Bill Clinton, Loretta Lynch Tarmac Meeting Reemerges After Lisa Page Bombshell
Infamous meet between former president and Obama's AG is back under the spotlight
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The infamous 2016 "Tarmac Meeting," between former President Bill Clinton and Obama's Attorney General Loretta Lynch, has come back under the spotlight following revelations in ex-FBI lawyer Lisa Page's bombshell testimony that emerged this week.
The off-the-record meeting, that took place on an airport runway in Arizona aboard Lynch's private plane, has been shrouded in suspicion ever since it was exposed by a local news reporter from ABC News affiliate KNXV-TV, at the time.
Earlier this week, a section of the transcript from former FBI counsel Lisa Page's bombshell July 2018 testimony before Congress was revealed, essentially charging that Obama’s Loretta Lynch-led Department of Justice had instructed the FBI to not indict Hillary Clinton ahead of the 2016 presidential election.
The news raises new questions as to the exact nature of the conversation between Lynch and Clinton that took place while the FBI was investigating Hillary.
When the story of the meeting broke in July 2016, the liberal media including Wapo and the New York Times tried to push the story aside.
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According to the Daily Caller, Republican Georgia Rep. Doug Collins released the private testimony of former FBI lawyer Lisa Page.
According to Page’s testimony, which was made public on Tuesday, the FBI considered charging former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton with gross negligence under 18 U.S. Code § 793 for her alleged handling of classified information.
NEW: Lisa Page's congressional testimony reveals that the FBI was considering charging Hillary Clinton under the Espionage Act for "gross negligence" — until the DOJ flat-out told them "No."https://t.co/c6t7UyttzB
— Jerry Dunleavy (@JerryDunleavy) March 12, 2019
“We had multiple conversations with the Justice Department about bringing a gross negligence charge,” Page told Republican Texas Rep. John Ratcliffe.
“And that’s, as I said, the advice that we got from the Department was that they did not think — that it was constitutionally vague and not sustainable.”
Ratcliffe responded, “When you say advice you got from the Department, you’re making it sound like it was the Department that told you: ‘You’re not going to charge gross negligence because we’re the prosecutors and we’re telling you we’re not going to.’”
“That’s correct,” Page answered.
But if Page were telling the truth, and the FBI did recommend possible charges against Clinton, then Lynch may not have been telling the truth when she said that she would “accept their recommendations.”
Lynch: "I fully expect to accept" the DOJ and FBI recommendations on the Clinton email probe https://t.co/8I58ZMGkGD https://t.co/A1DeQqJ6cB
— CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) July 1, 2016
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Now, compare Page’s closed-door interview to Lynch’s 2016 congressional testimony.
According to the Washington Times, the former attorney general told members of Congress, “I made the decision, some time ago, that I would accept the recommendation of that team ...
"When I received it, there was no basis not to accept it and again I reiterate my pride and faith in them.”
She also said, “I met with … career prosecutors and agents who conducted that investigation. I received and accepted their unanimous recommendation,” “I received the recommendation of the team and that team was composed of prosecutors and agents. With the unanimous recommendation as to how to resolve the investigation, and what the information that they had received,” and “I accepted that recommendation. I saw no reason not to accept it.”
Lynch was in the hot seat before Congress following reports that she had met secretly with Bill Clinton even as the Justice Department was actively investigating the former president's wife.
Lynch, who claimed it was just an impromptu meeting between old friends, refused to recuse herself from the case.
Rather, she assured the public she would accept whatever charge the FBI recommended.
The former attorney general also said during her 2016 congressional testimony, “As I've indicated, I've determined to accept that recommendation and did, in fact, accept that recommendation.”
She added, “[M]y decision was to accept the recommendation of the team of agents and investigators who worked on this. …
"They've applied the facts to that law and came up with a unanimous recommendation, a joint recommendation in effect that was provided to me.”
If we’re to believe Page’s testimony, what are we to make of Lynch’s?
That she deferred the matter to the FBI, testifying repeatedly that she had resigned herself to accept whatever the Bureau recommended, but only after the Justice Department had already instructed the agency against seeking its chief charge?
Why, it’s almost as if some of these former Obama administration officials are not very honest.
