Statement by Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch on the Departure of John Walsh from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Colorado

Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch released the following statement on the planned departure of U.S. Attorney John Walsh of the District of Colorado, effective Aug. 10, 2016:

“U.S. Attorney John Walsh has served the people of the District of Colorado and the entire nation with extraordinary distinction,” said Attorney General Lynch.  “For the past six years, John has protected our civil liberties, defended our national security and aggressively and successfully prosecuted organized crime, drug cartels and gang violence.  He played a key leadership role on the team that won a landmark $7 billion settlement against Citibank, securing millions for defrauded consumers in the largest settlement in the history of the Colorado U.S. Attorney’s office and one of the largest settlements in the Justice Department’s history.  He served as a co-chair of the department’s Residential Mortgage-Backed Securities Working Group, where he led efforts to root out fraud and abuse and hold institutions accountable for the kinds of misleading lending practices that helped cause the 2008 financial crisis.  And he has been an outstanding leader of the Attorney General’s Advisory Committee – lending valuable insight and advice to the Justice Department as a whole.  The people of Colorado, and the country, are safer thanks to John’s keen judgment, deep empathy and unwavering fidelity to justice.  I want to thank John for his exemplary service and I look forward to all that he will accomplish in the years to come.”