WASHINGTON, June 30 - Republican
Donald Trump on Thursday accused Bill Clinton and Attorney General Loretta
Lynch of showing bad judgment by meeting at a time when the former president's
wife, Democratic presidential candidate Hillary, is under federal
investigation.
The private meeting took place on
Lynch's plane after she landed in Phoenix on Monday night and Bill Clinton was
leaving the airport after a rally he held for his wife earlier that day.
Hillary Clinton is under an FBI
investigation for her use of a private email server when she was President
Barack Obama's first-term secretary of state.
Republican candidate Trump on
Thursday told conservative radio talk show host Mike Gallagher that the meeting
was proof of his charge that the U.S. political system is "rigged" in
favor of political elites.
"It's unheard of,"
Trump told ABC News. "You have this massive investigation on emails and
they'd have a meeting like this."
At the same time, Trump used a town hall meeting in Manchester, New Hampshire, to defend himself from criticism from fellow Republicans about his proposals to impose trade protectionist policies to slow the outsourcing of Americans jobs abroad.
"I'm not against trade. I
just want better deals," said Trump.
Lynch, appointed to her position
by Obama more than a year ago, said she did not discuss the email investigation
or other pending matters before the Justice Department with Bill Clinton.
"When I was landing at the
airport, I did see President Clinton at the Phoenix airport as I was leaving
and he spoke to myself and my husband on the plane," Lynch told reporters
on Tuesday.
"Our conversation was a
great deal about grandchildren. It was primarily social and about our travels.
He mentioned the golf he played in Phoenix and he mentioned travels he had to
West Virginia...But there was no discussion of any matter pending for the
Department or any matter pending before any other body," Lynch said.
The Federal Bureau of
Investigation is investigating Hillary Clinton about her email use and has
already interviewed some of her aides. The investigation into whether laws were
broken as a result of the server kept in her New York home has overshadowed
Clinton's campaign.
SPECIAL COUNSEL
Obama is preparing to campaign
with Hillary Clinton for the first time in her 2016 White House bid. They are
to appear together in Charlotte, North Carolina, next Tuesday. A Reuters/Ipsos poll
this week showed Clinton 11 points ahead of the billionaire businessman
At the White House, spokesman
Josh Earnest made clear that Obama believes an impartial investigation is
crucial and noted that Lynch had said the conversation was benign.
"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," Earnest told reporters.
U.S. Senator John Cornyn of
Texas, the No. 2 Senate Republican, cited the incident in renewing his call for
an independent counsel to take over the Clinton probe from the FBI.
"This incident does nothing
to instill confidence in the American people that her department can fully and fairly
conduct this investigation, and that's why a special counsel is needed now more
than ever," he said.
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