WASHINGTON Republicans and Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee are seeking information about alleged political interference by former Attorney General Loretta Lynch into the FBI's investigation of Hillary Clinton's use of a private email server. Chuck Grassley (R., Iowa) announced Friday.
The secret document, which the FBI now considers to be phony, appeared to be a piece of Russian intelligence claiming that Lynch had privately assured the Clinton campaign that the investigation into her handling of classified information would be limited.
Mrs. Clinton, a former secretary of state and at that time the Democratic White House nominee, kept her State Department work emails on a private email server at her home, obscuring them from government record-keepers.
Demands to Qatar: Close Al Jazeera, reduce Iran ties
He reiterated the position taken by the Qatari government that shuttering the network is not an item up for negotiation. The UAE, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt did not immediately respond to request for comment on this point.
The GOP-led Senate panel asked Lynch to confirm whether she or her staff had ever communicated with Amanda Reteria, a senior Clinton campaign staffer identified in the fake Russian document, during the presidential race, and to detail any of those communications. The former FBI chief claimed that Lynch asked him to refer to the Clinton probe as a "matter" rather than an investigation. "Wasserman Schultz, her staff, her associates, or any other current or former DNC officials about the Clinton email investigation?" reads one of six questions included in the letter. There are also looking for documents and information about whether the FBI investigated the communication. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D., Fla.), then-chair of the Democratic National Committee, relaying Lynch's conversation with the Clinton staffer.
Comey had previously told lawmakers he "struggled" with how to handle the email probe because of "a number of things that had gone on... that made me worry that [Justice] Department leadership could not credibly complete the investigation and decline prosecution without grievous damage to the American people's confidence in the justice system".
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