President Obama’s Attorney General Loretta Lynch will meet with members of the Congressional committees probing Russian interference next week, CNN has learned.
Lynch will sit down with lawmakers from the House and Senate Intelligence Committee and may meet with members of the Senate Judiciary Committee as well.
The ex-attorney general will likely be queried about her infamous tarmac meeting with former President Bill Clinton, a gathering that cast a cloud over the executive branch’s investigation into Hillary Clinton’s emails and compelled FBI Director James Comey to hold an unprecedented presser, to say the former secretary of state wouldn’t be fired.
Former Attorney General Loretta Lynch will reportedly meet with lawmakers from several Congressional committees next week, as they continue work on the Russia probe
Loretta Lynch will likely be asked about her infamous meeting on a tarmac with former President Bill Clinton, which occurred while the Justice Department was still investigating his wife’s emails
Fired FBI Director James Comey (pictured) testified before the Senate Intelligence Committee in June explaining that he decided to hold a press conference on the Hillary Clinton email case because of Attorney General Loretta Lynch’s tarmac meeting with Bill Clinton
Attorney General Loretta Lynch headed the investigation into Hillary Clinton’s (pictures) emails through 2016. There were reportedly faked emails from the Russians that suggested Lynch, a fellow Democrat, was trying to bury the probe
In June, when Comey publicly sat before the Senate Intelligence Committee, to testify about his firing by President Trump, which he said was because of the FBI’s Russia probe, the ex-FBI leader also explained how Lynch’s behavior compelled him to make certain decisions in the handling of the Clinton probe.
The tarmac meeting was the final straw.
Comey said he decided he needed to hold a press conference and announce that the FBI would recommend to the Justice Department that no charges be filed to ‘protect the credibility of the investigation.’
Prior to that, he was bothered when Lynch told him to call the Clinton investigation a ‘matter’ instead of an actual criminal probe, which it was.
‘At one point, the attorney general had directed me not to call it an investigation but instead to call it a matter, which confused me and concerned me,’ Comey testified. ‘That was one of the bricks in the load that led me to conclude I have to step away from the department if we’re to close this case credibly.’
At the press conference, Comey received criticism from Democrats for saying Clinton was ‘extremely careless’ in her handling of her emails while secretary of state, though noted his agency wasn’t recommending she be charged with a crime.
During his testimony, Comey denied that he made his decision to hold the press conference because he feared emails reportedly faked by the Russians would come out.
In May, CNN reported that faked emails existed between Democratic National Committee chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz and a political operative that suggested Lynch would make the FBI’s investigation into Clinton go away.
The Senate Judiciary Committee has asked Lynch to disclose any conversations she might have had with the Clinton campaign or the DNC about the FBI’s investigation.
Lynch will be the latest Obama administration official to talk to lawmakers looking into Russia’s meddling in the 2016 election and if there was any collusion with President Trump’s campaign.
In the past she’s said she’s regretted not thinking about the optics when meeting with President Clinton on that tarmac in Phoenix.
Last December she called it ‘painful’ that it raised questions about the integrity of the Justice Department, CNN reported.