July 1, 2016

After intense criticism about her meeting with Bill Clinton, Loretta Lynch will announce that she will accept whatever the F.B.I. recommends about prosecuting Hillary Clinton.

The NYT reports, based on a "Justice Department official" "on the condition of anonymity because the internal decision-making process is normally kept confidential." Normally, but not this time. The info needed to escape.

I'm impressed by what looks like quick move to expunge what was at least an appearance of impropriety, but maybe this is what would have happened anyway:
The Justice Department had been moving toward such an arrangement for months — officials said in April that it was being considered — but a private meeting between Ms. Lynch and former President Bill Clinton this week set off a political furor and made the decision all but inevitable....
The meeting [with Bill Clinton] created an awkward situation for Ms. Lynch, a veteran prosecutor who was nominated from outside Washington’s normal political circles. In her confirmation, her allies repeatedly sought to contrast her with her predecessor, Eric H. Holder Jr., an outspoken liberal voice in the administration who clashed frequently with Republicans who accused him of politicizing the office. 
Holder, the Times reminds us, reduced the charges against David Petraeus to a misdemeanor after the F.B.I. recommended felony charges. And: "That decision created a deep — and public — rift."
Ms. Lynch has said she wants to handle the Clinton investigation like any other case. Since the attorney general often follows the recommendations of career prosecutors, Ms. Lynch is keeping the regular process largely intact.
Often... largely... It seems to me discretion is discretion. Even if you rarely use it, the ability to use it changes the the process. To give up the discretion before you see what you'll be asked to do is very different indeed. But Lynch could have given up her role much earlier in this process, and she chose to wait until now to give it up, now, after the secret meeting with Bill Clinton came to light. That doesn't look terrible lofty and disinterested, but at least she moved quickly to extract herself from the political storm.

How that storm hits Hillary, we shall see.

119 comments:

Brando said...

I'm guessing Bill tried to sound her out so if Hillary is about to be indicted she could drop out for health reasons or something, and save face. I don't see why Lynch would risk impeachment and taint her own image by going against the fbi recommendation just to cover for Hillary--what does she owe her? Even if she were a partisan Democrat, it'd be better for her to indict Hillary right away and get a new candidate in.

Tom from Virginia said...

Interesting transcript from 1994

Clinton: Why did you go to the police? Why didn't you come to me first?

Lynch: What do you want of me? Tell me anything, but do what I beg you to do.

Clinton: What is that? [Lynch whispers his request in Clinton’s ear] That I cannot do.

Lynch: I will give you anything you ask.

Clinton: We've known each other many years, but this is the first time you ever came to me for counsel or for help. I can't remember the last time that you invited me to your house for a cup of coffee.

Lynch: I didn't want to get into trouble.

Clinton: I understand. You found paradise in America, you had a good trade, you made a good living. The police protected you and there were courts of law. And you didn't need a friend like me. But, uh, now you come to me, and you say: "Mr. President, give me justice." But you don't ask with respect. You don't offer friendship. You don't even think to call me Godfather. Instead, you come into my house on the day my daughter is to be married.

Lynch: I ask for justice.

Clinton: That is not justice.

Lynch: Let them suffer then. How much shall I pay you?

Clinton: Loretta Loretta what have I ever done to make you treat me so disrespectfully? If you'd come to me in friendship ... .

Lynch: Be my friend – Mr. President.[Lynch bows toward the President and kisses his hand]

Clinton: Good. Someday, and that day may never come, I'll call upon you to do a service for me. But until that day – accept this justice as a gift.

Lynch: Grazie, Mr. President.

MayBee said...

Who is "The FBI"?
Comey?

Bill Schumer's guy? They guy who probably wants to keep moving up in this world?
Patreaus was easy. Obama didn't want him to run for President, so prosecuting him wasn't going to hurt anyone's career. But prosecuting Hillary? How will that help Comey? Is he the decider?

Or some nameless, faceless group in the FBI?

MayBee said...

I mean Chuck Schumer, of course.

David Begley said...

Hillary's no longer in trouble. She's finished.

Watershed development.

From what's available in the public record, she will be indicted. Our Independence Day is July 1 this year.

Lynch has been kept up to date on the status of the FBI investigation. She KNOWS what it will be.

Rusty said...

We're being played.

rhhardin said...

It's the Bizarro snail posse. (three snails looking at slime path behind snail in near distance) It looks like he came through here maybe one, two days ago.

tim in vermont said...

My first instinct was correct then, this is the kind of news you give in person. Film taken with a telephoto lens of Bill leaving that aircraft would have been priceless.

Why Democrats, why? Why was Little Miss Can't Be Wrong the only possible choice for the nomination? Why was this particular person worth trashing your party for?

PB said...

Hard to predict what happens. the tea leaves just aren't floating calmly on the surface. We'll have to see who gets elected and who gets given what job to look back and understand what happened.

Humperdink said...

The question you have to ask is why would the NYT release this. Even Chuck knows the Times lugs the water for Hillary (well maybe not). This was lame, but it was they best they could do on short notice.

Bill inadvertently painted Lynch into a corner with the visit. It was one of his larger errors, of which there are numerous. Why not a phone call instead or a horse's head between the sheets?

