The Atlantic: Loretta Lynch Can't Escape the Clinton Emails (Priscilla Alvarez, Nora Kelly) TPM: Gohmert: Don't Accuse Me Of Obsessing Over Clinton! Now About Those Emails… (Caitlin Macneal) _______________ AP: AG Lynch Defends Decision on Clinton Email Inquiry (Eric Tucker, Erica Werner) http://bigstory.ap.org/article/8d48f80b0cc042669bc6063848cb3982/lynch-face-questions- policing-clinton-investigation Attorney General Loretta Lynch steadfastly defended her decision theto Hillaryclose Clinton email investigation without criminal charges, insisting Tuesday that she simply accepted the unanimous recommendation of careerFBI investigators and attorneys. "I "I accepted that recommendation. I saw no reasonnot to accept Lynchit," told the House Judiciary Committee. "The matter was handled like any" other matter. The panel's chairman, Rep. Bob Goodlatte, strenuouslyR-Va.,criticized Lynch over her decision, charging that "does it not seem to be a responsible wayyour to constitutionally uphold sworn oath." "Secretary Clinton's'extreme carelessness' possiblyjeopardized the safetyand security of our citizens and nation," Goodlatte said.'extreme "Her carelessness' suggests she cannot be trusted with the nation's most sensitive "secrets. The election-year hearing played out amid a roiling national debate over police violence, and committee Democrats repeatedly tried to conversationturn the to that issueand others as they criticized Republicans for dwelling Democrats'on the likely presidential nominee andemail her practices. Republicans were furious last weekthat theFBI decided not to recommendcharges against Clinton over her handlingclassified of information when she relied on a private email server during her tenure as secretary of state. "Rome is burning, there is blood on manythe streetsAmerican ofcities and we are beating this email horse to death," said Rep. Cedric Richmond, D-La. But Republicans kept focusthe on Clinton, totrying draw Lynch out on whether Clinton lied to the public or to Congress, and on a couple turningof occasions the conversation to then- president Bill Clinton's impeachment proceedings 18years ago. "Are you aware that Hillary Clinton has liedrepeatedly to the public herabout emails andemail servers?" Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, asked.you "Areaware of that?" Document ID: 0.7.7995.5049 20170503 - 0002453 Republicans on Mondayformally asked the Justice Department to investigate whether Clinton perjured herself in earlier testimony a to congressional committee investigating the Benghazi, Libya, attacks that killedfour Americans while Clinton was ofsecretary state. Clinton has said she did notsend or receive emails classifiedmarked when she sent them, thatclaims FBI Director James Comeycontradicted last week. Comey also said Clinton was "extremelycareless" in her handling of classified emails on a private server, but said there was no evidenceshe or aidesherthat intendedto violate laws governing classifiedactions, and thereforereasonable no prosecutor could bring case.a Comey testified in detail inown his appearance before Congress lastand week, Lynch repeatedly referred Republicans to the FBI director's testimony, getrefusing drawn tointo debating Clinton's conduct or the facts of the case. That approach irritatedcommittee Republicans. At one Goodlattepoint interrupted the hearing to admonish Lynch for refusing to answer, accusingher of "abdicationan ofyour responsibility." Lynch did say, in response to questioningLamar from Smith,Rep. R-Texas, that she had never discussed Clinton's email practiceswith either HillaryBill or Clinton, and she also said she had not discussed with eitherof them a position in the Hillary Clinton administration. "No conversation in that nature at all," she said. She reiterated that a conversationbrief she had with Bill Clinton at airportthe Phoenixlast month, after he sawairplane her and asked to board to wasgreet social her,in nature and"there was nothingabout any investigations or any specific" Instead cases. the former president spoke "at length" about grandchildren,his Lynch said. Goodlatte questioned whyLynch hadn't recused herself after that Lynchmeeting. said therewas no need to. Butreiterated she that concernsher over how the meetingcould be perceived had led her to announce she would accept the recommendation of teamher investigativein the Hillary Clinton case. That decision was intended to remove ofthe politicalspecter interference,but Republicans argued itthe otherway Tuesday, charging that unusualthe step of announcing ahead of time that she would take her team's recommendation reinforced the perception of special treatment for Clinton. "I "I think your actions made worse,it I really do," said Rep. Jordan,Jim R-Ohio. Lynch touched on enforcementlaw and policing issues including last week's