By Mike Sacks, From The National Law Journal

Justice Sotomayor delivers oath, the second, to 83rd U.S. attorney general.

Attorney General Loretta Lynch appeared on stage at a downtown Washington theater on Wednesday, where President Barack Obama and Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor gave Lynch a grand debut as the nation’s top law enforcement officer.

The event, which included Sotomayor’s swearing in Lynch on Frederick Douglass’ bible, was largely ceremonial. Lynch has led the Justice Department since Vice President Joe Biden administered the oath of office at a more modest affair in late April.

“To the people of this great nation I pledge to you that your protection, your liberties and your rights will be my sacred charge,” Lynch said before an audience of several hundred that included former Attorney General Michael Mukasey, FBI Director Jim Comey, former colleagues from the U.S. attorney’s office in Brooklyn, New York, red-clad Delta Sigma Theta sorority sisters, and many friends and family.

Lynch’s predecessor, Eric Holder Jr., was not in the crowd, but his wife, Dr. Sharon Malone, sat in the middle of the audience and was recognized by Obama in his remarks. Holder, a former Covington & Burling partner, hasn’t yet announced his post-DOJ plans.

Obama also provided the formal occasion with a moment of levity when he highlighted Lynch’s parents, Lorenzo and Lorine, who sat on stage next to Sotomayor, Lynch and her husband Steven Hargrove.

Rev. and Mrs. Lynch are their daughter’s “biggest cheerleaders,” Obama said. “Apparently, when she applied to work at the U.S. attorney’s office and a FBI agent went to their house to conduct a routine background check, her parents pulled out a bunch of scrapbooks of Loretta’s accomplishments and made the agents look through them. I’m sure Loretta was mortified.” Lynch laughed and nodded from her seat at the side of the stage. But the president was not finished.

“And here in third grade, she got the prize. And here’s one of her old poems,” Obama said, drawing laughter as he recreated what Lynch’s parents told the FBI. “I can just picture the FBI agent sitting there, ‘Yes, ma’am.’ The agent later told Loretta that she probably wasn’t a threat to America because if she were, ‘her parents would have documented it in some way.’ ”

Lynch has been busy during her first month and a half on the job and made international headlines when the DOJ’s indicted top officials of the world soccer governing body, FIFA, on criminal corruption charges last month.

“It’s funny that we are ‘installing’ Loretta today not like she’s been waiting around for the embossed invitation,” Obama said. “She hit the ground running from day one. She’s already made her mark here at home and abroad because of her laser focus on the core mission of the Justice Department—the protection of the American people.”

IMAGE: Attorney General Loretta Lynch, second from left, takes the oath of office, administered by Supreme Court Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor, right, during a formal investiture ceremony held at the Warner Theater in downtown Washington, D.C. Joining them on stage are President Barack Obama, left, Lynch’s husband Stephen Hargrove, third from left, her father Lorenzo Lynch, third from right, and her mother Lorine Lynch, second from right. June 17, 2015. Photo: Diego M. Radzinschi/NLJ

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