Lynch is going to look pretty silly when there is no indictment and FBI agents and career prosecutors start coming out the woodwork stating they recommended charges. And there will be no indictment.

PB said...

It's unlikely that the NYTimes gets an honest scoop, but that they were spoon-fed something designed to make the administration look good, isolating Obama and Lynch from the blame.

I'll bet that in spite of Hillary's stated willingness to cooperate, she has not allowed an "interview" to be scheduled. As a result, the FBI investigation has concluded and been given to Lynch (who told Obama) with a recommendation to prosecute. This info has been circulating by word of mouth to specific people and Bill just got notified, hence his walking onto Lynch's plane in Phoenix.

PB said...

Of course, Lynch could have said this a LONG time ago.

Heartless Aztec said...

Cast chicken bones do not lie. Entrails tell truths. Hillary is a gonner.

MayBee said...

We are, Rusty.

BFD Lynch is going to accept what the FBI recommends. That has no meaning, and won't be transparent to us.

No special prosecutor means they are just playing around.

MayBee said...

In other words, the outrage should be that she was planning on intervening.

(they still haven't interviewed Hillary Clinton)

tim in vermont said...

She should have just taken the Eric Holder route. Killed the investigation then whined that the blowback was racist. That's all that stands between Hillary and the presidency, Eric Holder level shamelessness. We thought that had reached its peak when he got Marc Rich pardoned, how naive we were in those days.

tim in vermont said...

I have to believe that there will be resignations at the FBI if their recommendations are not followed. There are far too many people involved to keep it quiet.

damikesc said...

It is still a massive appearance of impropriety. I cannot fathom any situation in regular, non-government life where this wouldn't be a massive problem and lead to severe sanctions.

I don't see why Lynch would risk impeachment

Only a risk if you think Democrats would vote to impeach a Democrat. I do not. I firmly and truly believe that if a Democrat shot somebody on live television, they'd not be impeached from office, even after conviction.

james conrad said...

Jesus, how on earth after 25 years people could still vote for more Clinton family drama i have no clue. Trump bombast pales by comparison.

Wilbur said...

You've seemingly got to be clueless to be the AG and covertly (ineptly so) meet with the husband of someone under investigation and serious (at least publicly) consideration for indictment.

Oh wait, they talked about their grandchildren for a half hour. Never mind.

One could speculate about every aspect of this endlessly. At some point Lynch has to decide, for better or worse.

Or she's already decided, and they're waiting for what they perceive as the best time to announce it.

tim in vermont said...

I am practicing Ding Dong the Witch is Dead on the piano this morning.

Wilbur said...

I don't recall Leon Jaworski meeting with Pat Nixon during Watergate?

Can you imagine?

David Begley said...

Part two. Hillary withdraws before the convention. Throws her support to Biden. Biden gets nomination. If Biden wins, then Lynch stays on as AG.

rehajm said...

No idea how this will play out. My guess is we get a greatest hits cover from the FBI of The Supremes, where the rules mean exactly what we want them to mean at the moment.

OTOH, we're still getting gauzy walk and talk media pieces with Joe Biden at the precise time when it's most important for the VP to walk out onto the ice and disappear.

Browndog said...

Two things I know:

1) Hillary had classified material on her server. She sent/received classified material. She did not turn over her work related emails to the State Dept. to be archived.

2) In the end (formerly known as 'at the end of the day'), this will not be about Hillary, and she will not even be mentioned as a player in this so called email scandal (see Citizens United). I don't know what, maybe something along the lines of a huge shake-up at the FBI after a number of email investigators were found to have child porn on their computers, and uttered the N-word 20 years ago.

wendybar said...


Bill Clinton met with Loretta Lynch on Tuesday....Department of Justice officials filed a motion in federal court late Wednesday seeking a 27-month delay in producing correspondence between former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s four top aides and officials with the Clinton Foundation and Teneo Holdings, a closely allied public relations firm that Bill Clinton helped launch.

If the court permits the delay, the public won’t be able to read the communications until October 2018, about 22 months into her prospective first term as President. The four senior Clinton aides involved were Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Michael Fuchs, Ambassador-At-Large Melanne Verveer, Chief of Staff Cheryl Mills, and Deputy Chief of Staff Huma Abedin.

So, these two issues conveniently overlap on the same day, and we are to believe that nothing improper was going on?

james conrad said...

This entire incident was most likely a Mr Bill operation, it's got the Bubba touch written all over it.
Bubba learns the AG is landing at same airport, gets a notion to meet/greet her, bounds onto her plane past any security, he is a former prez after all and Lynch, a southerner with a very polite manner is cornered. She either orders Bubba off her plane or politely listens to him for 30 mins. Doesn't excuse it but i am betting that's how this incident went down.

rwnutjob said...

"Grandchildren"
Willie: "Nice grandchildren you got there Loretta. Shame if something were to happen to them."

Hammond X. Gritzkofe said...

Ms. Lynch has said she wants to handle the Clinton investigation like any other case. Her days are fully filled as she jets around the Country in an effort to adhere to the prosecutorial standard of conducting a lengthy private meeting with a close relative of every individual under investigation by the FBI.

shiloh said...

"We're being played."

Keep hope alive!

Tank said...

David Begley said...

Hillary's no longer in trouble. She's finished.

Watershed development.

