First, it is just unimaginable to me that our Attorney General, the chief law enforcement officer of the United States of America, would have this meeting in a public space as the FBI investigation nears its end. The optics are just horrific for her and for Hillary Clinton, and the immediate thought that enters pretty much everyone's mind will be "well, the fix is in on that deal."
That sure was my first thought.
However, the other side of this is that it is just as likely that the AG was giving Mr. Clinton a head's up that there probably will be an indictment as it is that there will not be one. He is an ex-President, after all, and the office is deserving of deference and respect even if the person who held it isn't.
If I were in her position on this thing, I know I would be more likely to want to deliver bad news in person than good news. I think I'd want to give that level of deference to anyone who had held the office.
I'm kind of like Fox Mulder where the AG is concerned: I want to believe Ms. Lynch will turn out to be an honorable person on this matter, and much of her background encourages optimism in that regard. But we all have to understand that she is no doubt under tremendous pressure from her President to quash any criminal referral the FBI brings forth for purely partisan political reasons.
So, assuming the FBI does bring down such a referral, Ms. Lynch is likely to be faced with a choice of keeping her job or her integrity intact. Her admirers would contend she would choose the later. Only time will tell.
But the bottom line on this ill-advised meeting is that one should not assume she was delivering news that Mr. Clinton wanted to hear. That could have just as easily been done over the phone with no prying eyes looking in.
