***2016 LiveWire*** AG Lynch Testifies Before Congress…Sanders Endorses Hillary…Pence to Campaign with Trump

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Attorney General Loretta Lynch will testify before Congress after exonerating Hillary Clinton on the day that Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) is set to endorse Clinton at a New Hampshire event. President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden will be in Dallas, Texas to memorialize the slain police officers. In Indiana, Gov. Mike Pence will introduce Donald Trump at tonight’s rally amid VP rumors.

Stay tuned to Breitbart News for live updates.

All times eastern.

 

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4:50: Trump to make VP announcement on Friday:

4:35: This may mean Warren will not be Clinton’s VP:

4:20: Fox News and Newt terminate Gingrich’s contributor contract:

3:30: Some strong reactions to Obama’s speech:

3:25: Mr. Rogers with dreadlocks?

3:20: Obama says even those who don’t like the phrase “Black Lives Matter” should feel the pain of Alton Sterling’s family.

3:16: Obama, sounding more like Candidate-in-Chief or Professor-in-Chief than Mourner/Comforter-in-Chief or Commander-in-Chief, speaking about open hearts (more critical against those he thinks have racial biases than agitators).

3:14: Now Obama has to talk about guns, saying, “we flood communities with so many guns that it’s easier for kids to get” their hands on a “glock” than a computer or a book.

[Will the mainstream media fact-check this statement?]

3:09: Obama now lectures on how no institution is entirely immune from bias, including police departments. “We know this,” he asserts. He claims everyone has been a victim of bias.

3:07: Obama says police officers are “deserving of our respect and not our scorn.” Obama says those who use rhetoric suggesting police should be harmed actually “do more harm to the cause of justice they claim to promote.”

3:02: Obama praises police officers, saying “we mourn fewer people today because of your brave actions.” He insists the nation is not as divided as it seems. He says he sees “what’s possible” in the audience when we “recognize that we are one American family, all deserving of equal treatment. All deserving of equal respect. All the children of God. That’s the America I know.”

2:55: Obama speaks at the memorial for the fallen Dallas police officers:

2:43: Lynch insists that her “conversation” with Bill Clinton did not impact her decision to accept the FBI’s recommendation not to prosecute Hillary Clinton.

2:37: Rep. John Ratcliffe (R-TX) cites a New York Times report that Clinton may want to retain Lynch as attorney general just days after her tarmac meeting with Clinton. She says she has no knowledge of the Times’s source and no knowledge of such talks. When he asks if she rule out serving in Clinton’s administration, Lynch says she is focused on her job now. Ratcliffe says if Lynch won’t rule out serving in Clinton’s administration, it casts a bigger shadow over Lynch’s decision not to prosecute Clinton. She won’t comment on whether she will recuse herself from the Department’s Clinton Foundation investigation.

2:35: Rep. Scott Peters (D-CA) points out Democrats have been asking about everything except Clinton’s email scandal while Republicans have only asked her questions about Clinton’s email scandal.

2:30: Rep. Doug Collins (R-GA) says he MISSES ERIC HOLDER because he at least gave answers to questions of law even though Collins did not agree with him. Collins asks Lynch if she owns the decision. Lynch says she made the decision to “accept the recommendation.”

2:25: When asked if Clinton had counsel while she was questioned by the FBI or whether her testimony was under oath, Lynch says she is not privy to that information.

2:20: Lynch tells Rep. Mike Bishop (R-MI) that she does attend ethics training workshops at the Justice Department re: conflicts of interests/improprieties like all employees. When asked if at the moment Clinton wanted to say hello she had any thoughts that the meeting may be improper, Lynch answers, “at that moment, my thought was, as it is in many instances, I RESPOND TO COURTESY WITH COURTESY. I viewed it as a brief social greeting. It turned into a longer conversation than I expected.”

She doesn’t answer if she regretted meeting with Clinton while she was speaking with him on the tarmac.

2:15: Lynch says she has not talked to anyone on Clinton’s transition team about potentially being her attorney general. When asked if she wants to be Clinton’s attorney general, she says she is focused on her current job.