From what's available in the public record, she will be indicted. Our Independence Day is July 1 this year.

Lynch has been kept up to date on the status of the FBI investigation. She KNOWS what it will be.


Wrong. The Big V cannot be indicted. The fix is in.

Either she will be the next President, or we have the revolution and Trump is the next President. I don't think this country is ready for that yet, but we'll see.

If she is indicted, I will be HAPPY to admit I was wrong.

Why isn't Lynch in jail?

MadisonMan said...

I don't believe what I read in the NYTimes, so why should I believe this message about Hillary?

When it actually happens, yes. (Tim in VT: I could be wrong, but you may be quite expert at piano playing before it happens)

Announcing it Friday before a 3-day weekend would be par for the course, however.

Eric said...

The FBI was always going to recommend what she wants (which is actually what the White House wants), so no change.

Bob said...

Imam Obama has dirt on FBI Director Comer that will cause Comer to recommend Hillary not be indicted, in much the same manner that dirt was discovered that made Petraeus into a pariah.

Unknown said...

"Republicans said the meeting, which took place at the Phoenix airport, had compromised the independence of the investigation..." Love how the NYT frames all issues, as if only Republicans think impure thoughts and say bad things.

MikeR said...

Huh. This article mentioned as a matter of fact that we're talking about a "recommendation ... make about whether to bring charges" "The F.B.I. is investigating whether Mrs. Clinton, her aides or anyone else broke the law by setting up a private email server for her to use as secretary of state." These kinds of bald statements have absolutely not been made before by the NYT. For the longest time they called it a "probe".

Luke Lea said...

Speculation: either she already knows what the FBI will recommend, or that "Russian" hack of Hillary's server will sink her anyway?

Rusty said...

shiloh said...
"We're being played."

Keep hope alive!

This is why you aren't taken seriously here.

The effects of manipulating the Justice Department are as bad for you as it is for me. That you rejoice in that manipulation reflects on your lack of character not mine. Your parents failed you and you, in turn, will fail your children.

JPS said...

Eric,

"The FBI was always going to recommend what she wants (which is actually what the White House wants), so no change."

I think this is exactly right. Commander's intent: It's not just for the military.

As for Director Comey, what do I know, but I can just about see this man, on whose integrity most everyone is agreed, honestly convincing himself that to recommend indictment, to knock out a presumptive major-party nominee at the height of campaign season, would be seen as such a blatantly political move that it would gravely undermine the reputation of the FBI and the DoJ. Therefore he finds a way not to, in some sort of Chief Justice Roberts maneuver.

David Begley said...

Obama has always hated the Clintons. This is how he gets rid of both of them. Biden is Obama's third term. Hillary isn't.

Jupiter said...

The question is, did Bill make a pass at her? OK, OK, the question is, did they fuck, or just do the cigar thing?

dreams said...

Which means Hillary will not be indicted.

buwaya said...

The fix is in.
Theres no way they prosecute.
The DOJ attorney filing absurd delay motion on FOIA gives it away. He does the bidding of his masters, you know who.
As for the probity of the FBI - all these institutions live in the same milieu. Why does anyone assume special virtue there?

Sydney said...

Agree with all of the above- no indictment. They're all equally corrupt.

Fernandinande said...

The FBI is as also crooked.

++
"In the wake of the horrific attack on the Pulse nightclub, the Justice Department initially released a redacted transcript of one of the shooter’s 911 calls. Although that decision was quickly reversed, the Justice Department is still seeking to prevent the disclosure of information related to the shooter’s contacts with local law enforcement during the attack and standoff with the police, including information that is supposed to be publicly available under Florida law.
...
A June 20 letter from the FBI, attached to the City o[f] Orlando’s lawsuit over withholding 911 calls and other records from 25 media outlets including the Orlando Sentinel, was also sent to the Seminole County Sheriff’s Office with instructions pertaining to how they should respond to records requests.

The letter requests that agencies deny inquiries and directs departments to “immediately notify the FBI of any requests your agency received” so “the FBI can seek to prevent disclosure through appropriate channels, as necessary."
++

I'm Full of Soup said...

Anyone here who has watched the TV show Billions knows a recusal by an AG is just for show. You lawyers may disagree based on your non-TV show real life experience.

Bob Boyd said...

The Love Jet is a little old plane where we can get together
Love Jet, baby, Love Jet
Love Jet, baby, Love Jet

Bay Area Guy said...

The NY Times was definitely spoon fed an article by an anonymous Justice Department official - but it's hard to know whether it's a Hillary partisan trying to reshape some bad Bill optics or a career-prosecutor trying to gently resist the obvious fix.

If Lynch says she'll follow FBI recommendations, perhaps this means they got to Comey - who probably is no fan of Trump and doesn't want to throw the election to him.

I wish Begley were right that Hillary has been done in by Obama. But I don't think so. In fact, I think Hillary skates but owes some huge debt to Obama.

Humperdink said...

There's the mile high club on the Lolita Express. There's an astroturf club in an El Camino. Horn Dog thought he might try the on-the-tarmac club, until he found out it was Lo' Lynch.

shiloh said...

"This is why you aren't taken seriously here."

Damn, not taken seriously at a 95/5 con echo chamber! Where every poll but one, Rasmussen, shows Hillary leading and Althouse chooses to post ... wait for it.

