Lynch To DOJ IG On Ill-Fated Tarmac Meeting: Bill Clinton 'Went On And On'

[DonViejo]

By Tierney Sneed | June 14, 2018 5:14 pm

Attorney General Loretta Lynch was “devastated” by the impromptu visit former President Bill Clinton made onto her plane on an Arizona tarmac, a top Justice Department official told the DOJ inspector general.

The infamous meeting, which drove speculation of DOJ bias in the Hillary Clinton email probe, was recounted in excruciating detail in the inspector general report released Thursday, which covered Bill Clinton’s reasoning for making the trip to Lynch’s plane (“I don’t want her to think I’m afraid to shake hands with her because she’s the Attorney General”), and her own recollections of when she realized that the former President was about to overstay his welcome (Clinton moved some of her bags on the plane so he could take a seat.)

DOJ Inspector General Michael E. Horowitz found no evidence that the Clinton email probe was discussed. However, he said Lynch made an “error in judgment” in not cutting the conversation short, given its problematic appearance, and that she should have made more of an effort to clear the air publicly.

Lynch told the IG investigators as the conversation with Clinton ““went on and on,” her concerns about it grew.

The incident started when Clinton was told by staff that Lynch’s plane, delayed in Phoenix while on a community policing tour, was only about 20 to 30 yards from his. He denied that he delayed his departure from Phoenix, where he was participating in campaign events for his wife, in order to speak to her.

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https://talkingpointsmemo.com/muckraker/clinton-lynch-doj-ig-tarmac-meeting

[still_one]

1. It was an unecessary and stupid move, and he should have never been allowed to be involved in the

campaign directly.

He hurt Hillary, himself, the Democratic party, and the country by his poor judgement

[Voltaire2]

6. yup.

[underthematrix]

2. As a black woman this is what I'm thinking

Link to tweet

[Proud Liberal Dem]

3. She discussed this in a podcast interview with Larry Wilmore

What she said in the interview seems consistent with what was in the report. It seems like she didn't plan on having a long conversation and tried to cut it short at a few points. Being somebody who always seems trapped in conversations with long-winded people who can't seem to stop talking for five seconds, I definitely know what it feels like.

[gratuitous]

4. Democrats have to police a chance meeting

Republicans can engage in naked corruption, and we're subjected to a near-Talmudic flyspecking of "intent" and "is it really corruption." Clinton and Lynch have a chance meeting in Phoenix, and whether it lasted 20 minutes or 20 seconds, there is no end to the speculation about how sinister it must have been.

Trump talks openly about committing high crimes and misdemeanors, but nobody suggests that the other folks in the meeting or at the rally should have made more of an effort (or any effort at all) to rein in an out-of-control president. Loretta Lynch should have foreseen that the conservawhackos would conjure up a nontroversy about an impromptu meeting that lasted "too long."

[Hekate]

8. THIS THIS THIS

[chowder66]

9. 100%. nt

[ismnotwasm]

11. Thank you

[oswaldactedalone]

5. Very disappointed in Slick Willie

Keep to the sidelines from now on Bill, you've caused enough trouble.

[procon]

7. If Lynch was "devastated by the impromptu visit", then why did she even

let him come aboard?

This has never made any sense to me. Presumably Clinton called her first to announce his intention to drop over for a visit, and she could have gracefully declined. She didn't though, so was she that starstruck by Bill Clinton that she didn't recognise the risk to herself and her agency about how such a meeting would be perceived?

[oswaldactedalone]

10. Bill has powerful persuasive skills

when it comes to women. This has been well-documented.