Attorney General Loretta Lynch “didn’t answer a single question” during her hearing before the House Judicial Committee, and her admission that she wants to continue her position under a Hillary Clinton administration should “tell you something about it”, Rep. Jason Chaffetz said Wednesday.
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Attorney General Loretta Lynch “made an improper statement” as she was “looking for a dodge” regarding a legal statute that might incriminate Hillary Clinton, Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Texas) charged in today’s House Judiciary Committee hearing.
Lynch, who accepted the recommendation of FBI Director James Comey last week with no questions asked, offered no insight during her testimony and repeatedly refused to provide lawmakers with answers to their queries.
Goodlatte, who joined in a congressional Republican request for the Justice Department to investigate Clinton for perjury, said she “testified falsely” about handling classified information and criticized Comey’s conclusion that no reasonable prosecutor would take up the case.
Sanders had earlier said that he would not endorse Clinton for president until they meet and he could measure her commitment to combating wealth inequality, and other issues that powered his presidential campaign.
Republicans were furious last week that the Federal Bureau of Investigation decided not to recommend charges against Clinton over her handling of classified information when she relied on a private email server during her tenure as secretary of state.
Pushed to elaborate, she said, “Again, I would have to refer you to Director Comey’s statements with the basis for his recommendations”.
In fact, Lynch was so resolutely unapologetic about her decision that it left some Republicans nostalgic for her predecessor, Eric Holder, whom they nearly uniformly despised when he was attorney general.
Comey testified that “the team of [FBI] agents, investigators, analysts, [and] technologists” that conducted the investigation was “unanimous” in recommending no prosecution of Clinton.
Following the Dallas shootings, she said she was “heartbroken” and pledged her department would do everything it could to support law enforcement and to protect free speech and assembly rights of protesters.
Hillary Clinton jumped into a public records lawsuit Tuesday to try to avoid a deposition about the private email system she used as secretary of state.
Lynch caused a stir with the meeting with Bill Clinton last month aboard her plane in Phoenix.
“We’re in the middle of an election season”, said John Conyers Jr., D-Mich., of the Republicans’ questions.
Lynch reiterated in testimony before the House Judiciary Committee that her encounter with the former president was purely social, and there was no discussion of Hillary Clinton’s email practices or any other official business or matter before the Justice Department.
Baker said they are doing this because the FBI investigation into this matter has been closed.
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Calling Comey’s recommendation of no charges a “public indictment” in contrast with an actual one, Goodlatte said the FBI’s decision to let Clinton off the hook was a the wrong one.
