Comparing U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder with Loretta Lynch, his nominated successor, friends and colleagues tell the New York Times that Lynch shares Holder's views on issues such as the strained relations between the police and minorities, but she sees her role as that of a traditional prosecutor and not a civil rights advocate. Those differences are likely to become clear when Senate confirmation hearings on her nomination begin soon. “She is not going to follow in the footsteps of Eric Holder. She's going to be her own attorney general,” said Janice Fedarcyk, the former top FBI official in New York City.
Lynch’s father, Lorenzo, a Baptist minister in Greensboro, N.C., supported civil-rights sit-ins but told her, “Stay focused. Stay calm. Choose your battles.” Lynch has followed her father's advice. One of Holder's vocal critics, Ronald Hosko, president of the Law Enforcement Legal Defense Fund, offered only praise for Lynch. A former assistant director of the FBI, Mr. Hosko said his old colleagues had told him to expect an aggressive prosecutor and a reluctant political figure.