According to a transcript from former Attorney General Loretta Lynch’s congressional testimony, the infamous tarmac meeting she had with Bill Clinton on June 27, 2016, didn’t happen by chance, but it was more of a forced meeting by the former president. According to reporter Eric Felten from RealClearInvestigations, he was able to review the transcripts from Lynch’s testimony before the House Judiciary and House Oversight and Government Reform committees. Felten has concluded that Clinton knew what he was doing when he boarded Lynch’s plane.
Considering that his wife, Hillary Clinton, was only a few days away from being interviewed by the FBI for her handling of classified information, the timing of the infamous meeting is entirely suspect. According to Christopher Sign, the KNXV-TV anchor who broke the story, when he asked about the meeting the next day, Lynch confirmed that she had in fact seen Bill Clinton.
While speaking at the Phoenix Police Department on June 28, 2016, Lynch said: “Our conversation was a great deal about grandchildren, it was primarily social about our travels, and he mentioned golf he played in Phoenix.” KNXV also noted that the meeting took place just a few hours before the congressional Benghazi report was released.
Even though Lynch admitted to seeing Clinton, she assured the public that they did not speak about topics that were pending before the Department of Justice. “There was no discussion on any matter pending before the department or any matter pending with any other body, there was no discussion of Benghazi, no discussion of State Department emails. By way of example, I would say it was current news of the day, the Brexit decision and what it would mean,” said Lynch.
Christopher Sign told RealClearInvestigations that there was no evidence that Clinton was playing golf while he was in Phoenix, which gave doubt to what his intentions really were. “To this day I have never found a single person who claims or corroborates any story that Bill Clinton played golf on this particular trip. I feel strongly the former president did not play golf on this visit,” said Sign.
RealClearInvestigations has said that DOJ Inspector General Michael Horowitz claimed that Clinton attended several campaign fundraisers during his last day in Phoenix. Clinton told investigators that he debated with his chief of staff whether or not he should meet with Lynch at the airport. “I just wanted to say ‘hello’ to her and I thought it would look really crazy if we were living in [a] world [where] I couldn’t shake hands with the Attorney General, you know, when she was right there,” Clinton is quoted saying in the IG report.
While testifying before Congress in December, Lynch maintained her claim that she and Clinton didn’t discuss pending DOJ topics during their meeting. She also explained to lawmakers that she didn’t really have time to think about whether or not it was a good idea to meet with Clinton.
Lynch claims that during the meeting, which she says lasted approximately 20 minutes, the two only spoke for about 10 minutes. Lynch says that Clinton also spoke with the flight crew, her husband, and her security detail. Lynch said that during their conversation Clinton asked about her recent travels, why she was in Phoenix, and what he was doing there, as well.
Lynch said: “And at one point, I said: ‘Well, you know, thank you very much. It’s lovely seeing you. We have to move on.’” But then she said Clinton kept talking. “He made a comment about where he was headed to next and started talking about his next location. He finished that anecdote. I don’t recall what it was about.”
According to her testimony, Lynch said that Clinton didn’t take her repeated hints that she was ready to get going, but eventually, an aide came on the plane to rescue her. Felton wrote: “Let’s assume for the sake of argument that Lynch was not lying to Congress. If so, it seems to have dawned on her rather late that Clinton had compromised her, had put her in a jam.” Felton continued by saying: “What if that’s exactly what he set out to do? It would explain the ex-president’s otherwise inexplicable behavior — how one of the great glad-handers of all time leapt onto a plane in order to bore everyone to death.” As quoted in the IG report, Clinton said: “I don’t know whether I’m more offended that they think I’m crooked or that they think I’m stupid.”
Felton wrote that Bill Clinton, who held the position of Attorney General of Arkansas before he became the state governor, “was anything but clueless.” He added, “In the wake of that bravura performance, Lynch had to convene working groups to determine whether she needed to recuse herself from the Hillary probe. She would ultimately decide against recusal, but said she would accept the decision of career staff and the FBI on whether to prosecute. What a mess. And what a splendidly innocent way of causing mayhem and conveying menace. Give Bill Clinton his due — the man is no amateur.”
