Attorney General Loretta Lynch is planning to announce Friday that she will accept whatever recommendations the FBI hands down in its investigation into Hillary Clinton’s private State Department email server, The New York Times reports.
The announcement means she is not planning to recuse herself from the case, as some Republican lawmakers have suggested.
Lynch’s decision comes after a day of bipartisan criticism regarding a secret meeting she had Tuesday with former President Bill Clinton. Lynch claims their conversation was merely social and did not cover any investigation.
White House press secretary Josh Earnest acknowledged Thursday that suspicions raised by the meeting are “entirely legitimate.” (WHITE HOUSE: Questions About Lynch’s Sneak Meeting Will Bill Clinton Are ‘Legitimate’)
“I’ll let the attorney general speak to her meetings,” he told reporters. “I think the bottom line is simply that both the president and the attorney general understand how important it is for the Department of Justice to conduct investigations that are free of political interference.”
Texas Republican Sen. John Cornyn used the news to call for the appointment of “a special counsel to ensure the [Clinton] investigation is as far from politics as possible.” House Majority Whip Steve Scalise called for Lynch to recuse herself from the case and appoint a special prosecutor.
Some Democrats also questioned the meeting, calling it “foolish.” (RELATED: Democrats Question Timing Of Bill Clinton’s Private Meeting With Loretta Lynch)
Some have even argued that the true reason behind the meeting was to discuss a possible plea bargain for President Clinton himself.
Former U.S. Attorney Joseph DiGenova told The Daily Caller News Foundation that the meeting may have been about a possible plea bargain for Bill Clinton.
He “is at least a witness in two criminal investigations, [and] probably a subject in two criminal investigations,” DiGenova said. (RELATED: Was Bill Clinton Plea Bargaining With The Attorney General?’)
“It’s very important to realize this isn’t just a question of her judgment. The question is the Department of Justice policy on communicating with a side in a case,” he added.
Lynch will reportedly discuss her decision to remove herself in Aspen Friday afternoon.