Breitbart's Attack On Obama Attorney General Nominee Goes After The Wrong Loretta Lynch

Following publication of this, Breitbart.com added corrections to the articles that confused the two attorneys, noting at bottom that "[t]he Loretta Lynch identified earlier as the Whitewater attorney was, in fact, a different attorney." Later on November 9, Breitbart.com removed the article by Warner Todd Huston. The full article can be read here.

Members of the conservative media are attempting to scandalize President Obama's Attorney General nominee Loretta Lynch by suggesting she was involved in the Whitewater investigations of the 1990s. However, the Loretta Lynch that played a bit role in Whitewater -- an investigation into fraudulent real estate deals that did not include any wrongdoing by the Clintons -- is a different person than Obama's attorney general nominee.

According to a November 8 Breitbart.com article by Warner Todd Huston, “few are talking about” the fact nominee Lynch “was part of Bill Clinton's Whitewater probe defense team in 1992.” Huston pointed to a March 1992 New York Times article that “reported that Lynch was one of the Clintons' Whitewater defense attorneys as well as a 'campaign aide.'” And in a November 9 article Huston's colleague, Breitbart.com Senior Editor-at Large Joel Pollak wrote, “The connection to Whitewater ought to provide additional fodder for Republicans during Lynch's confirmation hearings”:

The connection to Whitewater ought to provide additional fodder for Republicans during Lynch's confirmation hearings. It is odd that Obama chose someone so close to the Clintons--or perhaps not, given the prominent role played by Clinton insider John Podesta in the second term of the Obama White House. Lynch has been rewarded throughout her career for her political loyalty--not an unusual path up the career ladder for federal prosecutors, but certainly one that will allow the GOP, as well as Obama, to raise the political stakes.

The Loretta Lynch referred to in the New York Times article is a California based attorney who has worked on several prominent political campaigns, not Attorney General nominee Loretta Lynch. Obama's nominee is shown on the right, while the Loretta Lynch Breitbart refers to is on the left:

Conservative website American Thinker made the same mistake, misidentifying the “Whitewater” Lynch as a graduate of Harvard -- the school attended by nominee Lynch.

Nominee Lynch became a federal prosecutor in 1990, two years before the other Lynch participated in the Whitewater investigation. In 1999 she was appointed by President Clinton as a U.S. Attorney and she currently serves as U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York.