Rasmussen = Hillary's in trouble

Do you take Althouse seriously? Rhetorical.

Indeed, as she always has an accurate take on the obvious er political pulse of the country ~ oh wait!

>

Seriously, what is the attraction for any con at a 95/5 con echo chamber? Does it make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside? Does it reassure you having other fools agree with you ad nauseam.

Rusty, I beseech to please step out of that cozy trumpian bubble. It could have a huuuuge positive impact on your life.

Regardless, try to have a nice weekend ...

buwaya said...

The whole plane thing and etc., plus the coming Comey agonistes, is all already scripted.
Nobody currently in power can afford to prosecute this.
The entire US government was fundamentally compromised by Clinton after all. Every senior official was getting offical emails, including secret information, out of what was obviously an insecure and unauthorized source. Worse, they were knowingly sending secrets to Mrs. Clintons server.
Everyone is guilty, at least, of gross negligence. The security agencies not least, and down into the middle ranks there for sure. They all, among them the FBI, surely knew all about this arrangement for years and did nothing.

David Begley said...

If 100 plus FBI agents are corrupt then we are completely screwed.

buwaya said...

Begley, yes you are screwed.

Bay Area Guy said...

They met for 30 mins - that's a lotta time to talk or hint about stuff. More so, the Clinton Foundation is also a potential focal point of the "pay to play" allegations (private server designed to hide Clinton Foundation donors access/communications to Hillary), so it's almost an ex parte meeting between the accused and the prosecutor.

Sure, no monkey business there....

Can you imagine if AG Alberto Gonzales met with Ken Lay of Enron on the Tarmac?

Real American said...

It's a set up. Hillary is gonna walk and "career prosecutors" are gonna take the blame.

Eric the Fruit Bat said...

You'd think they'd both be smart enough to get their stories straight and tell the press that Lynch was giving Clinton a haircut.

Bruce Hayden said...

@Conrad - except that the meeting wasn't on Lynch's plane (nor Clnton's), but in a neutral 3rd plane.

@Eric - I disagree, and hence Hillary's problem. The FBI director is appointed to a 10 year term for just this reason - to protect them from political pressure. The current Director is a Republcan with a reputation for integrity. The expectation all along has been that they would probably recommend prosecution, and if ignored, there would be high level resignations, starting with him, and massive dumps of incriminating information. Hence, my prediction, until now, that Lynch would slow walk her review, running out the clock, and then a pardon after the election.

This latest though is interesting. The meeting may indeed have been a curtesy call by Lynch to tell Clinton that she (and ultimately Obama) wasn't going to play ball and protect Hillary. Obama may feel that not even the Clintons can touch him now. We shall see

JackWayne said...

Take Buwaya's thought that major parts of the government were willingly compromised by Clinton's lack of security and stir in a Benghazi report that fingers the military as the group mostly responsible for failing to protect Americans, and what do you get? Begley, you're not screwed, you're toast.

Clayton Hennesey said...

Did Loretta Lynch just play loping penis Bill Clinton as a violin against both Clintons and Obama?

By allowing her own well to become slightly tainted without becoming fully poisoned, she has just achieved a Pontius Pilate moment allowing herself to neatly, but most importantly, personally, sidestep whatever the FBI recommends.

She hasn't fully recused herself, she's merely committed one of those darn Loretta moments, thus leaving her fully employable as just about anything her future may bring.

JAORE said...

I had a team of federal engineers inspecting federally funded, State managed, privately built projects in my past career. State inspectors were on site daily, we visited every month or so.

On one project the chief state inspector was a really straight shooter. Yet on one of our trips I accompanied my team member and there was an obvious and costly screw up in progress. I cornered the state guy and asked what was going on. He sighed and said it's a daily struggle. Mt inspectors are letting all kinds of things slide and it's like herding cats to keep them in line.

Of course I asked why. He replied, early on the prime contractor walked the length of the job in front of my entire inspection team. His left arm around the shoulder of YOUR God damned boss, his right arm around the shoulder of the God damned Department of Transportation's Chief Engineer. No body said this contractor was to be treated with kid gloves, but the message was clear.

So, maybe they DID talk grandchildren.

Bob Boyd said...

Hillary will skate. This theater gives Loretta Lynch a way to avoid all the blame.

CWJ said...

Of course we're being played.

The meeting, the request for a 27! Month delay, and this leak coming in rapid succession all suggest something is about to break. The principals know what it is and are all making sure that their asses are covered to the best of their abilities before releasing the information to the public.

It's the governmental version of insider trading. And as such, the average citizen has as much chance of holding his government to the law as he does beating Wall Street.

That said, the only conclusion I can draw from this latest leak is that Lynch already knows what the FBI will recommend, and that she can live with it. Like any streotypical lawyer, she's not going to comit to something without knowing the answer.

khesanh0802 said...

Huma's deposition was evidently a beauty. See this video from the WSJ.

Captain Drano said...

Good article on HorAir that has an O'Reilly clip of the journo that broke the story. He was tipped off by a "very credible source" and confirmed it with "another credible source" (stating the sources did not know each other) so he surprised her with the question at a press conference. He stated the meeting was on HER plane (another article said it was a govt owned Gulfstream G4) in the private jet area of SkyHarbor, where his plane was as well.

