“What was just laid out is what we would call a no-brainer in the attorney’s office that Jim Comey worked at. And [Comey] was one of my assistants.” – Rudy Giuliani
A former U.S. federal judge filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for information surrounding the recent private meeting between Attorney General Loretta Lynch and former President Bill Clinton that occurred on June 27, 2015 at the Phoenix airport.
The meeting took place just days before the FBI announced it would not recommend charges against former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. The Department of Justice (DOJ) apparently attempted to keep the meeting secret, as reporters on the ground were told: “no photos, no pictures, no cell phones.”
CoA Institute President and CEO, and former federal judge, Alfred J. Lechner, Jr.: “A private meeting between President Bill Clinton and Attorney General Loretta Lynch raises serious concerns about impartiality at the Department of Justice. Today’s announcement that the FBI will not recommend pursuing charges against Hillary Clinton does not remove the public interest in knowing what was discussed.”
To understand the purpose of this meeting, Cause of Action Institute has requested all records, transcripts, or recordings of the meeting as well as the Attorney General’s schedule for June 26 – 28, 2016, including but not limited to pre- and post-meeting email which concern the meeting in any way.
“The [Clinton-Lynch] meeting raises serious concerns about the Attorney General’s impartiality in two pending DOJ investigations, one into former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s use of a personal email server to house official government records and the other into the Clinton Foundation. On July 1, 2015, there were conflicting reports about whether Attorney General Lynch will effectively,” CoA states in its legal filing.
Meanwhile, former New York City Mayor and U.S. Attorney Rudy Giuliani blasted FBI Director James Comey for his decision to not indict Hillary Clinton in the email scandal, saying “this is the special exemption for the Clintons.”
“It would be unreasonable for a prosecutor not to go forward with it and almost an abdication of duty,” Giuliani told Gretchen Carlson on Fox News. “What was just laid out is what we would call a no-brainer in the attorney’s office that Jim Comey worked at. {By the way] he [Comey] was one of my assistants,” Giuliani noted.
“A reasonable prosecutor would have brought this case no doubt,” he added. “I don’t know how he ever, ever is going to be able to charge anybody in the CIA or the FBI who is extremely careless with top secret information, if he isn’t charging Hillary Clinton.”
Born in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Lechner was a Lieutenant Colonel in the U.S. Marine Corps, and received a J.D. from Notre Dame Law School in 1972. He was a judge on the New Jersey Superior Court from 1984 to 1986.
On April 8, 1986, Lechner was nominated by President Ronald Reagan to a seat on the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey and was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on June 6, 1986, and received his commission on June 9, 1986. Lechner served in that capacity until October 1, 2001, when he resigned.
The CoA filing includes the following information requests:
1. Attorney General Loretta Lynch’s schedule for June 26, 27, and 28, 2016, including but not limited to pre- and post-meeting email which concern the Meeting in any way.
2. All records, transcripts, or recordings of the Meeting.
3. All records including notes and/or memoranda by or to the Attorney General in either the Office of the Secretary or the Office of Legal Counsel discussing the Meeting either before or after it occurred. This item includes any advice given or memoranda created in response to the Meeting or news of the Meeting.
4. All records including notes and/or memoranda by or to the Attorney General in either the Office of the Secretary of the Office of Legal Counsel relating to the Attorney General’s decision whether to effectively recuse herself and accept the recommendation of career prosecutors and the FBI in the ongoing investigations relating to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and the Clinton Foundation.
5. Any records reflecting the FBI decision or authority to restrict reporters and others on the ground from using cell phones or taking pictures. [Link]
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