AG nominee quizzed on Web gaming
WASHINGTON — Attorney general nominee Loretta Lynch on Wednesday took a pass on Internet gambling — for now.
At her Senate confirmation hearing, Lynch said she was “generally familiar” with the controversial 2011 legal opinion by the Justice Department Office of Legal Counsel that opened the door for states to sponsor online legalized poker and casino-style games.
But, she told Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C.,“I haven’t read that decision, so I am not able to analyze it for you.”
Graham, who has sponsored legislation to restore a legal ban on Web gaming, briefly quizzed the nominee on the topic during an all-day hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee. He told Lynch he would send her material about law enforcement concerns with legalizing Web gaming, and otherwise seemed satisfied with her response.
“Would you agree one of the best ways for a terrorist organization or a criminal enterprise to be able to enrich themselves is to have online gaming that would be very hard to regulate?” Graham asked.
“What we have seen with respect to those who provide material support and financing to terrorist organizations is they will use any means to finance those organizations,” responded Lynch, who is the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York.
An effort to re-enact prohibitions on online gaming — propelled by billionaire casino owner Sheldon Adelson — fell short in the session of Congress that ended in December. But the exchange between Graham and Lynch showed it is back on the agenda of key lawmakers.
The exchange also took place amid a report that Adelson met privately early this month with Republican members of the House Judiciary Committee in what was described as an effort to reboot the campaign to prohibit Web gaming.
Contact Stephens Washington Bureau Chief Steve Tetreault at stetreault@stephensmedia.com or 202-783-1760. Find him on Twitter: @STetreaultDC.
