Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) and Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) – all announced Republican presidential candidates – say they will vote against Loretta Lynch’s nomination for attorney general.
Cruz has long voiced his opposition to Lynch. He echoed his position Saturday in New Hampshire.
“My vote on Loretta Lynch is going to be unambiguously no. Unequivocal,” said Cruz adding that he decided to oppose her following how she answered questions during the Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing.
Paul cited Lynch’s position supporting laws permitting civil forfeiture of an individual’s property.
“Civil forfeiture turns justice on its head,” said Paul in a Fox News interview. “Instead of being innocent until proven guilty, you are guilty until proven innocent. The government takes your cash — $1,000, $100, $500, whatever it is. This program predominantly has targeted black individuals, poor individuals, Hispanic individuals. And when Sen. [Mike] Lee asked her about it in the committee, she said, ‘Oh, no, as long as there is a valid court order.'”
Asset forfeiture laws give government officials the right to seize property without first issuing an indictment or providing any evidence that a crime occurred. Attorney General Eric Holder previously announced reforms for the controversial laws.
Rubio vocalized his disagreement with Lynch as Attorney General on Fox News last month. “The president has taken a blatantly unconstitutional step by basically nullifying the immigration laws of this country and announcing he’s going to refuse to enforce them, and you have the highest law enforcement officer in the country, or the nominee for the highest law enforcement officer in the country, with a straight face arguing, that she believes that it is constitutional to do what he’s just done. That alone should disqualify her from being the next Attorney General.”
Breitbart News previously reported there are just five Republican Senators who support Lynch: Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Jeff Flake (R-AZ), Susan Collins (R-ME), Orrin Hatch (R-UT), and Mark Kirk (R-IL).
Graham has said he is 91-percent sure he is going to run for president. On Monday, a spokesperson from Graham’s office again affirmed he would back Lynch.
Former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, also a likely Republican presidential candidate, also said he believes the Senate should affirm Lynch.
“I think that presidents have the right to pick their team,” Bush said while in New Hampshire.
However, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker is following the position of Cruz, Paul and Rubio – and not Graham or Bush.
“Given Loretta Lynch’s failure to commit to protect Americans from the president’s lawless executive overreach, that even he said nearly two dozen times, she is not fit to serve as the nation’s Attorney General,” Walker spokeswoman Kirsten Kukowski told Breitbart News last month.
Breitbart News reported Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN) hinted that the Senate would address Loretta Lynch’s nomination this week.
President Obama nominated Lynch to replace Attorney General Eric Holder last November. Obama showed his frustration that there has not been a vote on her nomination. “Call Loretta Lynch for a vote. Get her confirmed. Put her in place. Let her do her job. This is embarrassing, a process like this,” Obama said Friday in a press conference.
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