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Washington meetings were a success, says Lynch

6:23 PM Thu, Dec 18, 2008 | Permalink
By Cynthia Needham

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Attorney General Patrick C. Lynch today became the state's first Democratic official to meet with President-elect Barack Obama's transition team.

Lynch, who heads the National Association of Attorneys General, traveled to the nation's capitol with several of his colleagues from around the country for a daylong sit down with the transition group at the Department of Justice.

The topic: how the federal government and state-level law enforcement leaders can collaborate on a national and local level to address issues such as predatory lending, mortgage foreclosure, cyber crimes and greenhouse gas emissions.

In a statement, Lynch said he was looking forward to building "a constructive working relationship" with the new administration, one that includes limiting the federal preemption of state laws, which he said had become more common under the Bush administration.

The group had hoped to meet directly with Eric Holder, Obama's pick for U.S. Attorney General, but Holder was sent a substitute at the last minute.

Through a spokesman, Lynch said this afternoon that the meetings were productive and informative.

Some in the Ocean State have speculated that Lynch's early interest in Obama -- back when many Democrats in this state, including his brother, Democratic Party Chairman William J. Lynch, were still firmly behind New York Senator Hillary Clinton -- could lead to a potential role in the new presidential administration.

In a brief interview at the State House this week, Lynch again brushed off that speculation, steering the conversation to the historic nature of Obama's victory.

His spokesman said Lynch had no plans to stay in Washington for meetings with other Obama officials. In fact, the attorney general is scheduled to return to Rhode Island this evening in time for a skating party hosted by his political action committee, Friends of Patrick Lynch.

Lynch was not the first Rhode Island official to meet with the Obama team. Earlier this month, Governor Carcieri traveled to Philadelphia with governors from around the country to meet with Obama himself.