Attorney general nominee: legal basis for Obama immigration policy 'reasonable' – as it happened
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Version 0 of 1. 5.28pm ET22:28 Summary We are going to pull away from the ongoing Loretta Lynch confirmation hearing and would direct you to our latest news story for summary coverage. The latest blog summary is here. Thank you as always for reading, and for your comments. 4.23pm ET21:23 Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal praises his colleagues for laying off the immigration thing a bit. He says he’s relieved that it appears Lynch will be considered on her merits. “They’re not making this a referendum on the president’s immigration policy or decisions,” he says. 3.42pm ET20:42 Lynch splits with Obama on marijuana Sessions wants to know how Lynch feels about marijuana. He quotes President Barack Obama. “The president said, quote ‘I smoked pot as a kid... I don’t think it is more dangerous than alcohol.’” Does Lynch agree? “Well senator, I certainly don’t hold that view. I think the president was speaking from his personal experience and his personal opinion, neither of which I share,” Lynch says. Lynch said legalization of marijuana is not justice department policy and not her policy. 3.36pm ET20:36 Jeff Sessions is back. “Do you believe that the executive action announced by president Obama [in November deferring deportation for up to 5 million immigrants] is legal and constitutional?” “As I’ve read the opinion, I do believe it is,” Lynch says. Sessions says that’s troubling, in part because the action provides for work permits for migrants which he says can “take jobs.” Updated at 3.37pm ET 3.31pm ET20:31 The first round of questions is through. We have arrived at another temporary adjournment. 3.18pm ET20:18 Thom Tillis, the new senator from North Carolina, Lynch’s home state, is up. He asks about election laws. He asks whether Lynch will try to take apart state laws to restrict voting rights stop what some on the right call “voter fraud” (which does not functionally exist). “I believe that the right to vote obviously is the cornerstone of our democracy,” Lynch says. Lynch says the department’s prevailing concern is “protecting the right to vote.” However not all voter ID laws are problematic, she says. “I don’t think we can at this point.. say which way the department will go in viewing it... it is something the department of justice has a responsibility to review.” 3.13pm ET20:13 Grassley’s back. Roomful of chatter. 3.03pm ET20:03 The judiciary committee is having a temporary senator shortage and has momentarily adjourned. They’re all off voting, presumably. 2.54pm ET19:54 Perdue asks Lynch about consecutive mandatory minimum sentences, and whether she would consent to early release in some cases. “It would not be my place to consent to an early release,” she says. The prosecutor would consent to calling for review by a judge. “The ultimate decision on release would not be made, I believe, by me.” “Since I’m the only one here, I guess I’m the presiding officer,” Perdue says. “My time is almost up.” 2.51pm ET19:51 And then there was one. Perdue is on about his third or fourth question. For the record, @sendavidperdue is the only senator here right now. 2.49pm ET19:49 The Guardian’s Amanda Holpuch (@holpuch) reports from the White House, where principal deputy press secretary Eric Schultz offered animated praise for Lynch at a press briefing this afternoon. Amanda reports: “Don’t take my word for it – this might be the first and only time we cite Bill O’ Reilly from the podium, but just a few days ago he called her a ‘hero’ and ‘happy that she’s the new attorney general,’” Schultz said. He said that the administration believes Lynch “will be just as strong an attorney general as Eric Holder was.” When asked how that could be true, in spite of Lynch saying that she was not Eric Holder in her opening statement, Schultz said: “I didn’t get a chance to read Loretta Lynch’s opening statement, but she may have just been being literal.” 2.44pm ET19:44 2.41pm ET19:41 Democratic Senator Christopher Coons asks about prosecuting trade secret theft, saying he is concerned about the “huge transfer of wealth going on through trade secret theft.” Lynch says they don’t have specific indictments under the trade secrets aact, but perpetrators have been prosecuted under other statutes. The cases tend to be complicated and long-term, she says,. 