In the battle over banning online gambling in Congress, advocates of iGaming hope they just got an ally in new Attorney General Loretta Lynch.
Lynch’s confirmation process was one longest in history, mostly due to her support of President Obama’s immigration policies. But it should also be noted that she clashed with Republicans seeking to institute a ban on online gambling during her confirmation hearings.
During a Senate Committee hearing on her nomination, Lynch refused to be drawn into an argument with Senator Lyndsey Graham, who has proposed the Senate version of the Restoration of America’s Wire Act, which would ban online gambling in the U.S.
While Graham continuously asked lynch about online gambling leading to money laundering and support of terrorists, she repeatedly said she was not informed enough on the issue to know whether those claims were true.
Lynch also stated that she would spend little time considering whether or not to reverse the DOJ’s 2011 interpretation of the Wire Act. That interpretation opened the door for intra-state online gambling.
“Unless in the course of my review I conclude that OLC’s interpretation of the Wire Act is unreasonable, I do not intend to take any action to suspend or revoke the opinion,” stated Lynch during her nomination hearing.
