Rand Paul to vote against Lynch for AG

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) said Wednesday he will not vote for Loretta Lynch, President Obama’s nominee for attorney general, citing her support for a controversial law enforcement tactic.

“I can’t vote for her,” he said on Fox News’s “On the Record With Greta Van Susteren.” “The big issue for me is something called civil forfeiture.”

{mosads}Under so-called “asset forfeiture” laws, law enforcement agencies can seize property and keep the proceeds — even if they never charge the owner with a crime.

At her confirmation hearing, Lynch called the tactic a “wonderful tool,” noting that it allows authorities to return the proceeds of a crime to victims and “take the profit out of crime.”

In a statement after his interview, Paul said Lynch had a “track-record of violating the individual freedoms granted to us by our Constitution,” citing her stance on drone strikes and Obama’s immigration actions.

“She remains non-committal on the legality of drone strikes against American citizens, while I believe such strikes unequivocally violate rights granted to us by the Sixth Amendment,” said Paul. “Mrs. Lynch also supports President Obama’s calls for executive amnesty, which I vehemently oppose.

“The Attorney General must operate independent of politics, independent of the president and under the direction of the Constitution,” he continued. “I cannot support a nominee, like Mrs. Lynch, who rides roughshod on our Constitutional rights.”

Paul is not a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, which will vote on whether to send Lynch’s nomination to the floor.

Though Lynch is expected to be confirmed, Paul joins a growing group of Republicans who have decided to oppose the attorney general nominee. Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn (R-Texas), who sits on the Judiciary Committee, also said Wednesday that he would not back her confirmation.

This story was updated at 8:41 p.m.