2.35pm ET19:35 Lynch is defending her judgment that the legal underpinnings for executive actions on immigration are “reasonable,” in a mildly confrontational exchange with Senator David Vitter of Louisiana. She describes the distinct roles of the justice department and the department of homeland security, directed by Jeh Johnson. Suggested Lynch answer: "I am not Jeh Johnson" Big chunk of this Loretta Lynch hearing: Q: r u Eric Holder? A: no Q: r u sure? A: yes Updated at 2.35pm ET 2.28pm ET19:28 Republican Senator Orrin Hatch of Utah: ‘she’s good’ "She's good," Hatch says when I asked him about Lynch Updated at 2.30pm ET 2.18pm ET19:18 Senator Richard Blumenthal, Democrat of Connecticut, thanks Lynch for “your very forthright and erudite answers.” He praises her for her work as a prosecutor to break up sex trafficking rings. Blumenthal asks her if the country needs stronger human trafficking laws, and whether there should be mandatory restitution for victims. Lynch says the issue of restitution is important. “Where we can, we always do seek a restitution order for the victims.” She says “certain small cities in Mexico” have been located as the source of sex slaves trafficked to her New York district. She said US authorities have worked with Mexican authorities to break up the ring. “Should I become attorney general, it will be one of my priorities,” she says. 2.13pm ET19:13 Deputy press secretary Eric Shultz is handling the White House briefing today. He seeks to clarify Lynch’s remarks about not being Eric Holder: Lynch may "have been literal" when she said she's not Eric Holder, Schultz says. Big laughter among @whpresscorps. 2.02pm ET19:02 Franken closes with a joke, too. “I’ll probably vote for you,” he says. The room cracks up again. 1.54pm ET18:54 Grassley cuts Cruz off rather abruptly. Now it’s Al Franken of Minnesota. He congratulates Grassley on becoming chairman. “I’m glad to be chairman,” Grassley says. “I know you are,” Franken deadpans. Having just won reelection, is Franken loosening up? “How was lunch?” he asks Lynch. “Excellent, thank you sir,” she replies. 1.50pm ET18:50 Cruz wants to talk about immigration. He asks Lynch whether she agrees with the legal analysis in the OLC opinion. “I did not see a grant of amnesty there, or a pathway to citizenship. Certainly as I read the opinion... it seemed to be a way to look for a framework... to prioritize removal of the most dangerous” undocumented immigrants,” Lynch says. Cruz asks her if she would have made the same argument. “I certainly am not able to say if my legal analysis would have taken the same pathway,” Lynch says. “For some of the requested actions, the OLC found that there was not the legal framework” for proposed homeland security immigration enforcement policy shifts. Cruz accuses Lynch of not answering the question. “You are a very talented lawyer, and so I suspect it is not an accident that you have not answered the question,” Cruz says. “I did find the analysis to be reasonable,” she says. 1.45pm ET18:45 Cruz lectures Lynch on how terrible a job he thinks Eric Holder has done. He asks her how her tenure would differ from Holder’s. Lynch returns to what she said before about the unique role of the attorney general as a cabinet member beholden first to the people and constitution. “You’ve asked how I would be different from Eric Holder? I will be Loretta Lynch.” 1.42pm ET18:42 They’re back. And look who’s up: Senator Ted Cruz, Republican of Texas. He says his friends in the law world in New York have contacted him and praised Lynch. Her congratulates her for this. 1.04pm ET18:04 Summary As our live coverage of attorney general nominee Loretta Lynch’s confirmation hearing continues, here’s a summary of where things stand: Updated at 1.06pm ET 12.52pm ET17:52 Senator Amy Klobuchar, Democrat of Minnesota, thanks Lynch “for your grace under pressure.” They adjourn for lunch till 1.35pm. Senator Leahy has a hot mic moment. Sounds like he’s a ‘Yes’: “I don’t know when I’ve been so moved by any nominee for anything.” Time for lunch!!!!! Updated at 1.28pm ET 12.50pm ET17:50 12.45pm ET17:45 It’s a full house in Dirksen: Attorney General Nominee #LorettaLynch Confirmation Hearing continues LIVE on C-SPAN3 http://t.co/C8rgxcxukW pic.twitter.com/Q3cGqfYRbL 12.44pm ET17:44 Utah Senator Mike Lee is asking Lynch about civil forfeiture, in which the government seizes assets of targets of federal investigations. “I think that a number of people would have questions about how the department of justice manages its asset forfeiture program,” Lynch says. 12.04pm ET17:04 11.56am ET16:56 Cornyn diagnoses “a massive refusal to enforce existing law in these executive actions.” Lynch: “I do not view the DoJ as refusing to enforce laws but in intending to set priorities.” Cornyn asks whether it’s not incumbent on DoJ to seek more money from Congress to make sure they, the justice department, can do their job. Cornyn insists that if Holder had asked Congress for more resources to enforce immigration laws... and then not even Cornyn can finish the thought. 