[Does this count as her 75th deflection?]

Rep. Trott tells Lynch she has not answered or deflected 74 questions already.

2:11: Rep. David Trott (R-MI) asks whether Clinton received different treatment from others. Lynch claims that she did not. Trott says Lynch’s meeting with Clinton on the tarmac was “fortuitous” because it gave her a perfect “alibi” and allows her an excuse to not answer the Committee’s questions. Trott says Lynch has deflected or  not answered 74 questions so far.

2:05: Five seats reserved for fallen police officers in Dallas:

2:02: Obama called Sterling’s and Castile’s relatives before arriving in Dallas.

He’s about to speak at the memorial for the fallen police officers:

2:00: And yet the race is a dead heat:

1:55: Lynch tells Rep. Blake Farenthold (R-TX) that this is a “frustrating exercise” for him and punts on his various questions re: Clinton’s server. Farenthold says it is clear that Lynch is not going to answer questions. He now reads questions people posted on his Facebook page. He asks what she discussed with Clinton on the plane. Lynch says Clinton wanted to say “hello” and spoke to her, her husband and two flight crew members. Farenthold says Lynch is good at burning through the time and stonewalling. He gets Lynch to concede that she has not met with others on her plane before Clinton.

1:50: Lynch hearing resumes, and Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) wishes the hearing would be more about gun control and not about Clinton’s emails. Dems. doing a great job helping Lynch run out the clock.

1:49: Obamas arrive in Dallas with Sen. Cruz (R-TX):

1:45: Trump now +2 in Monmouth’s Iowa poll. It’s consistent with his surge in numerous other polls:

1:35: Clinton campaign pushing their new $27 donation option.

1:31: How can be hurt when it was clear Sanders, who gave Clinton a complete pass on her email scandal, made it clear that he wasn’t in it to win it from the beginning?

1:30: Trump campaign: Bernie Sanders Now Part of ‘Rigged System.’

“Today, Bernie Sanders will be endorsing one of the most pro-war, pro-wall street, and pro-off shoring candidates in the history of the Democratic Party. The candidate who ran against special interests is endorsing the candidate who embodies special interests. The candidate who ran against TPP is endorsing the candidate who helped draft the TPP. The candidate who ran in opposition to globalization is running against the candidate who has led the push for globalization. The candidate who warned that open borders destroy the working class is endorsing the candidate with the most open borders policy in our history. The candidate who wants to reform H1-B visas is endorsing the candidate who supported lifting the caps on H1-B visas. The candidate who wants less war is endorsing the candidate who launched wars in Iraq and Libya and would lead us to a new war in Syria. The candidate who wants to get money out of politics is voting for the candidate who has made a career out of making money from politics.

Bernie’s endorsement becomes Exhibit A in our rigged system – the Democrat Party is disenfranchising its voters to benefit the select and privileged few.” – Stephen Miller, Senior Policy Advisor

1:26: Seems like Sanders has a lot of explaining to do to his supporters:

 

RNC on Sanders’s endorsement of Clinton:

1:21: Rep. Raul Labrador (R-ID) says that though he disagrees with Comey’s decision but respects Comey. Lynch won’t comment on Comey’s characterization regarding Clinton’s behavior. When asked if anyone else who had been careless with their security clearance would have been prosecuted, Lynch deflects again. She talks about needing “all of the relevant” facts as opposed to “characterizations.” When asked if the Department has prosecuted or disciplined or terminated anyone who has mishandled classified information, Lynch says she doesn’t have that information after first saying she was not at liberty to say. When asked if a DOJ employee who mishandled classified information could ever be promoted, Lynch deflects again and says “you have to look at the facts” of every situation.

Committee is in recess again for a floor vote.

1:20: Sanders still a candidate even after his Clinton endorsement?

1:09: Gowdy asks Lynch why it is important for her to not use her personal email account to conduct official business, Lynch says it allows for the protection of the information and says it has always been her practice to use official email accounts for official business. Gowdy says Lynch’s lack of clarity on Clinton’s email scandal is “bad for the republic.”