Then O'Reilly had a demo nincompoop (Mark Hannah?) on that said the meeting is a "courtesy Bill usually extends to [something like, I forget the exact term he used] congressional members and other dignitaries when he hears they are in town." OMG, what a pathetic excuse!

Important part noted in the actual article is that BILL IS TECHNICALLY UNDER INVESTIGATION AS WELL, being the "grand poobah of the Clinton Foundation implicated in the emails."

Anyhow, a few things to ponder from comments I've read:
-she handed him a hard copy of the FBI report, hence she can say with a straight face none of this was discussed.
-where is Bill now? Has he said anything about this?
-could the whole thing be ordered dropped under the guise of "Narional Security" and they spin it as HRC needs to be Pres. because she (and of course WJC) is already privy to so much intel, and for the sake of NS continuity is important?
-could it be something as off-base as they want Trump out so bad he suddenly has "witnesses" that will testify (as he will) that Trump also did weird things on Epstein's jaunts? They certainly have the dough via the foundation and his buddy Epstein to buy off a couple of women that would have been under age at the time for 10-20 million each.


And what BP said at 9:00 a.m. Totally agree.

Amadeus 48 said...

I cannot imagine how Lynch let herself get into this position, except, of course, she thought the meeting would be a secret.

When I was practicing law, we always thought about how what our clients said and did would look to a jury. Then we tried to steer them away from actions that would be difficult to explain. What was Lynch thinking? A competent AG would know that the last two people in the world she wanted to be alone with have the initials HRC and WJC.

She is an idiot.

Will said...

The NYT has reported incorrectly. Lynch will not recuse herself and explicitly reserves right to make the final call. The NYT mischaracterization is pure damage control.

If Loretta Lynch ever hoped for a SCOTUS nomination, or if that is the quid-pro-quo Bill Clinton offered for her decision, that is out the window now. If nominated for SCOTUS by Hillary Loretta Lynch will never be confirmed. Period.

This proves the classic saying "lie down with dogs, wake up with fleas." This just shows how the Clintons damage the reputation of anyone they come in contact with. And it shows Loretta Lynch's extremely poor judgement to meet with him. Is she crazy? The optics and appearance of impropriety have fatally harmed Lynch's credibility. That may have been Clinton's goal.

Anyone who reads the facts of this case knows that what Hillary did was unwise and designed to evade FOIA. She also foliated the Federal Records Act, as noted by the State Dept IG report. It is quite likely that all her emails are in the hands of foreign intelligence, and that alone compromises her fatally. Who needs the blackmail risk?

Hillary learned a lot from her time on the Watergate Commission. She deleted the emails, unlike Rosemay Woods. She evaded FOIA. She knows that is is about time now, not guilt or innocence, so she is just trying to play it out and make people vote without the full story.

It may not just be Hillary but also Bill that is under FBI investigation. Which just further proves how unwise it was for her to meet with Slick Willie

AlbertAnonymous said...

I want to know more about the circumstances of how this came to light. How did a local news person find out? It's not as if people looked out the terminal window and saw Clinton and Lynch talking on the Tarmac. They were on a private plane (probably in a private area).

I heard on the news the local reporter "got a tip" about it. Hmm if that's true, who tipped it? Secret service because they knew it was hinkie? Clinton's or lynch's or obama's team? For some perceived political benefit? Some four dimensional chess going on if that's the case...

grackle said...

How will that help Comey? Is he the decider?

No, Comey’s not the “decider.” He’s the investigator. There’s a difference.

I cannot believe that the meeting was either accident or coincidence; I think it was planned and was meant to be found out.

Furthermore I cannot believe that the Clintons would agree to this farce unless it was advantageous to them in some way.

I deduce that Lynch wanted very much NOT to be the person to make the decision on whether to bring an indictment against Hillary. Lynch avoids that now.

If I were a career bureaucrat like Comey it would annoy the hell out of me that I am expected to make a decision that would obviously affect a Presidential election. My attitude would be that decisions of that magnitude should be made by the POTUS or the POTUS’s political appointee, not by a career bureaucrat at the head of what is supposed to be an independent law enforcement agency.

Some time ago I wondered on one of these posts whether Comey “had” to recommend indictment, one way or another. I asked why Comey couldn’t simply turn over to Lynch all the FBI evidence gathered WITHOUT any recommendation and force Lynch to make the decision. I cannot remember any of our commentors venturing an answer.

It’s all speculation of course but I believe that Lynch and Hillary have effectively just relieved Lynch of the necessity of making a politically dangerous decision.

Now the ball’s in Comey’s court.

Captain Drano said...

@10:18 "I heard on the news the local reporter "got a tip" about it. Hmm if that's true, who tipped it? Secret service because they knew it was hinkie? Clinton's or lynch's or obama's team? For some perceived political benefit? Some four dimensional chess going on if that's the case..."

After watching the local reporter recount it on the O'Reilly clip, while he seemed legitimate, he did not seem nervous about breaking such a now big story about people that can literally take him out (accidentally, of course.) Which makes me wonder if he has since been told it was okay/intended to be leaked.

Lyle Smith said...

Has Obama set the Clintons up?

grackle said...