11.52am ET16:52 Cornyn asks Lynch how she will be different from Holder. “If confirmed as attorney general, I will be myself,” Lynch says. “I will be Loretta Lynch.” 11.49am ET16:49 Lynch: 'I'm not' Eric Holder Senator John Cornyn, Republican of Texas, another sharp critic of the Obama administration, is up. He starts with a joke. “Let me just stipulate, you’re not Eric Holder, are you?” “No senator, I’m not,” Lynch replies, to laughter in the room. “No one’s suggesting that you are, but his legacy is heavy on our minds, here,” Cornyn says. “While we’ve stipulated you’re not Eric Holder, Mr Holder’s record is certainly on our minds, because I can’t think of an attorney general... who operated as a politician using the awesome power conferred” on his office,” Cornyn says. 11.37am ET16:37 Sessions asks Lynch whether she would prosecute US businesses who decline to hire immigrants whose deportation has been deferred in favor of “lawful citizens.” She hedges. They are going to talk about it more later. Sessions is done, Schumer is up. Sessions is really the first panel member to push Loretta Lynch hard on an issue (that being immigration) 11.33am ET16:33 Sessions is grilling Lynch on whether undocumented immigrants have a right to a job, moreso than “lawful citizens.” “We want everyone to seek employment, but we have in place a legal framework that requests and requires employers to ask questions about citizenship,” she says. 11.31am ET16:31 Some friction between Sessions and Lynch on whether immigration is a civil rights issue. Sessions quotes Holder as saying a pathway to citizenship “is essential” and calling immigration a matter of “civil and human rights.” The question: does an undocumented migrant have a civil right to citizenship? “You do touch on the difficult issue of how we treat arrivals to our shores,” she begins. “I don’t want to interrupt you,” Sessions interrupts. “Do you agree with that statement, that it’s a matter of civil rights?” “Senator I haven’t studied the issue enough to come to a legal opinion on that,” Lynch says. She says it would have to be decided on a case-by case basis. Is it a civil right? Sessions insists. “I think that citizenship is a privilege. Certainly it’s a right for those of us who are born here,” Lynch says. She says under the panoply of civil rights as they now are enumerated, she does not see protection for migrants being mentioned. “I’m surprised it took you so long to say that,” Sessions says. Updated at 11.32am ET 11.27am ET16:27 Are you able to tell the president “No” if he asks a legal opinion you believe is wrong? Lynch has answered this question a few times already, but she now reveals new things to say about it: “I believe you have touched on one of the most important responsibilities of the attorney general,” Lynch says. “The attorney general has a unique responsibility to provide independent and objective advice to the president.” 11.25am ET16:25 Senator Jeff Sessions, Republican of Alabama, one of the fiercest critics of the administration’s immigration policies, is next. 11.24am ET16:24 Here’s video of that “waterboarding is torture” moment: #LorettaLynch: "Waterboarding is torture, Senator." http://t.co/qnLoSymR70 11.22am ET16:22 Lynch: surveillance tools 'invaluable' Lynch talks about government surveillance, in reply to a Feinstein question about expiring provisions of Fisa, in June, including roving wiretap authority; lone wolf authority to surveil non-US person suspected of terror plotting without demonstrating ; and business records authority, including section 215 of the Patriot Act, the provision the government uses to sweep up phone records. Lynch pays lip service to privacy concerns, but testifies most forcefully about her personal experience, as a prosecutor, of the value of surveillance harvests. She says there’s a need “to have a full panoply.” Lynch says the roving wiretap ability was used in narcotics prosecutions before it was part of Fisa. The capability, for prosecutors, “have been invaluable tools,” she says. “There is judicial review for this... it has been an important part, as have the other two provisions,” she says. She says the government must take care to stay current with the latest technology “but also to protect privacy.” She says any curtailing of Fisa capabilities must be considered “with a full and complete understanding of the risks that we’re facing.” Feinstein seems pleased with that answer. 