Jun 23 2017

Graham, Senators Investigate Obama Administration Attorney General Loretta Lynch's Assurance to Keep Clinton Email Investigation from 'Going Too Far'

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina) is seeking information about alleged political interference by the Obama Administration’s Attorney General Loretta Lynch during the FBI’s investigation of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server.

Graham, along with Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), Ranking Member Dianne Feinstein (D-California) and Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-Rhode Island) made the request for information this week.  The bipartisan inquiry comes as the Judiciary Committee is examining the circumstances surrounding the removal of James Comey as FBI Director.

  • In April, The New York Times reported that the FBI came into possession of a batch of hacked documents, one of which was said to be authored by a “Democratic operative who expressed confidence that Ms. Lynch would keep the Clinton investigation from going too far.”  Chairman Grassley then requested a copy of the document from the Justice Department, which has failed to respond. 
  • A month later, The Washington Post reported similar facts and provided further details about individuals involved in these communications.  The Post reported that the email in question, sent by then-chair of the Democratic National Committee Debbie Wasserman Schultz to Leonard Benardo of the Open Society Foundations, indicated that Lynch had privately assured Clinton campaign staffer Amanda Renteria that the FBI’s investigation wouldn’t “go too far.”

Comey was reportedly concerned that the communication would raise doubts about the investigation’s independence and began discussing plans to announce the end of the Clinton email investigation rather than simply referring it to the Department for a prosecutorial decision. Comey’s extraordinary action to announce the end of the investigation was a break from Justice Department protocol, and was later cited as justification for his removal from the FBI.

In their letters to Benardo, Open Society Foundations’ General Counsel Gail Scovell, Renteria and former Attorney General Lynch, Graham and the Senators seek details about the reported communication, copies of any related documents and whether the FBI contacted them to investigate the alleged communication.

The reports come amidst numerous allegations of political inference in controversial and high-profile investigations spanning the current and previous administrations. The Senate Judiciary Committee has jurisdiction over the FBI and Justice Department and is obliged to oversee any potential misconduct or inappropriate political influence at these agencies. 

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Copies of the letters are available on the Senate Judiciary Committee website.

Letter to Mr. Leonard Benardo

Letter to Ms. Gail Scovell

Letter to Ms. Renteria

Letter to former Attorney General Loretta Lynch