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 The 55-year-old North Carolina native and Harvard-trained lawyer
has deep experience in both civil rights and corporate fraud cases.
Lynch is known for a low-key personality and stirred little
controversy during two tenures as U.S. Attorney for the Eastern
District of New York.
Her nomination requires Senate confirmation. The Senate twice
previously has voted to confirm her to federal prosecutor jobs, the
last time in 2010.
In a statement, White House spokesman Josh Earnest called Lynch "a
strong, independent prosecutor" and said Obama would formally
announce her nomination to be the nation's top law enforcement
official at an event in the White House Roosevelt Room on Saturday.
Obama, the first black U.S. president, named Holder as the first
black attorney general in 2009. Holder announced in September that
he would resign. With Holder leaving after six years on the job,
Obama picked Lynch, who is not a member of the president's inner
circle, as the first black woman for the job.
Sources close to the Obama administration said they expect Lynch
will generate little controversy, making for a smooth Senate
confirmation process.
The top Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, Chuck
Grassley, said she will "will receive a very fair, but thorough,
vetting" by the panel. "I'm hopeful that her tenure, if confirmed,
will restore confidence in the Attorney General as a politically
independent voice for the American people," Grassley said.
Her nomination would be one of the first big changes for Obama to
announce after Republicans won control of the Senate in
congressional elections on Tuesday. Lynch was one of several
candidates Holder had recommended to succeed him.
Lynch emerged as a leading contender after a previous top choice,
former White House counsel Kathryn Ruemmler, pulled out of
consideration amid concerns her involvement in controversial Obama
administration decisions could complicate her confirmation.
Holder, one of Obama's closest allies, has had a rocky tenure as
attorney general. He clashed frequently with congressional
Republicans over gun control, same-sex marriage, and a desire to try
terrorism suspects in civilian instead of military courts.
In one 2011 email released earlier this week, Holder referred to
Republican members of the House Oversight Committee chaired by
Darrell Issa as "Issa and his idiot cronies."
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Lynch, born in Greensboro, North Carolina, Lynch earned her college
and law degrees at Harvard, worked in the Brooklyn U.S. Attorney's
office between 1990 and 2001, and served in the top post from
1999-2001 and since 2010.
She developed a close relationship with Holder through her work on
the attorney general's advisory committee, which she has chaired
since the beginning of 2013.
In her first stint in the U.S. Attorney's office she worked on the
prosecution of New York police officers who were convicted in
connection with the torture of Haitian immigrant Abner Louima, an
incident that became a national symbol for police brutality.
More recently, her office has brought several high-profile cases,
including the indictment, in April, of Republican U.S.
Representative Michael Grimm for fraud.
Her office has worked closely with Justice Department headquarters
on several big corporate fraud cases, and helped investigate
Citigroup Inc <C.N> over shoddy mortgage securities the bank sold,
which led the bank to enter into a $7 billion settlement in July.
Lynch's office also was involved in the December 2012 $1.2 billion
accord with HSBC <HSBA.L> over the bank's lapses in its anti-money
laundering controls.
Prosecutors in Brooklyn are also investigating a member of Putin's
inner circle, Gennady Timchenko, in connection with an oil trading
and money laundering probe.
(Additional reporting by Susan Heavey and Julia Edwards; Writing by
Will Dunham; Editing by Sandra Maler)
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