11.16am ET16:16 Feinstein, like Leahy, praises Lynch’s opening testimony. She’s heard six prospective attorneys general give such statements, Feinstein says. “Yours was the best”: I see the combination of steel and velvet.. and I see the determination which is in your heart, and I think your being. It’s very, very impressive. 11.14am ET16:14 Hatch is over. Senator Dianne Feinstein, Democrat of California, is up. 11.12am ET16:12 I don't know much about Loretta Lynch but it's a pleasure to see her dominate all these old white guys. 11.11am ET16:11 Lynch moves on to privacy standards for accessing digital data, and cyber crime. “The subject of electronic privacy is central to so many of our freedoms,” Lynch says. “We have to be vigilant.” She promises to work with Congress to protect electronic privacy. 11.09am ET16:09 A warm moment between Hatch, the senior Republican in the Senate, and Lynch, just now. Hatch: How can you assure us that you’ll say ‘no’ to the White House when they wish to act outside the law? The DoJ has to provide a legal framework, but must also advise when that framework does not exist, Lynch says. “I pledge to you that I take that independence seriously,” she says. “I think you’ll be a great attorney general if you do that,” Hatch says. Updated at 11.09am ET 11.07am ET16:07 Hatch asks Lynch for one-word answers. Will she defend the constitution regardless of her personal views? Yes, she says. Hatch says Holder answered the question the same way, then failed to defend the defense of marriage act. Lynch has a good answer for him: “It’s my view that when it comes to the position of attorney general... the issue is not my personal view... but it is the duty of the DoJ to defend those statutes.” “There may be certain circumstances where careful legal analysis raises constitutional issues, but I expect those would be few and far between.” Hatch: “I appreciate that answer.” 11.04am ET16:04 Lynch reiterates that she was not involved in the president’s executive actions on immigration. Senator Orrin Hatch, Republican of Utah is next. “I’m impressed with your qualifications,” Hatch says. 11.03am ET16:03 Lynch: waterboarding is torture Leahy lists terrorism and national security cases Lynch has prosecuted, including, recently, two members of the Taliban who attacked US soldiers in Afghanistan. “If terrorists threaten American citizens here or abroad, they will face American justice,” Lynch says. Leahy asks her about torture. “Waterboarding is torture, senator. And thus illegal,” Lynch says. 10.57am ET15:57 Leahy is up. He asks about policing and community tensions. Lynch: “What I have found most effective is getting people together and simply listening to their concerns. Being open. And getting people to see that we are all, in fact, in this together.” She says “one of the most important roles” of the justice department is provide grants and training to local law enforcement. 10.56am ET15:56 Grassley turns to allegations of inappropriate targeting several years ago on the part of the IRS of conservative nonprofit groups for audit. A House report last year found no evidence of wrongdoing. But Grassley says the FBI has said there is an ongoing criminal investigation, but the Obama administration has said there was no wrongdoing. How do you resolve the two, Grassley asks? “I am generally aware that there is an investigation going on” but it’s not in my office, Lynch says. Any bias is unacceptable, she says. Grassley accuses Obama of commenting publicly on an ongoing investigation. “I’m not aware of the context of the president’s remarks,” she says. The questions are trying to be bombshells. Lynch, with her practiced and even replies, makes them feel like softballs. 10.50am ET15:50 What are the outer limits of the doctrine of prosecutorial discretion? When millions of people are affected? Grassley asks. Lynch says when she reviewed the OLC opinion, “I viewed it a way in which the DHS was seeking legal guidance” on how to prioritize removing a large number of individuals, given that removal of everyone was possible. She frames the executive action, as the Obama administration has, not as an “amnesty” but as a way to accelerate the deportation undocumented felons, terror threats and other undesirables. 