Attorney General Loretta Lynch would not answer questions about the Hillary Clinton email scandal at a hearing with the House Judiciary Committee. She said:
“While I understand that this investigation has generated significant public interest, as attorney general, it would be inappropriate for me to comment further on the underlying facts of the investigation or the legal basis for the team’s recommendation,” Lynch told the House Judiciary Committee.
She kept telling Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-VA), chairman of the committee, to look at “[FBI Director James] Comey’s statements” instead of answering the simple questions.
Rep. Randy Forbes (R-VA) asked Lynch if a law prohibited her from talking about the case, unlike Comey. Eventually, Lynch said the two of them had “very different roles” in the investigation:
“There is no legal prohibition that can be cited here,” Forbes countered.
The FBI recommended no prosecution against Clinton even though they found she and staff mishandled classified information on her private email server. But Comey admitted to the House Oversight Committee “that any of his employees who handled emails the way Clinton did could be subject to dismissal or loss of security clearance.”
Lynch accepted the FBI’s recommendation:
“Late this afternoon, I met with FBI Director James Comey and career prosecutors and agents who conducted the investigation of Secretary Hillary Clinton’s use of a personal email system during her time as Secretary of State. I received and accepted their unanimous recommendation that the thorough, year-long investigation be closed and that no charges be brought against any individuals within the scope of the investigation.”
Goodlatte also said not to at least “pursue charges ‘defies logic and the law,'” especially since she met with former President Bill Clinton in Arizona right before Comey announced his decision:
Goodlatte suggested that and other factors could have been grounds for recusal, but Lynch rebuffed the notion. And she insisted that the discussion with the former president was “social” and did not pertain to the email investigation.Lynch has nevertheless expressed regret for the meeting and acknowledged that it had “cast a shadow” on the public perception of the Justice Department’s independence.
Republicans kept trying to get answers from Lynch, but she stood her ground.
Then this exchange happened between the two of them:
Her reply?
The Republicans also lashed out at Lynch since she did not review the case before announcing Clinton will not face charges:
Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte called it an “abdication of your responsibility.”“The buck stops with you,’’ Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner (R-Ill.) said.
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