But Lynch could have given up her role much earlier in this process, and she chose to wait until now to give it up, now, after the secret meeting with Bill Clinton came to light.

Suppose that “much earlier in the process” Lynch had no idea what evidence Comey would find or how damaging it would be to Hillary. Suppose that Lynch just recently was able to obtain a copy of Comey’s evidence leaked to her by a trusted mole in the FBI.

If I’m Comey I’m not going to be finessed. I would resolutely turn over the evidence gathered without recommendation and force Obama or an Obama appointee to make the call.

mikee said...

We're discussing a private, off-the-record meeting between the AG & a person of interest in a criminal investigation, right?

And the AG is not resigning today, right?

Just wanted to make sure we were still under a Democrat president and a Democrat press.

khesanh0802 said...

Something about Caesar's wife..... can't quite remember.

buwaya said...

"Now the ball’s in Comey’s court."

It wouldn't have been left in his court, if that's where it is, unless his decision is known in advance.

I believe that the outcome of all this has been in the works for at least 18 months and has been accounted for in the campaign strategy, as a project item, over many years.
That server could not be hidden, given that it was in constant use during her time as Secretary of State, and having been publicly revealed over three years ago. The revelation would have been anticipated and planned for also. Whatever that server was used for, it was probably considered to be worth all this trouble.

This has all been planned, anticipated, laid out in a project plan with timelines.

Amadeus 48 said...

James Comey is a former US Attorney in the southern district of New York, a former Deputy Attorney General in the GW Bush administration under AG John Ashcroft (it was he that headed off the posse composed of WH Counsel Alberto Gonzales and WH Chief of Staff Andy Card at the hospital trying to get AG Ashcroft to reauthorize the domestic surveillance program that the Justice Department had determined to be illegal), and a former General Counsel of Lockheed Martin and Bridgewater Associates. He is not a career bureaucrat. He is a career power lawyer with a righteous streak.

He contributed to both the McCain campaign in 2008 and the Romney campaign in 2012.

We have no idea how this is going to come out. In the interests of justice, I guess I'd rather have Comey making this decision than anyone else in the current regime. But we have to be careful what we wish for. Biden is going to be much more difficult for the Republicans to deal with on a short track than Clinton would be.

eric said...

I've a feeling the Clintons believe themselves to be untouchable. They've had success for so many years, that they just stopped worrying about getting caught.

And now, it'll all come crashing down.

Here is what I think happened and will happen.

Bill decided he would do what he always does and he tried to have a meeting with Lynch. Bill and Hillary's team found out her schedule and set this whole thing up. Lynch was scandalized by his presence. Leaked it to a local reporter so she had an excuse to take this route.


When the hammer finally falls on the Clintons, Hillary will be smiling the whole time. When the media ask her questions like, why did you do it?! And how can you explain yourself? She will smile and laugh and say there's nothing there.

She will go down in history as arrogant and delusional and die behind bars.

Amadeus 48 said...

By the way, the catcalls at Comey are already written: "He's a Republican. This is just a partisan hack job. Pay no attention to what the Republican said. He is out to get Hillary."
The MSM never rest. Their theory explains everything. Their theory, as articulated in Animal Farm by Orwell, is the equivalent of "Four legs good, two legs bad."

Their theory is "Dems good, GOP bad."

Anonymous said...

Alternative theory: indictment is coming, but a pardon is in the works -- the delay in Clinton Foundation is to buy time for the pardon to work. This was a "anything else you want added to the pardon?" meeting to get other misbehaviors listed and wiped.

shiloh said...

I've a feeling the Clintons believe themselves to be untouchable.

If not for Obama and the Clintons what would Althouse and her con minions obsess, whine, complain, cry er talk about.

mockturtle said...

I listened to most of the Aspen interview that aired on CNN. Lynch was very clear that she would still have the final say, in response to that very question.

Captain Drano said...

buywaya: "That server could not be hidden, given that it was in constant use during her time as Secretary of State, and having been publicly revealed over three years ago.

The revelation would have been anticipated and planned for also. Whatever that server was used for, it was probably considered to be worth all this trouble.

This has all been planned, anticipated, laid out in a project plan with timelines"

Bam!

Joe said...

What if Lynch was trying to get an agreement for a plea bargain with the added bonus that she could recuse herself if it went bad.

David Begley said...

All sorts of theories. Two points.

1. FBI and career DOJ could always leak the evidence.

2. Israel, Russia, China and Guccifer 2.0 have the deleted emails. If leaked, total disaster for Dems.

David said...

"I'm impressed by what looks like quick move to expunge what was at least an appearance of impropriety,"

It is rare that I find you totally wrong about a matter Althouse, but I think you are missing the point. Why would Lynch agree to meet Bill Clinton? She met with him (secretly!) knowing that it was not a great idea. She had to know that. But he's Bill Clinton, a vindictive man who still wields great power. That power will increase if his wife becomes president. In the dance of Washington power, she just found it impossible to say no.

The same is going to be true for these "career non-political prosecutors" who will be making the determination of whether to file charges. They now have tangible direct proof that their boss, the former president and his wife are taking this so seriously as to have an utterly inappropriate secret meeting on a matter of the highest public importance. The intent of that meeting, no matter what was said, is "fuck this up Loretta and you are toast." The events have now underscored to the decision makers that the AG and the most powerful Democrats in the country are watching them, and will demand consequences to those who cross them. The message has been sent and the public be damned.

