Loretta Lynch has the right stuff for the job

Loretta Lynch, the U.S. Attorney for Long Island and parts of New York City, is President Barack Obama's choice to be the next U.S. Attorney General. He’ll make it official Saturday, according to a White House statement. Credit him with a brilliant move.

Lynch is superbly qualified for the job. And her low-key profile, two stints as U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York and lack of long, personal ties to Obama bode well for a bloodless confirmation by a Republican-controlled Senate.

So does her southern charm and regular folks accessibility.  She is one of those rare people who can be the smartest person in the room without making sure everybody knows it.

Lynch is a career prosecutor. She has handled terrorism, civil rights and public corruption cases of the sort that are high on the administration’s law enforcement agenda.

She was on the team that convicted New York City police officers for violating the civil rights of Haitian immigrant Abner Louima, who was beaten and sodomized while in custody. She has led the investigation of political corruption swirling around Long Island political power broker Gary Melius,  and the  tax fraud prosecution of Rep. Michael Grimm, Republican of Staten Island.

Since 9/11,  the eastern district has notched more terrorism convictions than any other U.S. attorney’s office in the country, including putting away people responsible for al-Qaida’s 2009  plot  to attack the New York City subway system, the Long Island Railroad, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and Kennedy Airport.

Holder announced in September that he plans to step down.  If nominated and confirmed, Lynch would be the first black woman to serve as U.S. attorney general. That historical footnote aside, she has the right stuff for the job.