Lynch gets GOP earful
Criticized for role in Clinton decision
WASHINGTON — Republican lawmakers Tuesday lambasted Attorney General Loretta Lynch over her refusal to discuss the details of the Justice Department’s decision not to prosecute Hillary Clinton for using a private email server as secretary of state.
As a hearing of the House Judiciary Committee stretched into the afternoon, GOP representatives grew increasingly frustrated and angry as they pushed Lynch — without success — to answer their specific questions about the email probe.
Lynch responded time and time again that she had accepted the unanimous recommendation of career agents and prosecutors, including FBI Director James Comey. But she said it would be “inappropriate to comment further” on the facts of the case or the decisionmaking process.
Lynch also faced criticism from lawmakers over her decision to meet with former President Clinton last month, which she previously admitted cast a shadow over the Justice Department’s probe.
Following the uproar over that meeting, Lynch publicly announced that she would remove herself from the final decision about whether to file charges, saying she would abide by the recommendation of Comey and career prosecutors.
GOP lawmakers Tuesday accused Lynch of failing to Loretta Lynch frustrated GOP lawmakers Tuesday, refusing to give details about the Hillary Clinton email probe. live up to her constitutional duty by not personally analyzing the case.
“The buck stops with you,” said Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner, R-Wis.
Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., called her refusal to discuss the matter an “abdication of your responsibility.”
Rep. Steve Chabot, ROhio, and several others said the decision against filing charges gave the appearance of a double standard in Clinton’s favor.
An exasperated Rep. Doug Collins, R-Ga., told Lynch he was frustrated with what he called the lack of ownership within the Department of Justice.
“I miss Eric Holder,” Collins said, referring to Lynch’s predecessor, who had a notoriously frosty relationship with congressional Republicans. Collins said that he may not have liked the answers that Holder gave but that at least he answered questions.
Lynch vigorously defended the department’s handling of the case as independent and objective. She said career agents and prosecutors, not political appointees, reviewed the case and made the recommendation. She said repeatedly she was proud of the work they had done.
The committee divided along party lines in its questioning, with Republicans focusing on Clinton’s email server and Democrats focusing on the Orlando, Fla., terror attack, the need for law enforcement reform, the recent police shootings of black men, the killings in Dallas of five police officers, and strategies for repairing relationships between police and minority communities.
Democrats accused Republicans of politicizing the email scandal to hurt the presumed Democratic nominee. “We are beating this email horse to death,” said Rep. Cedric Richmond, DLa.
Lynch was scheduled to testify before the House committee before Comey announced his decision. Her submitted testimony focused on the killings of five Dallas police officers by Micah Johnson.