AG Lynch regrets Bill Clinton meeting amid email probe
Attorney General Loretta Lynch said Friday she regrets meeting with former President Clinton amid the probe into his wife’s private email server — and will accept whatever determination is made by the investigators.
Lynch has faced a storm of criticism after it was revealed she met with Bill Clinton at a Phoenix airport earlier in the week.
“I certainly wouldn’t do it again because I think it has cast this shadow over what it should not, over what it will not touch,” Lynch said during an appearance at the Aspen Ideas Festival.
“It’s important to make it clear that that meeting with President Clinton does not have a bearing on how this matter will be reviewed and resolved.”
Bill Clinton, Loretta Lynch airport meeting raises Hillary flap
Lynch went on to say she understands why her chat with Bill Clinton during the Justice Department’s politically sensitive probe of the former secretary of state rubbed people the wrong way.
In Lynch’s account, Bill Clinton walked uninvited from his plane across the tarmac to her government plane, and the pair talked about grandchildren and golf.
“It really was a social meeting,” Lynch said. “No matter how I viewed it. I understand how people viewed it.”
The probe into Hillary Clinton’s private email server is being handled by the FBI and career prosecutors. But the ultimate decision on whether to bring charges lies with the attorney general.
Bill Clinton joined Lynch aboard her plane while both were on the tarmac. She said they talked about grandchildren and golf.
(Don Ryan/AP)
Some Republicans have called on Lynch to recuse herself from the case after details of the airport meeting were revealed.
Donald Trump has — not surprisingly — waded into the controversy with pointed jabs at the Clintons.
“Take a look at what happened w/ Bill Clinton. The system is totally rigged,” Trump tweeted Friday.
“Does anybody really believe that meeting was just a coincidence?”
Trump added: “As Bernie Sanders said, Hillary Clinton has bad judgement. Bill’s meeting was probably initiated and demanded by Hillary!”
Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, the No. 2 Republican in the Senate, has called for a special counsel to take over the investigation, citing the appearance of impropriety.
“This incident does nothing to instill confidence in the American people that her department can fully and fairly conduct this investigation, and that’s why a special counsel is needed now more than ever,” Cornyn said in a statement.
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AG Lynch regrets Bill Clinton meeting amid email probe
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