For now, interim U.S. Attorney Benton Campbell heads the prosecution of Najibullah Zazi in the Eastern District of New York.
Campbell supervised his office’s response to terrorism cases after Sept. 11, 2001, and in 2003, he investigated and prosecuted crimes stemming from the collapse of Enron as chief of the Eastern District’s criminal division.
But with a change in administration, President Barack Obama is set to nominate Campbell’s replacement, and a former Clinton appointee could be taking on the Zazi case.
Loretta Lynch, who was the u.s. attorney for the Eastern District of New York from 1999 to 2001, is a likely candidate for the job after Obama received a recommendation on her behalf from Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.
“Loretta’s tremendous experience and steadfast commitment to justice make her the ideal candidate to lead the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Eastern District of New York,” Schumer said in a written statement to The New York Times in May. “She is brilliant, dedicated, and fair, and her commitment to, and experience in, the Eastern District is simply without parallel.”
Lynch graduated from Harvard Law School in 1984 and is now a partner at Hogan & Hartson in New York. She began her career as a federal prosecutor in 1990, handling narcotics and violent-crime cases.
She also has tackled high-profile cases; most notably, she was on the trial team prosecuting New York police officers accused of brutalizing and sodomizing Abner Louima in a police station.
Lynch’s practice now focuses on commercial litigation, white-collar criminal defense and corporate-compliance issues, according to a biography on her firm’s website.
Felisa Cardona: 303-954-1219 or fcardona@denverpost.com
