AG Loretta Lynch’s Surreptitious Meeting With Clinton Violates DOJ Ethics Regs
Any reasonable person would think there is something nefarious about the Attorney General of the United States Loretta Lynch meeting surreptitiously with Hillary Clinton's husband in a private jet on the tarmac. Lynch just happened to be flying into Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport on a private aircraft when former President Clinton who just happened to be visiting the Phoenix area was waiting at that very airport waiting to depart. ABC15 reports that Clinton was notified Lynch would be arriving at the airport soon and waited for her arrival. Lynch was arriving in Phoenix for a planned visit as part of her national tour to promote community policing.
Lynch and Clinton met in Lynch's private jet parked on the airport tarmac for thirty minutes. The meeting happened as Hillary Clinton, the Democrats' presumptive presidential nominee, remains under investigation for her email scandal. Attorney General Lynch was asked about the meeting during her news conference at the Phoenix Police Department:
"Actually, while I was landing at the airport, I did see President Clinton at the Phoenix airport as I was leaving, and he spoke to myself and my husband on the plane," she said. "Our conversation was a great deal about his grandchildren. It was primarily social and about our travels. He mentioned the golf he played in Phoenix, and he mentioned travels he'd had in West Virginia."
"There was no discussion of any matter pending for the department or any matter pending for any other body," Lynch added. "There was no discussion of Benghazi, no discussion of the State Department emails, by way of example."
When Lynch was asked whether there was any "impropriety" to meeting with Clinton while the email investigation is ongoing, she pivoted nicely:
"My agency is involved in a matter looking at State Department policies and issues," she said. "It's being handled by career investigators and career agents. It will always follow the facts and the law and do the same independent and thorough investigation that they've done in all."
Paul Reid, CBS News Justice reporter, was taking none of Lynches baloney and called it "shocking, absolutely shocking":
"The most high-profile national security investigation under the attorney general is the investigation into whether or not classified information was mishandled in connection with Hillary Clinton's server," Reid told CBSN . "Now, President Clinton and his foundation are also tangentially involved in that investigation, so the appearance of impropriety is just stunning."
All lawyers are trained to avoid even the appearance of impropriety. Worse for Lynch, her meeting with Clinton surely violates the Department of Justice ethics regulations. The Department's Ethics Handbook requires the Attorney General to avoid the appearance of impropriety:
This Ethics Handbook for On and Off-Duty Conduct summarizes the principal ethics laws and regulations governing the conduct of Department of Justice employees. The purpose of this handbook is to increase your awareness of the ethics rules and their applications, including when you are not in a duty status or are on leave. We have included citations after each rule and we suggest that you consult the full text of the law or regulation when you have specific questions.
The ethics rules condensed here include the conflict of interest statutes found at 18 USC §§ 202 to 209, Executive Order 12674 on Principles of Ethical Conduct as amended by EO 12731, the Uniform Standards of Ethical Conduct for Employees of the Executive Branch at 5 CFR Part 2635, Department of Justice regulations at 5 CFR Part 3801 that supplement the uniform standards, and additional Department regulations at 28 CFR Part 45, and Executive branch-wide standards of conduct at 5 USC § 735. ...
After that introduction the handbook offers 14 General Principles of Ethical Conduct. The most relevant one to this exploding scandal is number 14.
14. Employees shall endeavor to avoid any actions creating the appearance that they are violating the law or the ethical standards set forth in this part. Whether particular circumstances create an appearance that the law or these standards have been violated shall be determined from the perspective of a reasonable person with knowledge of the relevant facts
5 C.F.R 2635.101 (b)
Appearance of Impropriety
An employee shall endeavor to avoid any actions creating the appearance that the employee is violating the law or the ethical standards set forth in this part.
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The fix is in:
Paul Reid, CBS News Justice reporter, was taking none of Lynches baloney and called it "shocking, absolutely shocking":
I think she did it to drive you nuts Sean.
Possibly. She sure as shit doesn't care about even pretending to do her job in a non-partisan manner.
More corrupt behaviour from the "transparent" regime. Dems must be proud.
Actually the Obama Regime has been the most corrupt Administration in the history of this country. The ability to lie with a straight face is considered the #1 qualification for anyone serving under Obama.
And you have been the #1 perpetrator of false information on Newstalkers, and there is no #2 to challenge you.
And you have been the #1 perpetrator of false information on Newstalkers, and there is no #2 to challenge you.
So you admit you are unable to think of a single scandal under the Obama Administration?
John is unable to name any scandals under Obama. It gives him too much pain to talk about any of them. I bet he can't say Radical Islamic Fascist either.
Under the Obama Regime, lying, cheating the American people and corruption are the hallmarks of his legacy. It is unheard of for someone in Lynch's position, during an ongoing investigation on a man's wife, to have a private meeting with the husband under these circumstances and I'd like for someone to explain to me how it is not, especially with these two people who make Obama look pale compared to number of their scandals.
This was 3 yeas ago and Obama had only recently started to reveal "The Real Face of Obama".
Obama is at Two Dozen Scandals and Counting
Posted on August 1, 2013
President Obama claims that Republicans are busy probing “phony scandals.” But the sheer number of scandals suggests that misbehavior, abuse of power, and possibly corruption are not something being dreamed up by the GOP, but a defining characteristic of the Obama administration.
Here is a full list of the administration’s most egregious scandals. The ones we know about, at least. I’ve added four since the last time we ran the list – an increase of 20 percent!
1. IRS targets Obama’s enemies: The IRS targeted conservative and pro-Israel groups prior to the 2012 election. Questions are being raised about why this occurred, who ordered it, whether there was any White House involvement and whether there was an initial effort to hide who knew about the targeting and when.
