Sen. Ted Cruz, who serves as a committee member, also indicated he’s looking for signs of independence from Obama’s agenda.

“In order for the Senate to confirm Ms. Lynch or anyone else to be attorney general, we need an attorney general who will stop being a partisan attack dog and will instead get back to the traditions of upholding the Constitution and the law in a fair and impartial manner,” the Texas Republican said.

Lynch, who is drafting her own opening statement in consultation with the administration, has quietly spent two to three days per week in Washington since Obama nominated her in November, attending issue briefings and “murder boards” with Justice Department and White House officials to prepare for her hearings, according to the source familiar with the preparations. By the time the hearings start, she will have met with more than half the Senate, including everyone on the Judiciary Committee.

New York Democratic Sens. Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand will introduce Lynch on Wednesday, sources said.

Despite Republican control of the Senate, the expectation in Washington is that Lynch’s confirmation is largely assured — unless she trips up in the hearings. Republicans, who loathe outgoing Attorney General Eric Holder, are eager to find a replacement for him. And nothing in Lynch’s background has yet to raise a red flag that could derail her nomination.

In her testimony, Lynch plans to highlight her success as a prosecutor and her priorities for the Justice Department. Lynch, who attended Harvard for her undergraduate and law degrees, is in her second stint as a U.S. attorney, having previously held that position under President Bill Clinton.

Lynch will emphasize that the department will focus on national security and cyber terrorism during her tenure. She will highlight her work on public corruption cases, including the indictment and conviction of a Democratic former New York state senator, Pedro Espada, on embezzlement charges.

Lynch also will note that her office has handled more terrorism-related cases than any other U.S. attorney’s office, including several recent high-profile proceedings.

The administration has been playing up all the endorsements Lynch has received, including from numerous law enforcement and legal groups. Former FBI Director Louis Freeh and New York City Police Commissioner William Bratton praised her Tuesday during a conference call to rally support for her nomination.

“She’s just an extraordinary candidate,” said Freeh, who got to know Lynch during her first go-round as a U.S. attorney in Brooklyn during the late 1990s. “I’ve been in the law enforcement business for about 25 years, and I can’t think of a stronger candidate.”

The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, a coalition of more than 200 national organizations, also released a letter Tuesday, calling on the Judiciary Committee to quickly approve Lynch’s nomination.

Proponents point to her humble upbringing in the South at a time of difficult race relations, including the way white administrators at her high school made her split her valedictorian honors with a white male student. Relatives including her father, a retired Baptist preacher from North Carolina, will accompany Lynch at the hearing.

Few would quibble with Lynch’s background as a prosecutor. But several Republicans say they’re skeptical she’d prevent Obama from picking and choosing which laws to enforce. Beyond immigration, Republicans are likely to push Lynch on how she views the enforcement of state marijuana laws, as well as the Bowe Bergdahl prisoner exchange and the administration’s failure to notify Congress about the swap. She plans to emphasize that an “appropriate balance” should exist between the executive and legislative branches.

Meanwhile, the witnesses that Republicans have invited on the second day of the hearings suggest they will spend much of that time bashing the Justice Department’s record under Holder.

For instance, Republicans have asked former CBS News investigative reporter Sharyl Attkisson to testify. Attkisson, now a contributor to The Heritage Foundation’s Daily Signal, has reported extensively on the Fast and Furious gun-walking scandal, a case that led the House to declare Holder in contempt. Attkisson also has suggested that administration officials gained access to her computer to search for information on her reporting on the 2012 attacks in Benghazi, Libya.

Another Republican witness is expected to testify that the Justice Department has failed to conduct a thorough criminal probe into whether the Internal Revenue Service illegally denied nonprofit tax status to some conservative organizations.

Loretta Lynch
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loretta_Lynch

Early life and education

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.

Career

Lynch's first legal job was as a litigation associate for Cahill Gordon & Reindel.

Loretta Lynch

Loretta Lynch is the attorney general nominee for the U.S. Department of Justice, attended Harvard Law School, and was a litigation associate at Cahill Gordon & Reindel.

Note: Brian Fallon is the spokesman for the U.S. Department of Justice, the spokesman for Charles E. Schumer, and married to Katie Beirne Fallon.

Katie Beirne Fallon is married to Brian Fallon, the White House legislative affairs director for the Barack Obama administration, and was Charles E. Schumer’s aide.

Christine A. Varney was the assistant attorney general at the U.S. Department of Justice for the Barack Obama administration, and is a director at the American Constitution Society.

Robert Raben was the assistant attorney general at the U.S. Department of Justice, and a director at the American Constitution Society.

Janet Reno was the attorney general at the U.S. Department of Justice for the William J. Clinton administration, and is a board of adviser’s member for the American Constitution Society.

Walter E. Dellinger III was the acting solicitor general for the U.S. Department of Justice, and is a board of adviser’s member for the American Constitution Society.

Eric H. Holder Jr. is the attorney general at the U.S. Department of Justice for the Barack Obama administration, was a board member for the American Constitution Society, and an intern at the NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund.

