During a House Judiciary Committee hearing with Attorney General Loretta Lynch on Tuesday morning, committee Chair Bob Goodlatte (R-VA) asked Lynch why she did not recuse herself from the investigation into Hillary Clinton’s email use, suggesting that Lynch decided not to prosecute the former secretary of state for political reasons.
Goodlatte mentioned that Lynch was appointed as U.S. Attorney in the Eastern District of New York by then-President Bill Clinton in 1999.
“Given she was a political appointee of your current boss and more importantly the wife of your previous boss, why did you not see fit to recuse yourself from the investigation? Wouldn’t recusal or appointment of a special prosecutor have removed any appearance of impropriety given your service during Bill Clinton’s presidency?” Goodlatte asked Lynch about the investigation into Clinton’s private email server.
In response, Lynch told Goodlatte “there was no need for recusal or an independent prosecutor that the investigation.”
She added that the investigation “was received and referred to experienced, dedicated career agents and prosecutors who handle matters of this type every day with independence, with efficiency, with thoroughness, and the matter was handled like any other matter.”
Goodlatte then brought up Lynch’s recent meeting with Bill Clinton on a tarmac in Arizona.
“Why was this meeting, particularly in light of your previous appointment by President Clinton, not grounds for recusing yourself?” he asked Lynch.
Lynch replied by describing her meeting with Bill Clinton as “a social conversation,” and said the two did not discuss the email investigation.
During her opening statement, Lynch said that she would not be able to answer questions about specifics regarding the investigation into Hillary Clinton.
“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,” she said.
Lynch then repeatedly declined to answer questions and referred to FBI Director James Comey’s comments on the probe when asked about the investigation into Clinton’s email server.
If Republicans think Lynch should have recused herself from this investigation because of potential political conflicts, wouldn’t it also be true that Republicans should recuse themselves from these fucking committee hearings?
Mmmmm…what’s that I smell? It smells like Republican desperation to me!
Yep. The new strategy is just drag it out and try to keep it in the news for four more months. Then once Clinton is elected, start impeachment proceedings. Gawd we need a new congress…
If I was Lynch I’d ask them if they were going to hold another vote to repeal Obamacare now.
[laugh, laugh, laugh, laugh]
The republicans, starting with the FBI director, know exactly what they are doing. By continually questioning Hillary’s integrity they keep the focus off Trump. Consequentially the gap in the polls continues to close. Hopefully Bernie’s endorsement today can bring a bit of a reprieve from the constant slanting and misinformation on the email issue.