Posted on 05/21/2019 4:51:17 AM PDT by Kaslin
A joint task force made up of the House Judiciary and Oversight Committees on Monday released transcripts of various interviews with government officials. One of the transcripts was with former Attorney General Loretta Lynch. Specifically, the transcript reveals that Lynch denied ever directing FBI Director James Comey to refer to the Clinton email investigation as a "matter."
Attorney: Are you familiar with his -- I think he's testified to this -- that you instructed, I believe in September of 2015, Director Comey to call the Midyear Exam investigation a matter?
Lynch: I heard his testimony on it and that was the first time that he had ever indicated to me, in my understanding -- he may have told others -- that he had that impression of our conversation.
Attorney: So you do not believe you ever instructed him to call it a matter?
Lynch: I did not. I have never instructed a witness as to what to say specifically. Never have, never will.
In the meeting that I had with the Director, we were discussing how best to keep Congress informed of progress and discuss requesting resources for the Department overall. We were going to testify separately. And the concern that both of us had in the meeting that I was having with him in September of 2015 was how to have that discussion without stepping across the Department policy of confirming or denying an investigation, separate policy from testifying.
Obviously, we wanted to testify fully, fulsomely, and provide the information that was needed, but we were not at that point, in September of 2015, ready to confirm that there was an investigation into the email matter -- or deny it. We were sticking with policy, and that was my position on that.
I didn't direct anyone to use specific phraseology. When the Director asked me how to best to handle that, I said: What I have been saying is we have received a referral and we are working on the matter, working on the issue, or we have all the resources we need to handle the matter, handle the issue. So that was the suggestion that I made to him.
Congressman Jim Jordan further pressed Lynch on her words and whether or not she wanted Comey to call the investigation a "matter."
Jordan: Ms. Lynch, so in Mr. Comey's book he says this: Comey quoted you as saying, "Call it a matter."
He responded, "Why would I do that?"
"'Just call it a matter,' she snapped back."
Is that accurate?
Lynch: I haven't read his book, so I can't say if that's in there or not.
Jordan: I'm reading directly from his book. He said call it a matter -- or you said, "Call it a matter."
His response was, "Why would I do that?"
He said you snapped back with, "Just call it a matter."
Is that accurate?
Lynch: Well, again, leaving aside whether it's in the book or not, that's not my recollection of the meeting. But I can't explain to you why he remembers it that way.
Jordan: Okay. He said this in his book. "The Attorney General seemed to be directing me to align me with the Clinton campaign strategy," he wrote, adding caustically that, quote, "The FBI didn't do matters."
Is that true? Were you trying to align him with the Clinton campaign strategy?
Lynch: I wasn't aware of the Clinton campaign strategy on anything. I had never --
Jordan: So you weren't trying to align anybody with the Clinton campaign strategy?
Lynch: I was not trying to align anyone on any issue with a campaign strategy in this case or any other.
During his testimony in front of the House Intelligence Committee in June, Comey made it evident Lynch instructed him to downplay the significance of the Clinton email investigation, Fox News reported.
"The attorney general had directed me not to call it an investigation, but instead to call it a matter, which confused me and concerned me," Comey testified. “That was one of the bricks in the load that led me to conclude, ‘I have to step away from the department if we’re to close this case credibly.’”
“The Clinton campaign, at the time, was using all kind of euphemisms — security review, matters, things like that, for what was going on. We were getting to a place where the attorney general and I were both going to have to testify and talk publicly about. And I wanted to know, was she going to authorize us to confirm we had an investigation? ... And she said, ‘Yes, but don’t call it that, call it a matter.' And I said, ‘Why would I do that?’ And she said, ‘Just call it a matter.’”
[So who is lying, Ms. WeDiscussedGrandchildren&Golf or Mr. PantsOnFire?]
Both
Comey's biggest weakness is his extremely high opinion of himself. Literally and figuratively, he looks down on everyone. He is always "the smartest person in the room". Of course he is wrong, he just can't see it. He's "too clever by half".
p
she shouldn’t be reminding us of “Fulsom”.....
bwahahaha!!
Nice pun!!
Note the phrasing. Carefully-crafted.
Indeed. The first part answers the question she was asked.
[So you do not believe you ever instructed him to call it a matter?
Lynch: I did not.]
She could have ended her statement there but didn't.
The second part you noted...she wasn't speaking to the issue at hand.
What she really meant...IDK. But it sure is peculiar.
What Lynch did was give a non-answer “answer” that will keep her from a perjury charge.
You can bet she told Comey to call it “a matter” and a whole lot more.
I hope Comey takes them both down.
The way she obsesses on making an issue of a direct quotation makes her sound very nervous.
The following statement was an unrelated self defense response.
Also....these were the heady days of "Anything Goes" when Hillary was a shoo-in.
[I have never instructed a witness as to what to say specifically]
That’s her weasel statement immediately following.
Comey was not a “witness” when she told him “a matter”.
Comey didn’t become “a witness” until a long time later.
We may not agree. That’s OK. I don’t trust any of them.
Not at all.
Lynch: I did not. I have never instructed a witness as to what to say specifically. Never have, never will.
Well now, you never instructed but just casually in passing mentioned it ?
“At the meeting, everyone agreed that Mr. Comey should not reveal details about the Clinton investigation. But Ms. Lynch told him to be even more circumspect: Do not even call it an investigation, she said, according to three people who attended the meeting. Call it a “matter.” “
We may not agree.
We agree that what she said was 'off', I just don't believe her statement applied to Comey and that it applied to someone else.
Comey didn’t become “a witness” until a long time later.
An unconscious injection into the conversation, perhaps, or an attempt to divert the conversation in another direction.
It definitely deserves scrutiny.
I don’t trust any of them.
Nor do I knowing what we know now.
Lynch talks gun control, ISIS threat and Clinton email probe 'Fox News Sunday' Jun. 19, 2016
mark - 8:07
The investigation into the State Department email matter is going to be handled like any other matter.
She uses matter twice and she didn't correct Wallace when he used "criminal investigation" before her reply. She inserted the language into the conversation.
Needless to say IMO she is lying about the exchange between the two of them using her interview as the predicate for my opinion.
[ Needless to say IMO she is lying about the exchange between the two of them ]
Yes
Lynch is lying.
Comey is lying.
Lynch and Comey both using weasel phrases to hide their coup attempt.
Now Lynch and Comey appear to contradict each other.
I predict they’ll cover for one another. If they can arrange an “accidental” tarmac meeting to work out the details.
If not, perhaps more popcorn is in order.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.