After five months of waiting in the wings, Loretta Lynch will finally get her confirmation vote for attorney general in the Senate.
The exceptionally long delay, which President Obama last week called "crazy" and "embarrassing," was due to a variety of political reasons. But on Thursday, Lynch, who will replace Eric Holder, is expected to win approval with the support of Democrats and at least five Republicans. Here's what she's all about.
1. Lynch will be the first female African-American attorney general.
Lynch will be the first African-American woman to hold the job. She graduated from Harvard College and Harvard Law School, has been a federal prosecutor and also worked at several private law firms.
Lynch, 55, is Obama's second trailblazing pick for the post after Holder, who served as the nation's first African-American attorney general.
Born in Greensboro, North Carolina, Lynch is the daughter of a pastor.
2. She successfully prosecuted police in the Abner Louima case.
During her first tenure in the Eastern District, Lynch helped prosecute police officers who severely beat and sexually assaulted Haitian immigrant Abner Louima with a broken broom handle. The high-profile case led to the conviction of New York City police officer Justin Volpe and others.
As the U.S. attorney for Eastern New York, Lynch covers Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island and Long Island.
3. Lynch prosecuted a Republican congressman who was recently re-elected to office.
Lynch recently filed tax evasion charges against Rep. Michael Grimm, a Republican from Staten Island accused of hiding more than $1 million in sales and wages while running a restaurant. Grimm, who won re-election against Democrat Domenic M. Recchia Jr. in the midterm elections, has pleaded not guilty; he is set to go to trial in February. Ironically, Grimm, once worked as an undercover FBI agent.
4. Corrupt New York lawmakers are Lynch's specialty.
Former New York State Senate Majority Leader Pedro Espada, Jr. was sentenced to five years in prison after Lynch prosecuted him on embezzlement charges, becoming one of many politicians she has successfully brought cases against. Espada recently pled guilty to one charge of tax evasion in the long-running case. He was convicted of stealing more than $400,000 from Soundview Health Center, his nonprofit organization.
“The indictment alleges that funds that could have been, and should have been, applied to purchase medical equipment, and hire personnel to enhance health care services for an underserved population, were diverted by the defendants for their personal use and to benefit friends and family members,”Lynch said. “In these difficult economic times, the charged crimes are all the more reprehensible.”
5. The movie Goodfellas was based on one of Lynch's cases
Lynch charged reputed mobster Vincent Asaro and his associates for the 36-year-old heist of $6 million in cash and jewelry from a Lufthansa Airlines vault at John F. Kennedy International Airport, which was dramatized in the blockbuster movie Goodfellas.