10.47am ET15:47 Lynch says “certainly I was not involved in the executive actions” that you describe. But she has looked at the OLC opinion through which the DHS sought legal guidance. “I don’t see any reason to doubt the reasonableness of those views,” she says. The ultimate responsibility of the justice department is to make sure there is a legal framework for any executive action. She says such a framework was not appropriately erected in the case of all the executive actions. 10.45am ET15:45 First question: Obama’s action to defer deportation of up to 5m undocumented immigrants of last November. Grassley calls it a “dangerous abuse of executive authority.” Was that legal? Grassley asks. 10.43am ET15:43 10.42am ET15:42 Loretta Lynch full opening statement The judiciary committee has published Lynch’s opening statement on its web site. You can read it here (pdf). 10.41am ET15:41 Lynch: building police-community ties 'key priority' Lynch turns to policing and race. She praises police officers. “I have served with them. I have learned from them,” she says. “Few things have pained me more than the recent reports of divisions” between police and communities, she says. “One of my key priorities would be to strengthen the vital relationship between our courageous law enforcement personnel and all the communities they serve,” she says. Updated at 10.41am ET 10.38am ET15:38 Lynch describes alleged terrorism plots her office has prosecuted, including, she says, planned attacks on New York subways, JFK airport, the federal reserve bank of New York and troops abroad, as well as “those who have provided support to foreign terrorist organizations.” She promises not to just protect “American citizens, but American values.” Other areas of prosecutorial focus she lists include cybercrime, cyber fraud, child pornography, and international human trafficking rings. 10.36am ET15:36 Lynch says her mother, Lorine, was “unable to travel here today.” She talks about her mother’s career as a librarian and English teacher. “As a young woman, she refused to use segregated restrooms, because they did not represent the America in which she believed,” Lynch says. She would become the second African-American to serve as attorney general, after Holder, and the second woman in the role, after Janet Reno. She describes her father’s career as a minister. He organized sit-ins to end segregation, she says, with her sitting on his shoulders. “From my parents, I gained the tenacity and resolve to take on violent criminals... and to disrupt organized crime. ... Their values have sustained me.” 10.33am ET15:33 Lynch says one of her favorite moments as a district attorney is welcoming new young prosecutors and administering the oath of office. She oversees about 170 lawyers as US attorney for the Eastern District of New York. “The constitution... will be my lodestar,” Lynch promises. 10.31am ET15:31 Lynch introduces her father, husband, brother and sister in law. Her father, Lorenzo Lynch, a fourth-generation Baptist minister, is wearing a big smile. He waves. Lynch begins her opening statement. She does not seem nervous, if it needs saying. 10.29am ET15:29 Here’s Loretta Lynch. She takes an oath and sits down. 10.28am ET15:28 Schumer says, if the Senate can’t confirm Lynch, the Senate can’t confirm anybody. Which, we’ll see. He warns that the point of the hearing isn’t to argue over the president’s immigration policy, but to consider Loretta Lynch’s nomination as attorney general. 10.27am ET15:27 Lynch testimony excerpts released AP has obtained parts of Lynch’s prepared testimony, which has not yet been posted to the committee web site. Lynch plans to say: “I pledge to all of you and to the American people that I will fulfill my responsibilities with integrity and independence,” she said in remarks prepared for the panel... In prepared testimony, Lynch pledged better relations with Capitol Hill. “I look forward to fostering a new and improved relationship with this committee, the United States Senate, and the entire United States Congress — a relationship based on mutual respect and constitutional balance,” Lynch said. In her prepared testimony, Lynch promised a fresh start in that relationship, too. “Few things have pained me more than the recent reports of tension and division between law enforcement and the communities we serve,” Lynch said, pledging to “work to strengthen the vital relationships” if confirmed. 