Obama nominates six lawyers to serve as U.S. Attorneys

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama nominated six people on Thursday to serve as U.S. attorneys, including one attorney to serve in the Eastern District of New York - the Brooklyn-based office responsible for bringing the FIFA bribery case.

Robert Capers, already a senior litigation counsel in the public integrity section, was nominated as U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York.

Obama also nominated Dana Boente for the Eastern District of Virginia; John Fishwick, Jr. for the Western District of Virginia; Channing Phillips for the District of Columbia; Emily Gray Rice for the District of New Hampshire; and Randolph Seiler for the District of South Dakota.

"Through their dedication and accomplishments, these fine attorneys have distinguished themselves as some of the best and brightest their profession has to offer," President Obama said in a statement. 

Following the White House announcement, Attorney General Loretta Lynch said that both Phillips and Capers would begin serving as interim U.S. attorneys on Oct. 19.

"These six extraordinary lawyers are more than up to the task," Lynch said. "They have deep experience not only in their districts, but in practicing law at the highest levels." 

Many of the nominees announced on Thursday are long-time career prosecutors.

Capers, for instance, held numerous roles within the Eastern District of New York and also previously served as an assistant district attorney in New York City.

Boente, who is currently serving as the acting U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, has worked in the office since 2000 and previously served as interim U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Louisiana.

Phillips currently serves as a senior counsel and deputy assistant associate general in the District of Columbia; Fishwick is a partner in the Virginia law firm LichtensteinFishwick PLC; Gray is a shareholder in the law firm Bernstein, Shur, Sawyer & Nelson, P.A.; and Seiler is currently serving as the acting U.S. attorney for the District of South Dakota.

(Reporting by Sarah N. Lynch)