President Barack Obama made the right choice in nominating U.S. Attorney Loretta Lynch as his next attorney general, says noted First Amendment lawyer Floyd Abrams.
"It's smart of the president to appoint someone he really doesn’t know very well. She’s not an old buddy of his," Abrams said Sunday on "The Cats Roundable" on
AM 970 in New York.
Many of Obama's critics on the left and the right have said he surrounds himself with friends who don't want to criticize him, weakening his ability to govern.
Lynch once worked at Abrams' law firm, Cahill Gordon & Reindel, and he praised her abilities.
"She was smart, savvy. Straight as can be. Straight in the sense of focusing on the issues. Never being influenced by whose side was supposed to win," Abrams said.
Abrams was less complimentary of outgoing Attorney General Eric Holder, whom he said has not been a champion of the First Amendment.
"The administration issued more subpoenas to the press, went to court more often, had more leak investigations than any other administration we’ve ever had," Abrams said. "It was not to Attorney General Holder’s credit."
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