Open Society Foundations was a funder for the American Constitution Society, and Amnesty International.

George Soros is the founder & chairman for the Open Society Foundations, and was the chairman for the Foundation to Promote Open Society.

Foundation to Promote Open Society was a funder for Amnesty International, the NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund, and the Brookings Institution (think tank).

Dawn E. Johnsen is a director at the American Constitution Society, and was the director nominee, acting assistant attorney general at the Office of Legal Counsel for the Barack Obama administration.

Elizabeth M. Brown was an executive director at the American Constitution Society, an attorney adviser for the Office of Legal Counsel, and is the White House staff secretary for the Barack Obama administration.

Faith Elizabeth Gay is a director at the American Constitution Society, and was an attorney at Sidley Austin LLP.

Virginia A. Seitz is the assistant attorney general for the Office of Legal Counsel, a partner at Sidley Austin LLP, and the assistant attorney general for the U.S. Department of Justice.

David B. Barlow is the U.S. attorney for the District of Utah for the U.S. Department of Justice, and was a partner at Sidley Austin LLP.

Barack Obama was an intern at Sidley Austin LLP, Martha L. Minow’s student, and is the president for the Barack Obama administration.   

Michelle Obama was a lawyer at Sidley Austin LLP.                    

R. Eden Martin is counsel at Sidley Austin LLP, and the president of the Commercial Club of Chicago.

Newton N. Minow is a senior counsel at Sidley Austin LLP, Martha L. Minow’s father, a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago, and was a director at CBS.

Martha L. Minow is Newton N. Minow’s daughter, the dean of Harvard Law School, and Barack Obama was her student.

CBS News is a subsidiary of CBS.

William M. Daley is a contributor for the CBS News, a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago, and was the chief of staff for the Barack Obama administration.

Cyrus F. Freidheim Jr. is a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago, and an honorary trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank).

Valerie B. Jarrett is a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago, the senior adviser for the Barack Obama administration, and her great uncle is Vernon E. Jordan Jr.

Vernon E. Jordan Jr. is Valerie B. Jarrett’s great uncle, an honorary trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank), a senior director at the NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund, a director at the American Friends of Bilderberg (think tank), an Oak Bluffs (MA) homeowner, and a 2008 Bilderberg conference participant (think tank).

Bart Friedman is a trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank), and a senior partner at Cahill Gordon & Reindel.

Thomas R. Pickering is a distinguished fellow at the Brookings Institution (think tank), and was the chairman of review board that investigated the 2012 attack on U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya in 2013.

Lee H. Hamilton is an honorary trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank), a co-chair for the Independent Task Force on Immigration and America's Future, and a member of the Homeland Security Advisory Council.

Louis J. Freeh was a member of the Homeland Security Advisory Council, and a director for the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).

William J. Bratton is a member of the Homeland Security Advisory Council, and the commissioner for the New York City Police Department.

Kenneth Canterbury is a member of the Homeland Security Advisory Council, and the president of the Fraternal Order of Police.

Debo P. Adegbile’s nomination for the assistant attorney general was opposed by the Fraternal Order of Police, was the assistant attorney general nominee for the U.S. Department of Justice, and the acting president & director-counsel for the NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund.

Tonya Lewis Lee is a director at the NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund, and married to Spike Lee.

Spike Lee is married to Tonya Lewis Lee, and an Oak Bluffs (MA) homeowner.

Henry Louis Gates Jr. is a director at the NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund, and an Oak Bluffs (MA) homeowner.

Martha L. Minow is the dean of Harvard Law School, Newton N. Minow’s daughter, and Barack Obama was her student.

Charles J. Ogletree Jr. is a professor at the Harvard Law School, a director at the NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund, an Oak Bluffs (MA) homeowner, and was Barack Obama’s college mentor.

Lani Guinier is a professor at Harvard Law School, and an Oak Bluffs (MA) homeowner.

Louis W. Sullivan is an Oak Bluffs (MA) homeowner, and was the president of the Morehouse School of Medicine.

Eric H. Holder Jr. is a trustee at the Morehouse School of Medicine, the attorney general at the U.S. Department of Justice for the Barack Obama administration, was an intern at the NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund, and a board member for the American Constitution Society.

Raben Group was the lobby firm for the Morehouse School of Medicine, is the lobby firm for the NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund, Mayors Against Illegal Guns, and the public relations firm for Mexico.
Robert Raben is the president of the Raben Group, was the assistant attorney general for the U.S. Department of Justice, and a director at the American Constitution Society.

Maria Echaveste is a board of adviser’s member for the American Constitution Society, the U.S. ambassador nominee for Mexico, and married to Christopher Edley Jr.

Christopher Edley Jr. is married to Maria Echaveste, a board of adviser’s member for the American Constitution Society, and was a professor at the Harvard Law School.

Melody C. Barnes was a principal for the Raben Group, a domestic policy council, director for the Barack Obama administration, and is Barack Obama golf partner.