2. Benghazi: This is actually three scandals in one:
3. Watching the AP: The Justice Department performed a massive cull of Associated Press reporters’ phone records as part of a leak investigation.
4. Rosengate: The Justice Department suggested that Fox News reporter James Rosen is a criminal for reporting about classified information and subsequently monitored his phones and emails.
5. Potential Holder perjury I: Attorney General Eric Holder told Congress he had never been associated with “potential prosecution” of a journalist for perjury when in fact he signed the affidavit that termed Rosen a potential criminal.
6. The ATF “Fast and Furious” scheme: Allowed weapons from the U.S. to “walk” across the border into the hands of Mexican drug dealers. The ATF lost track of hundreds of firearms, many of which were used in crimes, including the December 2010 killing of Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry.
7. Potential Holder Perjury II: Holder told Congress in May 2011 that he had just recently heard about the Fast and Furious gun walking scheme when there is evidence he may have known much earlier.
8. Sebelius demands payment: HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius solicited donations from companies HHS might regulate. The money would be used to help her sign up uninsured Americans for ObamaCare.
9. The Pigford scandal: An Agriculture Department effort that started as an attempt to compensate black farmers who had been discriminated against by the agency but evolved into a gravy train delivering several billion dollars in cash to thousands of additional minority and female farmers who probably didn’t face discrimination.
10. GSA gone wild: The General Services Administration in 2010 held an $823,000 training conference in Las Vegas, featuring a clown and a mind readers. Resulted in the resignation of the GSA administrator.
11. Veterans Affairs in Disney World: The agency wasted more than $6 million on two conferences in Orlando. An assistant secretary was fired.
12. Sebelius violates the Hatch Act: A U.S. special counsel determined that Sebelius violated the Hatch Act when she made “extemporaneous partisan remarks” during a speech in her official capacity last year. During the remarks, Sebelius called for the election of the Democratic candidate for governor of North Carolina.
13. Solyndra: Republicans charged the Obama administration funded and promoted its poster boy for green energy despite warning signs the company was headed for bankruptcy. The administration also allegedly pressed Solyndra to delay layoff announcements until after the 2010 midterm elections.
14. AKA Lisa Jackson: Former EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson used the name “Richard Windsor” when corresponding by email with other government officials, drawing charges she was trying to evade scrutiny.
15. The New Black Panthers: The Justice Department was accused of using a racial double standard in failing to pursue a voter intimidation case against Black Panthers who appeared to be menacing voters at a polling place in 2008 in Philadelphia.
16. Waging war all by myself: Obama may have violated the Constitution and both the letter and the spirit of the War Powers Resolution by attacking Libya without Congressional approval.
17. Biden bullies the press: Vice President Biden’s office has repeatedly interfered with coverage, including forcing a reporter to wait in a closet, making a reporter delete photos, and editing pool reports.
18. AKPD not A-OK: The administration paid millions to the former firm of then-White House adviser David Axelrod, AKPD Message and Media, to promote passage of Obamacare. Some questioned whether the firm was hired to help pay Axelrod $2 million AKPD owed him.
19. Sestak, we’ll take care of you: Former White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel used Bill Clinton as an intermediary to probe whether former Rep. Joe Sestak (D-Pa.) would accept a prominent, unpaid White House advisory position in exchange for dropping out of the 2010 primary against former Sen. Arlen Specter (D-Pa.).
20. I’ll pass my own laws: Obama has repeatedly been accused of making end runs around Congress by deciding which laws to enforce, including the decision not to deport illegal immigrants who may have been allowed to stay in the United States had Congress passed the “Dream Act.”
21. The hacking of Sharyl Attkisson’s computer: It’s not clear who hacked the CBS reporter’s computer as she investigated the Benghazi scandal, but the Obama administration and its allies had both the motive and the means to do it.
22. An American Political Prisoner: The sudden decision to arrest Nakoula Basseley Nakoula on unrelated charges after protests in the Arab world over his anti-Muslim video is an extraordinarily suspicious coincidence. “We’re going to go out and we’re going to prosecute the person that made that video,” Hillary Clinton allegedly told the father of one of the ex-SEALs killed in Banghazi.
23. Get rid of inconvenient IGs: Corporation for National and Community Service Inspector General Gerald Walpin was fired in 2009 as he fought wasteful spending and investigated a friend of Obama’s, Sacramento Mayor and former NBA player Kevin Johnson. The White House says Walpin was incompetent.
24. Influence peddling: An investigation is underway of Alejandro Mayorkas, director of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, who has been nominated by Obama for the number two post at the Department of Homeland Security. Mayorkas may have used his position to unfairly obtain U.S. visas for foreign investors in company run by Hillary Clinton’s brother, Anthony Rodham.
So please don't try to tell me the Obama Administration is been relatively scandal free. It insults anyone with any knowledge and common sense to to hear such nonsense.
the sheer number of scandals suggests that misbehavior, abuse of power, and possibly corruption are not something being dreamed up by the GOP
Innuendos against a gentlemen you've never trusted.
To me a scandal is when a Vice President has to resign because of criminal behavior, (Agnew). A real crime. A go before the court and plead crime.
Not a run-on list of "Well, see this!?" or "What about That's!?".
It's a scandal when a President has to resign for proven crimes and 40 of his government officials are indicted or jailed in the Watergate aftermath.
A true scandal would be when a President wages an illegal war and 14 members of his administration are indicted and need a pardon from the next President to stay out of prison.
It's a scandal when a President lies under oath about adultery.
The only scandal that came to my mind, concerning the current administration, was David Petraious,
After all Pres. Obama did appoint him to the position that Petraious then went on to criminal abuse.
Six, after three or four years, I'm tired of debunking all your crackpot conspiracy theories. You're a freaking nut when it comes to politics and this stuff and everyone here knows it.
Go ahead run wild. I said my piece.