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Clinton-Lynch Tarmac Meeting ‘Bothered’ Comey — Just Not Enough To Ask Hillary About It

REUTERS/Clodagh Kilcoyne

Virginia Kruta Associate Editor
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Former FBI Director James Comey admitted that the tarmac meeting between then-Attorney General Loretta Lynch and Bill Clinton bothered him — but according to his closed-door testimony, he didn’t direct FBI agents interviewing Hillary Clinton to ask about it.

Calling the meeting “highly unusual,” he conceded that after learning of the meeting, “I was very concerned.” (RELATED: House Committees Release James Comey Transcript)

Comey mentioned Lynch with regard to the Clinton investigation in his book, “A Higher Loyalty: Truth, Lies and Leadership,” but said then that he had ultimately concluded that she had not interfered.

He appeared to contradict himself, however, when he referenced still classified information, which he said was unverified but “would undoubtedly have been used by political opponents to cast serious doubt on the attorney general’s independence in connection with the Clinton investigation.”

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton responds forcefully to intense questioning on the September attacks on U.S. diplomatic sites in Benghazi, Libya, during a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington January 23, 2013. REUTERS/Jason Reed

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton responds forcefully to intense questioning on the September attacks on U.S. diplomatic sites in Benghazi, Libya, during a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington January 23, 2013. REUTERS/Jason Reed

In addition to his comments about Lynch and Clinton’s meeting, Comey noted that he would not have allowed Peter Strzok and Lisa Page to continue with their role in the investigation.

“Based on what I saw,” he started “—have seen in the media since I left the FBI — that unless there was some explanation for that that I was missing, in my judgment, they wouldn’t have remained part of the investigation.”

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