Lynch Defends Ending Clinton Email Investigation

Obama Administration Attorney General Loretta Lynch clarified her previous denial of communication with the Clinton campaign with a contention that "there was nothing improper about my assurances that I would not allow the probe into Secretary Clinton's emails to go too far. Should an AG allow any investigation to go too far? I think promising to prevent that investigation from going too far placed reasonable limits that helped avert a situation where Republicans would be able to gain an unfair advantage during the campaign."

"As a matter of fact, it was FBI Director James Comey who decided not to forward the case to me back in July of 2016," Lynch pointed out. "While it looked like he laid out considerable grounds for a potential prosecution for a lengthy series of illegal actions on the part of Secretary Clinton, he decided not to recommend prosecution because he saw no intent."

"Technically, the applicable statutes do not require that we prove intent in order to indict or prosecute someone for illegally using classified information," Lynch admitted. "That sailor who took photos of the submarine he served on so he could show his children had no intent to subvert national security but he was sent to jail. Then, too, it seems pretty obvious that Secretary Clinton's intention was to hide some of her questionable emails from prying eyes. I guess different venues can lead to different application of the same laws. All I can say is that the effect on America from incarcerating one lowly sailor is inconsequential. That would not have been the case with Secretary Clinton. She is a very important person and her fate has major consequences for this country. I think taking that into consideration was what probably drove Director Comey to do what he did." ~ John Semmens