Under Fire For Meeting With Bill Clinton, AG Loretta Lynch To Accept FBI’s Guidance In Hillary Email Probe

Barely days after her meeting with former president Bill Clinton raised a political furor in Washington, Attorney General Loretta Lynch plans to accept whatever recommendations career prosecutors and FBI investigators make in Hillary Clinton’s email probe, a Justice Department source told The New York Times.

As the Inquisitr reported on Thursday, Bill Clinton and Loretta Lynch met in a private plane at a Phoenix airport, raising speculation that the meeting was called in an effort to discuss Hillary Clinton’s pending email investigation. However, speaking to the press, Lynch was quick to allay those fears, saying that the meeting was impromptu, and the two only discussed personal affairs.

“Actually while I was landing at the airport, I did see President Clinton at the Phoenix airport as I was leaving, and he spoke to myself and my husband on the plane. Our conversation was a great deal about his grandchildren. It was primarily social and about our travels. He mentioned the golf he played in Phoenix, and he mentioned travels he’d had in West Virginia. There was no discussion of any matter pending for the department or any matter pending for any other body.”

Nonetheless, with FBI’s investigation of Hillary Clinton’s private server reportedly nearing its conclusion, many feared that Bill Clinton’s meeting with the chief prosecutor was predetermined and intended to influence Lynch’s position on the matter.

According to CBS, a string of Republican politicians called on Lynch to be removed from her position in the wake of the meeting. Texas Senator John Cornyn and Louisiana Rep. Steve Scalise asked her to step down to avoid “even the appearance of corruption.”

Lynch & Clinton: Conflict of interest? An attorney,cannot represent two parties in a dispute and must avoid even the appearance of conflict.

— Senator John Cornyn (@JohnCornyn) June 30, 2016

Republican presumptive nominee Donald Trump was also quick to jump on news of the meeting, saying he had never been witness to something like this before.

“I actually thought they were joking…. I said, ‘No way, it’s just no way that’s going to happen.’

I am just – I’m flabbergasted by it. I think it’s amazing. I’ve never seen anything like that before.”

The unusual meeting called a stir even among the Democrats, with Senator Chris Coons saying on CNN that Attorney General Loretta Lynch should have “steered clear” of the meeting.

“I do agree with you that it doesn’t send the right signal. I am impressed with Attorney General Loretta Lynch … I’m convinced that she is an independent attorney general. But I do think that this meeting sends the wrong signal, and I don’t think it sends the right signal. I think she should have steered clear, even of a brief, casual, social meeting with the former president.”

Other Democrats, including Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nevada, leaped to Lynch’s defense.

“All I can say is Loretta Lynch is one of the most outstanding human beings I have ever known,” he said.

Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said such a meeting would have no impact on the eventual decision she is bound to make after the completion of FBI’s investigation.

“She has said nothing was discussed related to the investigation. You have two choices — to say this didn’t matter or she’s lying,” he said.

Bill Clinton's meeting with Loretta Lynch causes a stir in both parties https://t.co/IhXP2iQrS5 pic.twitter.com/I94WFBeEtb

— The New York Times (@nytimes) July 1, 2016

In light of the recent development, it is not wholly surprising that AG Lynch plans to announce that she would be willing to accept FBI’s findings and recommendations in Hillary Clinton’s email probe. While such a plan of action on Lynch’s part was considered inevitable by many legal experts, her meeting with Bill Clinton only appears to have made that announcement imminent, with CBS reporting that it would be made official on Friday.

Lynch is not bound to accept FBI’s recommendations. Once the agency submits its report to the attorney general, she could either accept the findings, modify them, or go in a different direction altogether.

Even so, her meeting with former president and the husband of the presumptive Democratic nominee, Hillary Clinton, has raised a political storm in Washington, and it appears Loretta Lynch’s decision to announce that she would accept FBI’s recommendations is only a step to help calm it down.

[Photo by Allison Shelley/Getty Images]