LYNCH: I don’t use personal email to conduct official business.

1:05: Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-SC) says the central issue to him is the dual-track justice system. Gowdy says it should not matter if someone is running for president or running late to a kid’s ballgame. He asks Lynch why it is important to use official email to conduct official business. Lynch does concede that “it is important to do that.” When asked if she uses official email to conduct official business, Lynch says she does. She says she does not use her personal email to send or receive classified email when asked.

1:03: Lynch hearing resumes and (surprise!) a Democrat asks Lynch about DREAMers and the recent Supreme Court ruling re: Obama’s executive amnesty. Lynch tells Rep. Suzan DelBene that she will continue to focus on “public safety” and “protect individuals” who live in immigrant communities who may need to come forward to law enforcement. She now talks about “prosecutorial discretion.”

12:45: Green Party candidate blasts Clinton during her event with Sanders, courts Sanders supporters:

12:37: U-N-I-T-Y?

12:35: Will Clinton ever take questions from the press?

12:30: Rep. Chaffetz (R-UT) asks whether an individual needs a security clearance whether to access classified material. He asks for an example of when a person would not need a security clearance and asks whether it is illegal to share classified information with someone who doesn’t have a security clearance. Lynch says it depends based the facts, intent, statute. When asked if there is an instance where it would not be illegal to share classified information with someone who doesn’t have a security clearance, Lynch says she wouldn’t draw that conclusion. But she says she needs more facts on the hypothetical. When asked if it is legal or illegal to store classified information on an unsecured server, Lynch says she would refer Chaffetz to the requisite statute. She says she doesn’t have a hypothetical re: being legal to store classified emails on an unsecured classified server.

She tells Chaffetz she will not give “blanket answers” to his hypotheticals. Chaffetz says Lynch is sending a “terrible message” to the world with all of her dodging and “gyrations” when asked simple questions about the law.

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Lynch finally answers a question. She tells Rep. Jordan that this is the first time that she has announced that she would accept the recommendations of the FBI team regarding an investigation regardless of what it is. Jordan says he doesn’t  know anyone who would do that, especially someone of Lynch’s stature.

12:19: Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) asks who made the decision to not bring charges against Clinton. She says she accepted the recommendation of the team. When asked if she or Comey made the decision, Lynch says Comey was a part of the team. She robotically says she previously decided to accept the recommendation of the team. Jordan points out that Lynch can’t have it both ways re: deciding to accept their recommendation even before they made it. Jordan says has she ever done this before, and she finally answers a question and says she has not (announce beforehand to accept the recommendations of Comey’s FBI team).

12:18: Rep. Goodlatte mentions that Lynch’s refusal to answer questions is an “ABDICATION OF YOUR RESPONSIBILITY.” He says this is a very important issue re: whether the Justice Department will uphold the rule of law.

12:16: Rep. Karen Bass (D-CA) using her time to talk about Black Lives Matter activists and asks whether the DOJ is surveilling the agitators. Lynch says she is not aware of more active surveillance.

12:15: Clinton also reportedly vetting retired military official for VP:

12:09: While campaigning with Sanders, Clinton vows to crack down on unfair trade practices and specifically mentions the Trans-Pacific Partnership. This is something that Clinton usually does not discuss on the stump.

Trying a bit too hard to push the unity theme?

12:06: Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX) blasts Gutierrez for his rant. He asks Lynch how much time she spent reading the recorded testimony of Clinton.

Lynch says she is not going to go into the particulars of her briefing. She won’t answer the question. She says her role was to speak and meet with the team that worked on the matter for a year and accept their recommendations. When asked a simple question about whether Clinton’s statements were even recorded, Lynch says she won’t answer that.

12:02: Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-IL) is on a rant about Republicans on the Committee. Gutierrez, flamboyantly waving his finger, brings up Rep. McCarthy’s (R-CA) gaffe about holding Benghazi hearings to destroy Clinton’s poll numbers and uses those comments to imply they are doing the same re: her email scandal. He is insinuating that Republicans don’t care about the recent slayings involving black men and police officers last week.

