Judicial
Watch Demands
DOJ Inspector General Probe
Into "Scandalous"
Lynch-
Clinton Meeting
30
June, 2016
The
political scandal of the day was
the news that on Monday
evening (coincidentally just before the Benghazi report was
released), Bill Clinton and US Attorney General Loretta Lynch just
happened to meet on the tarmac at a Phoenix airport - totally
unplanned of course. Clinton saw the attorney general and wanted to
say hello, so Clinton boarded Lynch's plane to talk for a bit. Sure,
just a quick chat about the weather, his putting stroke, anything
except oh, say, an update on what was about to be released on
Benghazi, and especially not an update on the ongoing FBI
investigation into Hillary.
"Our
conversation was a great deal about his grandchildren. It was
primarily social and about our travels. He mentioned the golf he
played in Phoenix, and he mentioned travels he'd had in West
Virginia. There was no discussion of any matter pending for the
department or any matter pending for any other body. There was
no discussion of Benghazi, no discussion of the State Department
emails, by way of example" Lynch told reporters.
While
Lynch claims it was a completely random encounter with Hillary
Clinton's husband, even Barack Obama's former advisor David Axelrod
admitted that the meeting created "bad optics"
David Axelrod
I take @LorettaLynch & @billclinton at their word that their convo in Phoenix didn't touch on probe. But foolish to create such optics.
Sensing
an opportunity to drive home a point about the Clintons' lack of
judgment, Trump
quickly pounced on the meeting.
"It
is an amazing thing," Trump said during an interview on the Mike
Gallagher Show, noting the pair met on an airplane at the Phoenix
airport. "It was really a sneak. It was something they didn't
want publicized, as I understand it," Trump said, regarding the
meeting Monday night. "I think it's so terrible; I think
it's so horrible. I think it's one of the big stories of this week,
of this month, of this year," Trump continued.
"How
bad a judgment is it for him or for her to do this? Who would do
this?” Trump asked.
it
won't end there. Moments ago, conservative watchdog organization
Judicial Watch todarequested that
the DOJ's Office of the Inspector General investigate the meeting
yesterday between Bill Clinton and Attorney General Loretta Lynch:
Attorney
General Loretta Lynch met privately with former President William J.
Clinton on board a parked private plane on the west side of Sky
Harbor International Airport in Phoenix, Arizona on June 29, 2016,
according to multiple press reports.
President
Clinton is the spouse of Hillary Rodham Clinton, the former Secretary
of State, who is purportedly the subject of a national security crime
investigation pertaining to the mishandling of national defense
information processed by Mrs. Clinton’s personal server during her
tenure as secretary.
Additionally,
there are press reports that a federal public corruption
investigation is on-going concerning conflicts of interest and abuse
of official government office involving the financial “commitments”
to the Clinton Foundation, speaking fees for President Clinton and
former Secretary Clinton’s official acts. President Clinton
may be a target of that investigation.
Attorney
General Lynch’s meeting with President Clinton creates the
appearance of a violation of law, ethical standards and good
judgment. Attorney General Lynch’s decision to breach the
well-defined ethical standards of the Department of Justice and the
American legal profession is an outrageous abuse of the public’s
trust. Her conduct and statements undermine confidence in her ability
to objectively investigate and prosecute possible violations of law
associated with President Clinton and Secretary Clinton. This
incident undermines the public’s faith in the fair administration
of justice.
Simply
stated, Attorney General Lynch’s June 29, 2016 meeting with former
President Clinton creates the broad public impression that “the fix
is in.”
Judicial
Watch requests your immediate and thorough investigation of the
facts, circumstances, and appearances of ethical, regulatory and
legal violations by Attorney General Lynch in connection with her
meeting with former President William J. Clinton – and that you
report your findings and recommendations to the American public.
Judicial
Watch cites in its complaint 18 USC §§ 202 – 209; Executive Order
12674 on Principles of Ethical Conduct as amended by EO 12731;
Uniform Standards of Ethical Conduct for Employees of the Executive
Branch, 5 CFR Part 2635; Department of Justice regulations, 5 CFR
Part 3801; Department of Justice regulations, 28 CFR Part 45;
Executive branch standards of conduct, 5 USC § 735; and, United
States Department of Justice Ethics Handbook for On and Off-Duty
Conduct, 14 Principles for Ethical Conduct:
“14.
Employees shall endeavor to avoid any actions creating the appearance
that they are violating the law or the ethical standards set forth in
this part. Whether particular circumstances create an appearance that
the law or these standards have been violated shall be determined
from the perspective of a reasonable person with knowledge of the
relevant facts.”
5
C.F.R 2635.101 (b)
“An
employee shall endeavor to avoid any actions creating the appearance
that the employee is violating the law or the ethical standards set
forth in this part.”
5
CFR 2635.101(b)(14)
As
Judicial Watch concludes: “Attorney General Loretta Lynch’s
meeting with Bill Clinton severely undermined the already low public
confidence in her agency’s criminal investigation of Hillary
Clinton,” stated Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton. “In
addition to this IG investigation, Judicial Watch has already sent
Freedom of Information Act requests about this scandalous meeting.”
Of
course, even if the IG does grant the Judicial Watch request,
following today's news that the state department is seeking
a 27 month delay for
the release of Clinton Foundation emails, we would expect that this
probe would be concluded some time in November of 2024, just as
Hillary is handing over the dynastic scepter to Chelsea.
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