In a press conference announcing a Department of Justice investigation into the Baltimore Police Department, Attorney General Loretta Lynch maintained that the DOJ doesn’t “really have any drones” — despite the fact that the DOJ most assuredly owns drones.
“Can you explain to people why they shouldn’t be concerned that the federal government was flying surveillance planes over Baltimore during the protest?” asked one reporter. (VIDEO: MSNBC: Loretta Lynch Will Follow ‘Eric Holder’s Agenda’)
“Well, you know, I think I did see that report,” Lynch responded. “I think that– someone came to me and said something about, you know, ‘Were you flying drones over Baltimore?’ And I thought, I don’t really have any drones, but leaving that aside…”
“It’s actually not an uncommon practice for police helicopters to fly over to try and figure out where are people moving to or where might violence be breaking out and provide information down to the field…” she said. “I don’t think it was a new occurrence, and I think you see that in any number of cities…”
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Lynch’s answer was interesting, to say the least, considering a 2015 Department of Justice audit found that the Federal Bureau of Investigations owns 34 drones and that the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms owns six. Both bureaus report to the DoJ. The same audit found that Department of Homeland Security drones were used in DoJ investigations 95 times. (RELATED: Drone Crashes Into White House Grounds, Secret Service Locks Down Perimeter)
MSNBC even got a few digs in at Lynch’s expense after the press conference. “Also something to point out, the Justice Department does not own drones!” host Jose Diaz-Balart said.
“She did say that,” chief legal correspondent Ari Meber said as other guests laughed. “I got to tell you, though, it depends what you mean by the Justice Department. Technically, the FBI legally is under DOJ, but there’s a separate FBI Director, separately confirmed. They have stuff on the books– and off the books– where you might look into that and get a different answer.”
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