sniper shooting of five police officers in Dallas by a suspect who said he officers.wanted toThat kill white followed police killingsof black men near. Paul,St Minnesota, and in BatonLouisiana. Rouge, The nation's"sense of safety has been shaken by the series of devastating events that rocked our nation last week,"Lynch said. # # # Document ID: 0.7.7995.5049 20170503 - 0002454 Reuters: U.S. AttorneyGeneral Deflects Lawmakers' Questions Clinton on Emails (Julia Harte) http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-election-clinton-emails-idUSKCN0ZS1VI The top .U.S law enforcement official, under questioning from Republicansat a congressional hearing on Tuesday, shedno new light on the Justice Department's decision not to prosecute Hillary Clinton over handlingher of sensitive emails. Attorney General Loretta Lynch deflected questions about the department's inquiry into Clinton's use of a private email server while she was secretary of state, an issue that has hounded her campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination. Republicans grilledLynch at the House of Representatives committee hearing over Justice's decision not to charge Clinton, the presumptive Democratic nominee for the Nov. 8 election. "Lynch has no intention of answeringeven themost... basic questions about the legal elements the government is obligated to prove in a criminal prosecution," Judiciary said Committee House Chairman Bob Goodlatte, a Republican. Democratic lawmakers atthe hearing largely avoided the subject,Lynch askingabout gun control and policingreforms. Lynch referred questions about the department's decision to an FBI-led investigative team that recommended not bringing charges. She wassaid "extremelyshe proud" of the team's work, testifying one weekafter the FBI closed year-longits probe. The emails case is a favorite target for presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, as well as otherRepublican politicians. Goodlatte and Republican Representative Jason Chaffetzasked the JusticeDepartment on Monday to investigatewhether Clinton committed perjury in testimonyCongress to about the emails. FBI Director James Comey toldcongressional a hearing last week that he recommended the department not charge Clinton. He said this was because the FBI lacked sufficient evidence that she acted with bad intent.He added that any employeesof his who handledemails the way Clinton did could be subject to dismissal or loss of security clearance. Democratic lawmakers on the committeeLynch asked about efforts to tightencontrol gun in the wake of shootings of clubgoers and police in Orlando and as Dallas,waysreduce asto wellfatal police shootings of unarmed African Americansamid ongoing protests over the issue. Representative Jerry Nadler askedLynch what shethought of the pro-gun rightshat adage“the t only thing that can stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun” in light of the fact that the Dallas police officers shot last week were armed. Document ID: 0.7.7995.5049 20170503 - 0002455 “The issue, as usual, doesn’t really lend itself well to aphorisms andh short statements,” Lync replied. # # # New York Times: House Panel Questions Loretta Lynch on Hillary Clinton’s Emails (Eric Lichtblau) http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/13/us/politics/loretta-lynch-testify-hillary-clinton- email.html Under fire from Republicans for closing the investigation on ’s Hillaryemails, ClintonAttorney General Loretta E. Lynch told lawmakersTuesday that she was “extremely proud” of the yearlong investigation, but she frustrated her interrogators by refusing to talk about the investigation’s details or conclusions. The F.B.I. director, James B. Comey, “has chosen to providets” detailedon the statemen investigation, Ms. Lynch noted tersely as she testified before the House Judiciary Committee, but she would not. Again and again, she deflected questions about crucial details that went into the decision not to bring chargescase. in the She also defended her decision not to recuse herself from the case even after her meeting on a tarmac in Phoenix with former President Bill Clinton. She deferred to the F.B.I. and experienced prosecutors, she said, and saw no need to step out of the case completely before accepting their recommendations. Republicans were not swayed. While no charges wereMr. brought,Comey’s remarkably public comments last week on Mrs. Clinton’s mishandling of classified material on her email server, said RepresentativeBob Goodlatte of Virginia, the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, amounted to “a public indictment of her conduct and character.” Ms. Lynch heard sharp criticism from Republican lawmakers not only about the decision to close the investigation, but also about her meeting days earlier with Mr. Clinton. She