10.24am ET15:24 Schumer says Lynch has “one of the keenest legal minds our country has to offer.” He points out that Lynch’s late brother, Lorenzo, was a Navy SEAL. Her second brother is called Loenzo; her parents are Lorenzo Sr and Lorine. The notoriously camera-loving Schumer gets a laugh out of the hearing room. “She’s always known for keeping her head down, and avoiding the spotlight,” he says. “Just like me.” Guffaw. 10.24am ET15:24 “I’m confident that if we stay focused on Ms. Lynch’s impeccable qualifications and fierce independence,” she will be confirmed quickly, Leahy concludes. Now the New York senators attending the panel get to introduce Lynch. They are Democrats Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand. Updated at 10.28am ET 10.20am ET15:20 Ranking member Patrick Leahy, the longest-serving senator, the Democrat from Vermont, says he hopes everyone remembers the hearing is about Loretta Lynch, not about “everything that’s wrong with the country.” Leahy sketches Lynch’s career and accomplishments. You can read a Guardian profile of Lynch here: Take it from the lawyer who squared off against her in her most high-profile case as a prosecutor: Loretta Lynch will emerge unscathed from her confirmation hearings to become the 83rd attorney general of the United States of America. “I think she’ll ace the hearing, and I think she’ll have absolutely no problem convincing the United States Senate that she’ll be a great attorney,” said lawyer Marvyn Kornberg on Tuesday. Full piece here. 10.18am ET15:18 Grassley: justice department 'very deeply politicized' Beefs with the justice department Grassley has run through include the Fast and Furious gun-walking controversy, failure to investigate security leaks and the expansion of executive power. “These positions aren’t mainstream, in my judgment,” Grassley says. He says the through line is a justice department that is “very deeply politicized.” And blame for that, he says, lies at the top, with “an attorney general who views himself, and these are his own words, as ‘the president’s wingman’.” 10.11am ET15:11 “How about restoring faith in the bedrock principals like the respect for the rule of law?” Grassley says in his opening statement. There’s an implicit criticism there somewhere. He says public confidence in the justice department’s ability to do its job without regard to politics “has been shaken, with good reason.” It’s not just a Republican critique, he says. 10.07am ET15:07 “I want everyone to know that I’m prepared to stay here as long as members have questions that they’d like to ask,” committee chair Chuck Grassley says. “This is a very important position in the cabinet and we should do all that we can to move it along, according to our rules,” he says. They expect to keep the hearing going during midday votes, he says. 9.56am ET14:56 Five minutes until the hearing is scheduled to begin. Your C-SPAN link is here. Your judiciary committee who’s who is here. 9.29am ET14:29 Good morning and welcome to our live coverage of Senate confirmation hearings on the nomination of Loretta Lynch to become the nation’s 83rd attorney general. Lynch, 55, is a star prosecutor with a reputation for extreme preparedness and evenness under pressure. But she is going before a judiciary committee stacked with Republican senators who have bedeviled the current attorney general, Eric Holder, and who might be said to be eager not to squander a high-profile chance to trash the Barack Obama administration. We can expect Lynch to take a grilling over the president’s executive actions on immigration and the climate, over justice department cooperation with congressional investigations, over terrorism prosecutions, federal investigations of police departments and much more. Committee chairman Chuck Grassley, the senior senator from Iowa, has promised to allow his colleagues time to ask their every question. “It’s going to go on as long as it takes to get it done. But I hope it doesn’t take more than one day,” Grassley told the National Journal, speaking, one dares say, for all of America. It’s important for the White House to secure a smooth confirmation for Lynch, whose nomination is designed to eliminate, not create, political headaches. Join us as we cover every side of what promises to be one of the more exciting and theatrical episodes on Capitol Hill this year. Updated at 9.47am ET |