Loretta Lynch was confirmed as Attorney General of the United States yesterday in an uneventful vote in the Senate. The vote was held up for over a month because the Senate Democrats were pandering to their stridently pro-abortion supporters. After seven weeks of "outrage" the Democrats finally accepted what had been originally on the table (which they had vowed to block), and the Lynch vote came next.
Let's forget the silly political drama that surrounds Ms. Lynch's confirmation. The question for today is what needs to be on her agenda as she take over from Eric Holder. The Holder years made the Justice Department into a highly political operation. Cases were brought and actions taken dependent to a great extent on whether or not action would be a political help to the Obama administration. The idea of enforcing the laws even handedly nearly vanished at DOJ. Ms. Lynch has a chance to bring that principle back.
Here are a few actions that Ms. Lynch ought to take:
1. The Justice Department should no longer be the backstop in racial cases. America has seen a spate of high profile cases in which local courts or grand juries have not prosecuted white police for actions taken with black victims. In each of these cases, the DOJ under Holder came in for its own "investigation" to bring "justice" for the victim. In each of these cases, the DOJ found no basis to prosecute the police. That is no surprise since there has been no evidence of racial animosity in the actions of the police. Nevertheless, to calm the mob, DOJ put its credibility on the line and promised "justice". The blatantly political nature of these investigations is apparent to people on both sides of the disputes. They poison the relationship between local law enforcement and the DOJ. They also undermine the faith of the people outraged by the event because they see DOJ as either ineffective or dishonest.
2. The Justice Department cannot stay away from criminal activity just because it involves the administration. The IRS' targeting of conservative and Christian groups is a good example of this. There is ample evidence that confidential taxpayer information was disclosed by the IRS in an effort to undermine opponents of president Obama; there is also copious evidence that Obama's opponents were also singled out for persecution by the IRS. Under Holder, the DOJ ignored this illegal conduct. Once again, this failure to enforce the law undermined the credibility of the DOJ and the federal government. Short term political gain for Obama won out over the long term good for the entire American people. Lynch needs to change this.
3. The ultimate political football needs to be faced; the Clinton Foundation and Hillary's email fiasco have to be investigated by DOJ. We simply cannot have a presidential candidate or--even worse--a president with a cloud of criminality hanging over her head. The basis for such an investigation is already in the news; there is no need to rehash it here. We also know that the Clintons and their allies are stonewalling the entire matter. Only the DOJ has the power and resources to investigate. It will not be a pleasant choice for Ms. Lynch, but it is the one that the American people deserve and her oath of office requires.
Let's forget the silly political drama that surrounds Ms. Lynch's confirmation. The question for today is what needs to be on her agenda as she take over from Eric Holder. The Holder years made the Justice Department into a highly political operation. Cases were brought and actions taken dependent to a great extent on whether or not action would be a political help to the Obama administration. The idea of enforcing the laws even handedly nearly vanished at DOJ. Ms. Lynch has a chance to bring that principle back.
Here are a few actions that Ms. Lynch ought to take:
1. The Justice Department should no longer be the backstop in racial cases. America has seen a spate of high profile cases in which local courts or grand juries have not prosecuted white police for actions taken with black victims. In each of these cases, the DOJ under Holder came in for its own "investigation" to bring "justice" for the victim. In each of these cases, the DOJ found no basis to prosecute the police. That is no surprise since there has been no evidence of racial animosity in the actions of the police. Nevertheless, to calm the mob, DOJ put its credibility on the line and promised "justice". The blatantly political nature of these investigations is apparent to people on both sides of the disputes. They poison the relationship between local law enforcement and the DOJ. They also undermine the faith of the people outraged by the event because they see DOJ as either ineffective or dishonest.
2. The Justice Department cannot stay away from criminal activity just because it involves the administration. The IRS' targeting of conservative and Christian groups is a good example of this. There is ample evidence that confidential taxpayer information was disclosed by the IRS in an effort to undermine opponents of president Obama; there is also copious evidence that Obama's opponents were also singled out for persecution by the IRS. Under Holder, the DOJ ignored this illegal conduct. Once again, this failure to enforce the law undermined the credibility of the DOJ and the federal government. Short term political gain for Obama won out over the long term good for the entire American people. Lynch needs to change this.
3. The ultimate political football needs to be faced; the Clinton Foundation and Hillary's email fiasco have to be investigated by DOJ. We simply cannot have a presidential candidate or--even worse--a president with a cloud of criminality hanging over her head. The basis for such an investigation is already in the news; there is no need to rehash it here. We also know that the Clintons and their allies are stonewalling the entire matter. Only the DOJ has the power and resources to investigate. It will not be a pleasant choice for Ms. Lynch, but it is the one that the American people deserve and her oath of office requires.
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