'What on Earth were you thinking?': Attorney general grilled over meeting with Bill Clinton
Alex Wong/Getty Images
Speaking at the Aspen Ideas Festival in Colorado, Lynch was asked about her unusual meeting with the former president aboard an airplane parked on an Arizona tarmac.
"Friends, supporters, backers are saying, 'What on earth was she thinking talking to Bill Clinton?' So, what on earth were you thinking?" the Washington Post's Jonathan Capehart asked, during an onstage interview.
"I think that's a perfectly reasonable question," Lynch said, noting that many have wondered whether she can objectively oversee the investigation into the presumptive Democratic nominee's emails.
She added: "Certainly my meeting with him raises questions and concerns. Believe me, I completely get that question."
AG Loretta Lynch: People have "raised questions about my role" in the Clinton email probe https://t.co/8I58ZMGkGD https://t.co/tDwtnNXl9A
- CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) July 1, 2016
Lynch said that she believes the real question is her "role in how the matter is going to be resolved."
The attorney general said the case was being handled by career FBI investigators who would make recommendations that will ultimately be reviewed by the FBI director and career supervisors in the Department of Justice.
"I fully expect to accept their recommendations," Lynch said, confirming news reports from earlier that she intended to stay out of the investigation.
Lynch insisted that her meeting with the former president was "social" and that the two discussed his grandchildren and golf, not the probe into his wife's use of a private email server.
Nevertheless, she said it had "cast a shadow" on the FBI's investigation and expressed regret allowing the meeting to take place.
"I certainly wouldn't do it again," she said.
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump used the meeting to attack Hillary Clinton, tweeting early Friday that she "probably" orchestrated the meeting out of fear she would be indicted over her email conduct.
Lawmakers on both sides of the political aisle have also criticized Lynch for the meeting, contending the optics alone eroded the public's trust.
White House press secretary Josh Earnest faced a number of questions on the topic from reporters on Thursday. He deferred mostly to Lynch but said President Barack Obama had confidence she would not allow politics to contaminate the investigation.
- 2 states where home prices are falling because there are too many houses and not enough buyers
- US buys 81 Soviet-era combat aircraft from Russia's ally costing on average less than $20,000 each, report says
- A couple accidentally shipped their cat in an Amazon return package. It arrived safely 6 days later, hundreds of miles away.
- 9 health benefits of drinking sugarcane juice in summer
- 10 benefits of incorporating almond oil into your daily diet
- From heart health to detoxification: 10 reasons to eat beetroot
- Why did a NASA spacecraft suddenly start talking gibberish after more than 45 years of operation? What fixed it?
- ICICI Bank shares climb nearly 5% after Q4 earnings; mcap soars by ₹36,555.4 crore
- Nothing Phone (2a) blue edition launched
- JNK India IPO allotment date
- JioCinema New Plans
- Realme Narzo 70 Launched
- Apple Let Loose event
- Elon Musk Apology
- RIL cash flows
- Charlie Munger
- Feedbank IPO allotment
- Tata IPO allotment
- Most generous retirement plans
- Broadcom lays off
- Cibil Score vs Cibil Report
- Birla and Bajaj in top Richest
- Nestle Sept 2023 report
- India Equity Market