Loretta Lynch: First African American Woman Attorney General
Loretta Lynch is sworn in during her confi rmation hearing in the Senate Judiciary Committee
It was barely dawn when the dozen or so men barged into the quiet hotel lobby Dressed in jeans sweatshirts and sneakers they looked very much out of place at the Baur au Lac one of the fanciest hotels in the world Located in Zurich Switzerland this 170-year old luxury property overlooks the Alps and beautiful Lake Zurich Suites here can cost as much as 4,000 a night Rather than jeans and sneakers most guests wore dressy expensive clothing What were these men doing here Carrying green folders with lists of names they approached the startled desk clerks and showed their badges They were police officers here to arrest some of the richest and most powerful people in sports vice presidents and other high-ranking officials in FIFA Fédération Internationale de Football Association The organization governs soccer tournaments around the world The officials were in town for committee meetings Once the officers got the room numbers they needed they fanned out through the hotel They found the suspects 7
Police officers arrested FIFA officials at the Baur au Lac a luxury hotel in Zurich Switzerland led them out of their rooms without handcuffs and took them outside without a struggle Members of the media had gathered to take photos Hotel staff still trying to help their wealthy customers held up white bedsheets to block the photographers view as the officials were filed into waiting cars Loretta Lynch was not in Zurich that morning She was in Brooklyn New York about 4,000 miles 6,437 kilometers away Yet she stood at the center of these arrests She had begun investigating the FIFA officials years earlier when she was the US attorney for the Eastern District of 8
New York Now she was the US attorney general which made her the head of the US Department of Justice and the top government law officer and lawyer A few hours after Baur au Lac employees use sheets to conceal the FIFA officials arrested at their hotel the arrests Lynch stepped to a podium to give a speech in front of news crews with microphones and flashing cameras Only 5 feet 1 5 meters tall she spoke with a calm authority amid the chaos She explained that the charges against the officials involved corruption that is rampant systemic and deep-rooted both abroad and here in the United States She said the corruption spanned two generations and affected a multitude of victims that included youth leagues developing countries that should have benefited from FIFA’s revenue and fans They were expected to uphold the rules that keep soccer honest she said of the nine top FIFA officials and five marketing executives Instead they corrupted the business of worldwide soccer to serve their interests and enrich themselves A total of forty-seven corruption charges were being filed against the men 9
