Loretta Lynch Clams Up Before Congress, Refuses To Answer These 3 Key Questions From GOP

While the rest of the world was focusing on the Hillary corruption bombshells and the Bob Mueller grand jury bombshell, something big was happening on Capitol Hill.

Mainly, that former President Obama’s Attorney General Loretta was in a big hush hush meeting.

It was about the Russian election probe but GOP members of the committee – after all the new revelations from the FBI informant rocked Washington – wanted some other answers.

And they went after Loretta in a closed door meeting.

The new information has been devastating to the Clinton’s and Obama’s and when you take what came out with this previous statement by James Comey you have the makings of a massive scandal.

“At one point, the attorney general [Lynch] had directed me not to call it an investigation but instead to call it a matter, which confused me and concerned me,” Comey said under oath, “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.”

So the GOP was ready for Lynch and went after her and according to reports by Fox News she went stone cold silent and clammed up.

According to the Washington Times, Lynch refused to answer these three critical questions:

Did she ever instructed Mr. Comey to characterize the DOJ’s Clinton email investigation a “matter?”

Did she liaise with the White House to hold the tarmac meeting with Mr. Clinton?

And would she address any issues related to Mr. Comey’s June testimony.

She said nothing. Which tells you all you need to know about the whole sordid affair.

Attorney General Loretta Lynch stonewalled a House committee’s questions about the probe into Hillary Clinton’s email server Tuesday, steadfastly refusing to discuss the facts and legal standards involved even though FBI Director James Comey did so at length last week.

Under pointed questioning from Republicans, Lynch insisted it would be improper for her to make public comments about the evidence gathered during the almost year-long inquiry.

Attorney General Loretta Lynch stonewalled a House committee’s questions about the probe into Hillary Clinton’s email server Tuesday, steadfastly refusing to discuss the facts and legal standards involved even though FBI Director James Comey did so at length last week.

Under pointed questioning from Republicans, Lynch insisted it would be improper for her to make public comments about the evidence gathered during the almost year-long inquiry.

“While I understand that this investigation has generated significant public interest, as Attorney General, it would be inappropriate for me to comment further on the underlying facts of the investigation or the legal basis for the team’s recommendation,” Lynch said at the outset of the House Judiciary Committee hearing. “I can tell you that I am extremely proud of the tremendous work of the dedicated prosecutors and agents on this matter.”

Lynch refused even to say how long her meeting with Comey and other members of the investigative team on the Clinton email inquiry lasted.

“I don’t recall and would not be providing that information,” the attorney general said.

Lynch’s reticence on the issue clearly irritated GOP lawmakers, who were intent on using the session to explore what they said were inaccurate statements Clinton — the all-but-certain Democratic presidential nominee — made about her use of a private email server during her tenure as secretary of state.

Republicans also criticized Lynch for deferring to Comey rather than making an independent decision about whether criminal charges against Clinton were warranted.

“You are in charge of the Department of Justice and the buck stops with you,” said Rep. James Sensenbrenner (R-Wis.) “Why did you defer to Director Comey when the decision was yours?”

Lynch stressed that she decided to agree to what her “team” of subordinates and career officials recommended and that their recommendation not to pursue charges was unanimous.

Rep. Steve Chabot (R-Ohio) injected an unexpected and jarring topic into the hearing by raising President Bill Clinton’s false testimony under oath two decades ago in the civil sexual harassment lawsuit brought by Paula Jones. Chabot appeared to be arguing that Secretary Clinton was getting away scotfree with the kind of false testimony that resulted in her husband’s impeachment years ago.

“He was accused of sexually harassing a number of women. He lied under oath about it,”Chabot said. “A young intern came forward…There was physical proof. I won’t go into exactly what that was. That’s why articles of impeachment were voted.”

Democrats denounced Chabot’s comments as over the line.

“I think we’ve reached a low point on this committee,” said Rep. Hank Johnson (D-Ga.), who criticized his colleague for digging up “salacious” and dated events.

And the attorney general repeatedly insisted that Hillary Clinton did not benefit from a double standard during the investigation into her email setup, not withstanding Republicans’ repeated claims that others without her political ties or resume would have been prosecuted.

“There’s no separate method of enforcement for anyone here,” Lynch said. “I understand the emotion that generates. I understand the frustration that it generates…..She received no treatment different from any other.”

Lynch’s appearance came one day after House Republicans sought to fuel the controversy over Clinton’s email set-up by sending a pair of letters urging further investigation. One letter asked the U.S. Attorney in Washington to consider perjury charges against Clinton. Another asked Comey to provide detailed records of the criminal probe, including details of Clinton’s three-and-a-half-hour interview with the bureau earlier this month.

“It appears Secretary Clinton testified falsely when appearing under oath before the select Committee on Benghazi,” Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) said. “Secretary Clinton’s extreme carelessness possible jeopardized the safety and security of our national” secrets, he added.

Under questioning by Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), Lynch said it was her informal meeting with former President Clinton on her plane on an airport tarmac in Phoenix last month that led her to declare publicly that she had decided to defer to the FBI’s recommendation on Clinton’s case.

“I was concerned that the conversation I had with the former president might make people think there was some influence there,” Lynch said.

Jordan said Lynch’s public announcement of plans to defer to her subordinates was a mistake.

“Why announce ahead of time when you’ve never done it before…and still claim you’re the ultimate decider?…I think your action made it worse,” Jordan said.

Lynch’s unwillingness to provide her views on the facts or how the law applied to Clinton’s situation provoked considerable frustration from Republicans and, a couple hours into the session, a stern rebuke from the committee’s chairman.

“Your refusal to answer questions about a person who seeks the most important office in this land is an abdication of your responsibility,” Goodlatte said as he prodded Lynch to be more responsive.

Lynch wasn’t appreciably more forthcoming after that, prompting one GOP lawmaker to declare he was giving up.

“I’m going to simply capitulate to your prodigious dissimilation skills,” said Rep. Trent Franks (R-Ariz.). “ I’m going to suspend the remainder of my questions.”

It was unclear whether Lynch’s refusal to engage the email issue amounted to an implicit criticism of Comey for the extensive public comments he made about the Clinton email probe, both during a press statement last Tuesday and in testimony to the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee last Thursday.

At one point, the attorney general suggested she simply didn’t have the same detailed knowledge of the probe as did Comey, who said repeatedly in recent months that he was closely monitoring the inquiry.

“The director and I had very different roles in this investigation and, therefore, very different amounts of information about this investigation,” Lynch said.