12:01: Clinton talks about racial disparities and discrepancies in sentencing after heartily thanking Sanders for his endorsement. She wants training in “implicit bias” across police forces. She says it is still a problem. She pushes gun control. “Weapons of war have no place in America,” Clinton says.

No point even trying when the writing has been on the wall for two hours. TRENT FRANKS SO FRUSTRATAED BY LYNCH’S DEFLECTIONS THAT HE JUST GIVES UP THE REST OF HIS TIME AND DOESN’T ASK MORE QUESTIONS.

11:59: Rep. Trent Franks (R-AZ) is reading AG Lynch the relevant statutes re: Clinton’s email scandal. When asked to walk the Reps. through her decision-making process with respect to the statute, she says it is not appropriate for her to go into that level of analysis and accepted the recommendations of the team. Again, she punts and deflects. Franks is not going to try and go through the dog and pony show. He says she is going to “capitulate” to Lynch’s deflection skills and cease his questioning.

11:57: In New Hampshire, Hillary Clinton says “it is so great to be here with so many friends–old and new.” She says it is such a privilege to be in New Hampshire with Sanders and she says she can’t help but think about how much more enjoyable this election is going to be “now that we are on the same page.” Clinton says, sounding like an athlete saying canned lines she is paid to say, we are “stronger together,” repeating her campaign theme.

11:45: Lynch tells Rep. Steve King (R-IA) that Bill Clinton wanted to say “hello” to her on the tarmac. She says her husband and two members of the flight crew were on board. When asked if she is aware that Clinton has repeatedly lied to the public about the email scandal, Lynch says she has “no comment.” King says the rest of America, including her political supporters, are aware of that. King again asks Lynch if there is a difference between “gross negligence” and “extreme carelessness,” and she again punts. Lynch punts when asked about whether foreign agents hacked into Clinton’s email account. She punts. King says it is a “very serious matter” and it has been “covered up.”

11:40: Clinton campaign chair thanks Sanders:

11:38: In New Hampshire, Sanders says this campaign is about moving the United States towards “universal healthcare.”

11:33: Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX) says that Americans need to be assured that justice needs to be impartial and not rigged. He asks if she has had conversations with Clintons about her email scandal, Lynch says she has had no conversations about her email server with the Clintons. Lynch also says she has had no conversations about potentially serving in Hillary Clinton’s administration. When asked if she made any suggestions to Comey, directly or indirectly, whether he should be the one to decide whether Clinton should be prosecuted, Lynch says no. She says the process she and Comey followed was “very common.” When asked if she agrees with Comey that Clinton violated the Federal Records Act, Lynch says she is unaware of the comments and so she can’t comment on it.

11:29: Sanders says he is willing to do whatever it takes to make Clinton the next president. He says he is not here to talk about the past but focus on the future. He says this campaign is not about any candidate who sought the presidency. “This campaign is about the needs of the American people,” he says.

11:27: Sanders says he is proud of the campaign he ran in New Hampshire and touts the nearly 1,900 delegates his campaign won. But he says it is not enough to win the nomination and Sec. Clinton goes into the convention with 389 more pledged delegates we have and a lot more super delegates (interesting comment):

11:23: Rep. Randy Forbes (R-VA) asks Lynch if there are “legal prohibitions” that prevents her from answering specific questions that Comey did not have. Lynch says she and Comey may have had different information and even punts on this question, saying she doesn’t want to discuss “specifics.” Lynch says she doesn’t typically provide the level of detail Comey did and says she is not allowed to discuss certain types of information.

11:17: Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN) asks about the Justice Department’s civil rights investigation re: a black man in Memphis who was killed by police officers. He says it is “chilling” that African-Americans are not being treated fairly by police and “Black Lives Matter.”

