Lynch to Accept F.B.I. Recommendations in Clinton Email Inquiry, Official Says

[morningfog]

Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch plans to announce on Friday that she will accept whatever recommendation career prosecutors and the F.B.I. director make about whether to bring charges related to Hillary Clinton’s personal email server, a Justice Department official said. Her decision removes the possibility that a political appointee will overrule investigators in the case.

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.

Republicans said the meeting, which took place at the Phoenix airport, had compromised the independence of the investigation as the F.B.I. was winding it down. Some called for Ms. Lynch to recuse herself, but she did not take herself off the case — one that could influence a presidential election.

Ms. Lynch plans to discuss the matter at a conference in Aspen, Colo., on Friday. The Justice Department declined to comment. The official who confirmed the discussion did so on the condition of anonymity because the internal decision-making process is normally kept confidential.

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. Internal investigators have concluded that the server was used to send classified information, and Republicans have seized on the matter to question Mrs. Clinton’s judgment.

http://nyti.ms/29kP2Ra

[4139]

1. Maybe she wanted the meeting with Bill just to get away from making the decision

[morningfog]

2. She didn't want the meeting with him. He just showed up uninvited

and unannounced.

[4139]

3. She did not have to accept the meeting, it was on her plane, she could have said no.

[Else You Are Mad]

4. You do not want to piss off...

The future first husband if you want to have a career after the Obama administration. She could not say no -- such is politics as usual.

[morningfog]

6. She had no choice. He just barged in.

[leveymg]

8. NYT: "Ms. Lynch said that the meeting with Mr. Clinton was unplanned, largely social and did not

touch on the email investigation. She suggested that he walked uninvited from his plane to her government plane, both of which were parked on a tarmac at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport."

[morningfog]

5. She didn't know he was coming until he was on the plane.

I was simply responding to you suggesting she wanted the meeting.

[4139]

9. Hmm, I could see Bill just blowing by thoSe watching the plane

[morningfog]

11. Yes, that is exactly what happened. Read the reports and Lynch's comment.

[transatlantica]

10. Why was Clinton in Phoenix anyway?

Does anyone know?

[morningfog]

12. I don't know, but I know he waited on the Tarmac in his plane

for Lynch to arrive.

[transatlantica]

13. okay then this looks like an extremely blunt attempt to influence her

almost desperate

[NWCorona]

14. Yup! How long he waited is the question I want answered.

[transatlantica]

22. allegedly he played golf in Phoenix

however...

Sign said that despite multiple phone calls to sources, he still had “no idea” why Clinton was in Phoenix in the first place, and cast doubt on Lynch’s story that he was there to play golf. “I’ve reached out to several sources, those with intimate knowledge of his movements… Not one so far has said that he played golf. I’m not saying that he didn’t play golf, I’m just saying I’m yet to confirm he played golf.”

http://www.mediaite.com/tv/reporter-fbi-ordered-no-photos-no-pictures-of-lynchclinton-meeting/

on edit: it was 108 degrees in Phoenix.

Not really a brilliant idea for a 70-year-old to fly to Phoenix in mid summer to play golf, right?

[leveymg]

7. "investigators have concluded that the server was used to send classified information"

Put that together with the first part of the same paragraph: "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." http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/02/us/politics/loretta-lynch-hillary-clinton-email-server.html?_r=0

That much has been known for almost a year when the Intelligence Community and DOS IG's referred the matter to the FBI, issuing a joint statement on July 22, 2015. Here's the bottom-line question, from today's NYT report:

For the Justice Department, the central question is whether the conduct met the legal standard for the crime of mishandling classified information.

[JoePhilly]

15. Did the indictment fairy fly in on her own?

Or was she already on the tarmac?

[morningfog]

17. I have no idea what an indictment fairy is or why you are obsessed with it.

[NCTraveler]

19. lol. nt.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

16. The decision will likely be made by the head of the criminal division of the Justice Department

Here is what a former head of the criminal division of the Justice Department said:

" I used to be head of the criminal division of the Justice Department of the United States. I will give you one news tip...All this stuff about Secretary Clinton’s use of email accounts and the report that came out, how she might get indicted, I’m not buying it...I’m not buying it, you can’t indict somebody if there is no evidence of intent, and I don’t see it, I don’t see any evidence of criminal intent... I used to be head of the criminal division of the Justice Department of the United State


-Bill Weld

http://lawnewz.com/uncategorized/bill-weld-im-not-buying-that-clinton-will-be-indicted-not-enough-evidence/

Current head of the criminal division of the Justice Department:

Leslie R. Caldwell was confirmed as the Assistant Attorney General for the Criminal Division on May 15, 2014.

As head of the Criminal Division, Ms. Caldwell oversees nearly 600 attorneys who prosecute federal criminal cases across the country, help develop criminal law and formulate criminal enforcement policy. She also works closely with the nation’s 93 United States Attorneys in the investigation and prosecution of criminal matters in their districts.

Ms. Caldwell has dedicated most of her professional career to handling federal criminal cases, both as a prosecutor and as defense counsel. From 2002 to 2004, Ms. Caldwell served as the director of the Justice Department’s Enron Task Force. When she worked at the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of California from 1999 to 2002, she served as the Chief of the Criminal Division and the Chief of the Securities Fraud Section. During her eleven years in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York from 1987 to 1998, her positions included Senior Trial Counsel for the Business & Securities Fraud Section and Chief of the Violent Criminal Enterprises Section. For her work on the Enron Task Force, Ms. Caldwell received the Attorney General’s Award for Exceptional Service. She is also the recipient of the Attorney General’s John Marshall Award for Trial of Litigation and the Attorney General’s Award for Fraud Prevention.

https://www.justice.gov/criminal/meet-aag

[morningfog]

18. There is little to no public evidence of intent, I agree with the former head of the criminal

division who has not seen the evidence or read transcripts of the witness interviews.

[merrily]

20. Kabuki. If Obama thought the FBI might recommend prosecution, he would not have endorsed her.

He doesn't influence the investigation, but no law prevent him from asking where it seems to be heading.

[okasha]

23. Exactly.

I wonder if they're going to time the announcement to coincide with the Republican convention.

That would be wicked.

[SaschaHM]

21. Key clarification from Mark Halperin