The infamous meeting between then-Attorney General Loretta Lynch and former President Bill Clinton in June 2016 just became even more shady now that it’s being reported that Lynch used an email alias when discussing how the department should respond to media inquiries over the matter.
According to The Daily Caller, emails unearthed by Judicial Watch and the American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ) revealed that Lynch provided instructions to her Department of Justice (DOJ) underlings about how to spin her meeting with the former president under the alias of “Elizabeth Carlisle.”
The Caller report noted that Melanie Newman, who headed the DOJ’s public affairs office then, kept in contact with the Elizabeth Carlisle pseudonym to provide updates about the media coverage over the meeting on the tarmac. In one June 28 email, Newman wrote to the Carlisle account over a request for comment from ABC News, “AG Lynch – We are holding on the statement for now. Given that there wasn’t any follow-up in the press avail, [redacted]. We will keep you posted as things develop.”
The Carlisle pseudonym replied, “Thanks to all who worked on this. AG.”
Robert Raben, Lynch’s attorney, told the Caller that Elizabeth Carlisle was indeed the alias that Lynch used.
“That address was and is known to the individuals who process [Freedom of Information Act] requests; the practice, similar to using initials or numbers in an email, helps guard against security risks and prevent inundation of mailboxes,” Raben told the Caller.
Former FBI Director James Comey stated in congressional testimony that Lynch’s meeting with Clinton was one of the main reasons why he felt the need to announce his recommendation not to indict Hillary Clinton on his own. Comey also pointed out that Lynch instructed him to refer to the investigation as a “matter” instead of an “investigation.”
The unearthed emails also showed a lack of interest from the media in covering the story, as reporters from The Washington Post and The New York Times both reluctantly covered it – with the Post reporter even stating that he hoped that he could “put it to rest” – and ABC News and a Fox producer thinking that the story wasn’t news.
Lynch has maintained that she and Clinton didn’t talk about Hillary’s email investigation; they only talked about grandchildren. If that was the case, then why did Lynch use an alias to discuss the DOJ response to the story?