Monday night, while her office is in the midst of dealing with the FBI’s investigation of possible charges against Hillary Clinton for her use of a private e-mail server while Secretary of State, US Attorney General Loretta Lynch met privately with former President Bill Clinton at Sky Harbor International Airport in Phoenix on board a parked private plane. When the FBI finishes its investigation, Lynch will receive a recommendation of what action to take against Clinton, if any, from FBI director James Comey.
Clinton was about to leave Phoenix when he was informed Lynch was arriving. Later, at a news conference at the Phoenix Police Department, Lynch admitted, “I did see President Clinton at the Phoenix airport as he was leaving and spoke to myself and my husband on the plane … Our conversation was a great deal about grandchildren, it was primarily social about our travels and he mentioned golf he played in Phoenix.”
She added, “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.”
Sources told ABC15 that the meeting lasted roughly 30 minutes.
Lynch worked at the law firm Hogan & Hartson LLP from March 2002 through April 2010; the firm’s partner Howard Topaz was the tax lawyer who filed income tax returns for Bill and Hillary Clinton beginning in 2004. Bill Clinton nominated Lynch for the first of her two terms as U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York in 1999.
Tom Fitton, president of Judicial Watch, said, “If Hogan and Hartson previously represented the Clintons on tax matters, it is incumbent upon U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch to [disclose] what, if any, role she had in such tax matters … If Lynch played any role at all regarding income tax work done for the Clintons by Hogan and Hartson, it would bolster the call for a special counsel should the FBI recommend prosecution in the Hillary Clinton email case.”