Mediaboss Marketing

In her confirmation hearing Wednesday, would-be attorney general Loretta Lynch managed to subtly distance herself on the issue of immigration from controversial current Atty. Gen. Eric H. Holder Jr., while still backing her boss, the president.

As the first Obama Cabinet nominee to face the new GOP-led Senate, Lynch was prepared for a grilling in her bid to become the first African American woman to hold the nations highest law-enforcement job.

But after a moving opening statement about her North Carolina upbringing by a preacher father and librarian mother, and a warm reception from most Republicans as well as Democrats, Lynch appeared on her way toward rapid confirmation by the Senate Judiciary Committee.

The toughest questioning from senators involved two men who were not in the hearing room. Time after time, Republicans attacked Holder and President Obama.

Holder was a mentor to Lynch, appointing her to chair a key Justice Department committee. But during her testimony Wednesday, Lynch avoided coming to his defense and instead strove to strike a contrast, painting herself as a career prosecutor who empathizes with the cop on the beat, is willing to use the death penalty and opposes legalization of marijuana.

Saying the Constitution and not politics or personal views would be her "lodestar," Lynch vowed to forge a more cooperative relationship with Congress.

"I look forward to fostering a new and improved relationship with this committee, the United States Senate, and the entire United States Congress, she told lawmakers.

"Youre not Eric Holder, are you?" asked Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas). "How are you going to be different?"

"I would be myself. I would be Loretta Lynch," the nominee responded. "I pledge that I want to hear your concerns. I want to discuss those issues with you."

Holder angered some law enforcement agencies by taking an early, outspoken role in leading the Justice Department investigation into the police shooting last year of Michael Brown, an unarmed black man, in Ferguson, Mo. On Wednesday, Lynch struck a different note.

Visit link:
Justice nominee Loretta Lynch to Senate panel: 'I am not Eric Holder'