Grassley criticizes current Justice Department as nomination hearings open

WASHINGTON - U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley launched the Senate Judiciary Committee's hearing into the nomination of Loretta Lynch to be attorney general on Wednesday with wide-ranging criticism of the Justice Department under Eric Holder.

And although he said he didn't blame Lynch for what he saw as the department's ills, Grassley said, 'I, for one, need to be persuaded that she will be an independent attorney general.”

Iowa's senior senator, who is the new chairman of the committee, was convening the much-anticipated hearing on Wednesday, and it is expected to center a great deal on the administration's controversial executive order deferring deportation for potentially millions of illegal immigrants.

Grassley said he had no reason at the moment to doubt that Lynch, the U.S. attorney for the eastern district of New York, will be independent.

The senator drew attention immediately, with his first question, to the president's actions on immigration, which he called unlawful. But others on the panel, particularly Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., spent more time quizzing Lynch on the matter.

In his opening remarks, Grassley cited a string of controversies, including the Fast and Furious gun walking case and the Justice Department's handling of the IRS' extra scrutiny of conservative political groups, and said the Justice Department had been 'very deeply politicized.”

At one point, Grassley said the IRS had been 'weaponized and turned against individual citizens.” The senator said he didn't blame Lynch for the department's challenges, but he added, 'as new attorney general, she can fix them.”

Democrats tried to keep the focus on Lynch, arguing that it was she who was before the committee, not the administration's immigration policies.

They also defended the Obama administration's Justice Department.

Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., cited a string of controversies in the Bush administration's Justice Department and said Holder had brought it 'back from a place where it had been sadly politicized.”

Many analysts have said they expect Lynch to be confirmed. Grassley said, however, he would hold the hearing 'as long as members have questions,” although he noted the position is important and the committee ought to move the process along.