Biden Administration December 9, 2020

Doug Jones Is Said To Be At The Top Of Biden’s List For Attorney General

WASHINGTON, DC - FEBRUARY 5: In this screengrab taken from a Senate Television webcast, Sen. Doug Jones (D-AL) explains his intention to vote to convict on both articles of impeachment during impeachment proceedings against U.S. President Donald Trump in the Senate at the U.S. Capitol on February 5, 2020 in Washington, DC. Senators will cast their final vote to convict or acquit later today. (Photo by Senate Television via Getty Images)

Soon-to-be outgoing Alabama Senator Doug Jones is reportedly the leading contender to be Attorney General in Joe Biden’s administration. Biden and Jones have a relationship going back decades. NBC reports:

Jones introduced Biden, then a young senator, when the latter spoke at his Alabama law school. Years later, Jones worked with the Senate Judiciary Committee, of which Biden was a member. Jones was Alabama co-chair of Biden’s 1988 presidential campaign and helped raise money for his 2008 bid. Biden, in turn, was one of the few national Democratic figures who campaigned for Jones in his 2017 Senate campaign.

No surprise @DougJones is getting serious consideration. A former line prosecutor & US Atty (as well as defense lawyer), he has credibility with both law enforcement & the civil rights community & could effectively lead a transformation of the criminal justice system. https://t.co/KfrnIoTOPY
— Joyce Alene (@JoyceWhiteVance) December 8, 2020

This comes after Biden met with civil rights leaders on Tuesday where Politico says they “laid out their recommendations… for the type of attorney general President-elect Joe Biden should nominate to head the Justice Department.”

Rev. Al Sharpton says he told Biden at today's meeting w/ civil rights leaders that "he must not take lightly he is succeeding the most racist administration in history."

Sharpton says he told Biden: "You cannot respond by not having an AG who has a background in civil rights."
— Geoff Bennett (@GeoffRBennett) December 8, 2020

NBC News says while Jones is white, he is still seen as an attractive nominee because of his track record on issues related to race and civil rights.

Former President Bill Clinton appointed him to be U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Alabama in 1997. In the landmark case of his career, Jones prosecuted two former Ku Klux Klansmen for the 1963 bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham — a brutal crime which killed four young African American girls and was a galvanizing moment of the civil rights movement.
During his short time as a senator, Jones pushed through a bill to permanently fund historically black colleges and universities that became law in December 2019.

I had the honor of going on John Lewis pilgrimage to Selma. There they spoke about how Doug Jones brought the KKK criminals responsible for the Church bombing to justice. It was deeply moving. It would be an inspired pick.
— Ro Khanna (@RoKhanna) December 8, 2020

Merrick Garland is also said to be under consideration. Garland was nominated by former President Barack Obama for the Supreme Court following the death of Justice Antonin Scalia in 2016, but Republicans refused to bring his nomination up for a vote.

Former Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates is also reportedly on Biden’s shortlist, but the Associated Press says Democrats are particularly concerned about her prospect “fearing she could face a difficult confirmation in the Senate because of her role in issues related to the Russia investigation.”