Former President Bill Clinton met privately with Attorney General Loretta Lynch in Phoenix, AZ Monday evening in what the two say claim was an accidental encounter. The meeting took place as the former president’s wife and presumptive Democratic nominee, Hillary Clinton, is being investigated for her private email server use.
A Clinton aide told CBS News that the meeting was unplanned. Bill Clinton saw Loretta Lynch on the tarmac, and simply wanted to say hello. The former president was seen boarding her plane.
The chance meeting came just one day before the House Republicans released their report on the 2012 Benghazi attacks, which criticized the Obama administration’s response to the tragedy.
Lynch told the media that her discussion with Clinton was focused on his grandchildren, travel and golf. According to the attorney general, the topics of Hillary’s email server and Benghazi never came up.
“Our conversation was a great deal about his grandchildren,” she said. “It was primarily social and about our travels,” she added. Lynch said Clinton talked about playing golf in Phoenix and traveling to West Virginia.
When pressed further regarding the appropriateness of the meeting with Clinton, Lynch said the ongoing investigation is being managed by “career investigators and career agents.”
Although Lynch has downplayed the meeting, the attorney general has been criticized for her “chance” encounter with the former president. Paul Reid, Justice reporter at CBS News, called the meeting “shocking” and said “the appearance of impropriety is just stunning.”