This is how corruption works, Clinton style. They don't have to tell people what to do. People know what they are supposed to do (see Cheryl Mills) and they do it without being told. When a signal is sent like this, the message is even more powerful.

It's dirty, dirty business and Lynch's "non recusal recusal" is just a cover.

And what happens if the FBI and Cromer disagree with the career prosecutors?

(Remember also that the sitting president earlier made public statements about this matter as well.)

buwaya said...

David,

"The message has been sent and the public be damned."

I agree, that was the whole point of this meeting.

Rusty said...

Rusty, I beseech to please step out of that cozy trumpian bubble

Christ, you're stupid.
Quit typing and pay attention. Maybe you'll learn something.

madAsHell said...

I don't believe the meeting was ever intended to be a secret. Well, they might have sold it to Lynch as a secret, and she was dumb enough to believe it.

Joe said...

Story is emerging that Lynch didn't intend to meet Clinton, but that Clinton maneuvered things to meet her. Ironically, that's not very flattering to Lynch who could have said "no" and then filed charged against Clinton for interfering with a federal investigation.

I now strongly suspect that this wasn't intended to come out so soon. The intention was to wait until indictments come down, if they do, and then make the big reveal. It was cynical and entirely representative of the Clintons.

Joe said...

BTW, this is about delaying past the Democrat convention. If the Clintons can delay past the election, that's a bonus.

(The Clintons make Nixon look like a saint.)

hombre said...

What bullshit! So the nation's chief prosecutor relinquishes her duty to her underlings, reputedly partisan Democrat political hacks appointed by Holder. So we get to pretend that if she is tainted, the taint does not extend to the whole legal department.

And if Slick Willy is a potential witness, what then.

And if Slick Willy is a potential co-defendant, what then?

And if Bill claims he made admissions or relevant statements to Lynch and she becomes a witness, what then? Etc.

Is there anything these scumbags could do that would estrange their supporters including the partisan mediaswine?

AlbertAnonymous said...

...and the plot thickens. Daily Caller now reporting that Hillary will "meet with the FBI" tomorrow (Saturday).

Can't imagine why ANYONE would criticize or even question this totally innocent (totally unprecedented) meeting between Bill and the AG.

This sh*t stinks to high heaven! Every one of these people should be in prison or at least sent packing unceremoniously. Go away and STFU. We'll let you keep the millions you stole, just go away and don't come back. Ughhhh!

Rusty said...

Joe said...
Story is emerging that Lynch didn't intend to meet Clinton, but that Clinton maneuvered things to meet her. Ironically, that's not very flattering to Lynch who could have said "no" and then filed charged against Clinton for interfering with a federal investigation.

There are no coincidences in politics.
You're reading this wrong. Lynch summoned Bill. Lynch was giving him the heads up on what the FBI have on Hillary and how the federal prosecutors will handle it.
Hillary is going to walk.
We're being played.

Soulpatchtony said...

I think all of this uncertainty explains why I have only seen exactly one Hillary sign in my very liberal Los Angeles neighborhood. Even liberals know how embarrassing it would be to come out for Hillary and then - Bam! - she gets indicted. BTW, this area went for Hillary over Bernie in the primary overwhelmingly.

mockturtle said...

There is NO WAY this meeting was coincidental!

hombre said...

Shiloh: "If not for Obama and the Clintons what would Althouse and her con minions obsess, whine, complain, cry er talk about." 7/1/16, 11:44 AM

So it's not clear. Do you think this behavior is unimportant or just that concerned citizens ought not to discuss it on a public forum?

Hagar said...

There is a possibility that this was an impromptu attempt by Bill Clinton to make Loretta Lynch recuse herself. IOW, they do not trust her not to prefer charges against Hillary!, and think they have a better chance of controlling the next level of command at the DoJ.

tim in vermont said...

Remember when being a lying warmonger was a bad thing? Now it's A Number 1 qualification for getting the Democrats to fall in like galley slaves and row to the beat of the Clinton spin machine.

Susan said...

Wait. Isn't this the same guy that lost his law license and was fined 90 grand for interfering with an investigation?

I guess he didn't learn any lessons from that.

eric said...

The New York Observer (via Instapundit)

According to this source, whose credentials were checked and confirmed by the Observer with sources inside both the FBI and the United States Secret Service, the Attorney General was caught completely off-guard by the meeting and the source dismisses suggestions that have been raised alleging that she waited there to see Mr. Clinton or accommodated his request to see him. In fact, it seems from this source that it was Mr. Clinton who was maneuvering for face time with the Attorney General, because his plane had been scheduled to leave before hers arrived.

This seems to go with my theory that Bill planned this, not Lynch.

tim in vermont said...

the moderator asked Lynch to name one thing her predecessor Eric Holder didn't tell her about being attorney general.

"Where the lock on the plane door was,"

Robt C said...

(Copied from my comment on the earlier post on this topic)

Comments from an eyewitness to the meeting:

http://observer.com/2016/07/exclusive-security-source-details-bill-clinton-maneuver-to-meet-loretta-lynch/

tim in vermont said...

Bill should have raped her. Then all of the Democrats would come out in unison to call her a lying whore who had it coming.

