TOP DEM: PROBE OBAMA’S AG
Cloud over Lynch since Comey slam
The top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee called Sunday for a congressional investigation into former Attorney General Loretta Lynch’s handling of the Hillary Clinton e-mail probe.
Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) said she’s concerned by former FBI Director James Comey’s testimony Thursday that Lynch asked him to downplay his “investigation” into the Democratic presidential nominee as merely a “matter.”
Comey said the request called into question the credibility of Lynch’s Department of Justice — which oversees the FBI — and made him “queasy.”
“I would have a queasy feeling, too,” Feinstein admitted Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union.” “I think we need to know more about that. And there’s only one way to know about it, and that’s to have the Judiciary Committee take a look at that.”
Lynch (inset), who served under President Barack Obama, ultimately had to distance herself from the FBI probe after meeting with former President Bill Clinton on an airport tarmac in Phoenix during the height of the election campaign and e-mail investigation.
Lynch said the meeting was impromptu and they didn’t discuss Hillary Clinton’s private e-mail server, but the appearance of impropriety led to Comey’s personally heading the investigation, much to the chagrin of Democrats.
Feinstein said she “can’t answer” whether Lynch provided improper political cover for Hillary Clinton, but she said a “separate investigation” is needed to find out.
Comey’s Thursday testimony before the Senate intelligence committee dealt a blow to two attorneys general. Comey revealed he went along with Lynch’s initial request to downplay the magnitude of the Clinton e-mail probe by calling it a “matter.”
During the heated presidential campaign, Clinton’s campaign pushed back on the notion the candidate was under FBI “investigation” and insisted her e-mails were subject to a benign “security review.” Comey said Lynch’s request “gave me a queasy feeling” because it seemed to align with the wishes of a “political campaign.”
Comey also revealed he couldn’t go to Attorney General Jeff Sessions about his concerns with President Trump because Sessions needed to recuse himself from the Russia probe.
“We also were aware of facts that I can’t discuss in an open setting, that would make his continued engagement in a Russia-related investigation problematic,” Comey said.