Attorney General Loretta Lynch refuses to answer whether the Department of Justice was involved in granting immunity to Hillary Clinton’s aide allegedly responsible for setting up her private email server.
During Lynch’s testimony in front of Congress, Republican Texas Senator John Cornyn asked Lynch about Clinton’s email scandal and the process for granting immunity.
Cornyn said, “But recently, the Department offered immunity to Bryan Paliano, the gentleman who—if reports are true—is the one who helped set up this private email account.”
He then asked, “It’s true, isn’t it, that immunity cannot be granted by the FBI alone, that it requires the Department of Justice to approve of that grant of immunity to go to court and ask that court to grant immunity as part of their ongoing investigation. Isn’t that right?”
Lynch responded by explaining there are various types of immunity.
She said, ”There’s limited use, and there’s some that are conferred just with an agreement between a lawyer and the defense counsel, there’s some that’s conferred by the court. So certainly, regardless of the various types, that’s something that’s done in conjunction with an agent and an attorney who make the decision and also in conjunction with discussion with the defense counsel.”
Cornyn then specifically asked, “In this case, did the Department of Justice approve of the grant of immunity to Mr. Paliano?”
“Well, senator, with respect to that specific case—as I’m sure you know—we don’t discuss the specifics of any ongoing investigation,” Lynch responded.
When Cornyn insisted that he was talking about procedure as opposed to specifics of a case, Lynch said, “Well, with respect to the procedure relating to any specific witness, I would not be able to comment on interactions between that witness and the Department.”
“So just to be clear, just as you said earlier, the FBI can’t go to court without the Department of Justice’s approval and you said you go together. If, in fact, this was immunity granted by a court, that had to be done under the auspices and with the approval of the Department of Justice, which you head, correct?” Cornyn asked.
“It would certainly depend on the type of immunity that was granted,” Lynch repeated. “There are various types. Sometimes, an agreement between the attorney and the defense attorney…”
“I believe you already said that,” Cornyn said.