N.B. For those of you Democrats who don't like that kind of language, maybe you should talk to Bill, Hillary, and their "Bimbo Eruption Squad" and if anybody wants to call me out on it, I will be glad to provide all the quotes from them you can stand to support my position.

Hagar said...

Bill Clinton has created a situation that is bad regardless of what the attorney general does.
Perhaps that was the point of the exercize.

jacksonjay said...


I believe it was "career prosecutors" over at the DOJ who found "not a smidgen" of wrong doing at the IRS. Destroyed e-mails? Nope! I believe the career prosecutor was named Barbara Bosserman. I believe I read that she was an Obama donor. Soooooo, we are in very good hands here.

I know, I know, it was a different AG and we all know he was corrupt and found in contempt, I'm just sayin!

buwaya said...

Jeanine Pirro just said, in public for the first time, the obvious point I raised above - that the first witness called in an email case against Clinton is President Obama, because he knew about it from the beginning.
I add, so did everyone else in the administration.
This is going nowhere because it cant be permitted to, it would be a constitutional crisis.
I don't know why this wasn't obvious from the beginning.

buwaya said...

Rush and his guest today J Christian Adams also agree with "the fix is in" take, and that the airport Kabuki is meant to send a message to the FBI and Justice Dept plus the Democrats that it is so.

tim in vermont said...

The government has lost legitimacy by accepting so many lies, the press cover them up in obvious and cringe-worthy ways, so the people send Brexit and Trump.

BTW, the British stock market is higher than pre-Brexit and the EU's is lower. So I am trying to figure out who the stupid idiots are just today?

buwaya said...

Mr. Comey has, maybe, a chance to go down in American history as something other than a footnote. Not many are granted such a dangerous opportunity. This is a business with enormous stakes. Watergate was not a patch on this, as the taint is so widespread. Its not one President and a few aides, its branches of government entire.

I suspect not, he has a very great deal to lose (five kids who are probably not all grown, and who will suffer the career consequences of whatever their dad does).

Bob Boyd said...

If Lynch agreed to a meeting, she's finished.
Lynch's story has to be that she didn't know, that Bill just walked onto her plane.
That's probably what happened. She'd have to be awfully dumb to think such a meeting under these circumstances could stay secret. I don't think she's dumb.

So what was Bill's goal. Force her to recuse and appoint of a special prosecutor to buy time?

Or just to obtain leverage over Lynch? Now it's basically his word against hers. He could say he proposed the meeting and she agreed.

When she saw Clinton coming she should have had her security team drop him like a nut with a pitchfork

mockturtle said...

Since Bill Clinton had appointed her a US Attorney when he was President, it would seem that there was already a conflict of interest.

Susan said...

When she saw Clinton coming she should have had her security team drop him like a nut with a pitchfork

LOL

FBI security vs Secret Service Tumble on the Tarmac!

virgil xenophon said...

"A Republic--if you can keep it."

Looks like we're going to have to come up with another name, because whatever we had we've long lost it. Any nominations?

Paul said...

Lynch should have been forced to RESIGN. She is unfit to head the DOJ.

She knew what she was doing was wrong. They met secretly on a 'empty' plane that would have been hard to bug.They talked for 30 minutes. Plenty of time for her to give him all the info that the FBI had on Hillary and what Hillary should do in the upcoming talks with the FBI.

The whole thing stinks of crookedness.

So Lynch needs to resign. Immediately.

Susan said...

Virgil,

We can still use Republic. It's a perfectly fine word. We just need to put the modifier Banana in front of it.

mockturtle said...

It's our fault---we the people--that our country has slipped into this sorry state. Apathy. And bread. And circuses.

narciso said...

buwaya I have no expectations about the director, he excelled in unleashing the fitz witchhunt against the previous administration, and rubbishing alberto gonzalez, retroactively, that's what commended him to the current occupant,

seriously though, this story wouldn't pass muster in a dime store political thriller, these things are choreagraphed from word one,

Jon Ericson said...

Bob Boyd said...
When she saw Clinton coming she should have had her security team drop him like a nut with a pitchfork

Threadwinner! Chicken Dinner!

tim in vermont said...

Maybe she thought she was like Hillary and could just erase the meeting from her records. SHe could just put down "meeting" with no entry with whom. After all, that's what Hillary did and she is worshiped in the Democrat Party.

As part of a joint filing with the State Department on Monday, Citizens United presented the judge with several pieces of evidence suggesting Valmoro deliberately struck from the official schedule a December 6, 2012, dinner in Dublin, Ireland, with several Clinton Foundation and Clinton campaign donors, organized by Teneo co-founder Declan Kelly. Though Valmoro was made aware of the Dublin meeting through an earlier e-mail chain, neither Clinton’s archived daily calendar nor her detailed official schedule make any note of it.

Not only is refusing to record meetings for cabinet secretaries SOP for the Obama administration, anybody who brings them up will be subject to a massive anti first amendment smear campaign!

MayBee said...

What a lifestyle our government (and ex-government) officials live! Galavanting around in private planes, with underlings and entourages and motorcades. Bopping back and forth from one plane to another on the tarmac of the airport.

Why in the world should we be paying for this? Why are we letting them get this far out of touch with reality?