11:10: Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) comments that Clinton unambiguously said something that was not true about not receiving and sending classified emails. He asks Lynch what he says to his constituents who work for the federal government who now see that Clinton received no criminal ramifications for her actions. He points out that their friends and colleagues have been prosecuted for far less.

11:08: Unity?

11:05: Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) uses her time to argue that Colin Powell used a private email account (apples and oranges comparison) and defend Clinton. She tries to make the absurd claim that Clinton’s private server may have been more secure than the State Department’s. She now rails against immigration enforcement.

10:59: Rep. Steve Chabot (R-OH) says he finds it disheartening that Comey’s recommendation not to recommend charges made many Americans believe there is a “double standard.” He presses Lynch on the difference between “gross negligence” and “extreme carelessness.” Lynch says since to go further would be to go to the facts of the case, she will not comment further. Another punt. Chabot talks about Bill Clinton’s impeachment trial and how he argued then that hundreds of people are in jail for perjury and the President should not be above the law. He says it was  a “travesty” that Clinton has not been treated like any American would have been under similar circumstances.

“Look what Comey laid out,” he says, adding that Comey found that Clinton lied about saying she never sent or received emails marked classified on her private server.

10:55: Sanders getting ready to endorse Clinton in New Hampshire:

10:52: Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY) helps Lynch run out the clock by talking about the “senseless killings” of blacks by police.  He now says gun violence is a “distinctly American problem” and pushes gun control after discussing the Orlando terror attack.

10:46: Rep. Sensenbrenner (R-WI) tells Lynch that the “buck stops with you” and calls her out for punting on various questions regarding the statutes. He says he can’t for the life of him figure out the difference between “gross negligence” and “carelessness.” He says the misdemeanor statute does not require intent and is based on “strict liability.” He asks why he deflected when the responsibility to prosecute is hers. He points out that the Justice Department has prosecuted servicemen for doing the same thing that Clinton did. He says people think there is a different standard between the servicemen and Sec. Clinton.

Lynch says every case has “specific facts” and punts again. Lynch claims “all of the relevant facts” re: Clinton’s email scandal were reviewed by the entire team and they recommended that Clinton be exonerated.

Sensenbrenner points out that one of the servicemen sent an email to his colleagues warning them that they may be in danger and he got prosecuted while Clinton did not get prosecuted for trying to avoid scrutiny. He says Lynch has a burden to prove to the public that Clinton does not get to play by a different set of rules.

10:40: Conyers now questions Lynch, which essentially serves as a time out. He asks Lynch to talk about race and policing. Lynch says she has sought out jurisdictions that have had troubling relationships between the community and law enforcement and have since improved those bonds. Lynch talks about individuals who do not feel they have a chance to participate in America’s democracy.

10:37: When asked if intent to violate the law is a requirement for federal prosecution, Lynch punts again and says she is not in a position to discuss all of the facts of the case and again recommends Goodlatte ask Comey about the specifics. Goodlatte insists that Lynch is not responsibly upholding her Constitutional oath, but Lynch continues to say she will not discuss the underlying facts of the investigation.  She keeps punting when Goodlatte tries to grill her to drill down on the statutes.

10:33: Goodlatte asks Lynch why she didn’t recuse herself from the investigation given her history with Bill Clinton (he nominated her to server as U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York), she says there was no need for a recusal or an independent prosecutor. When asked about her conversation with Bill Clinton on the tarmac, Lynch insists it was just a “social conversation” and claims nothing regarding Clinton’s emails was discussed. Lynch punts on questions regarding Comey’s statements and says she would recommend that Goodlatte ask Comey about his words.

10:27: In her opening remarks, Lynch says that she met with Comey and FBI agents who conducted the investigation into Clinton’s emails. She says while she understands the investigation has generated significant “public interest,” it is not in her interest to comment further on the details of the investigation.

After saying “our hearts are broken” for the families of the victims who were slain last week, she talks about “implicit bias” training and Obama’s police reform agenda.

10:15: Rep. John Conyers (D-MI) opens his remarks and pushes “criminal justice reform” and a bill for “policing reform.” He is discussing the use of “lethal force” by police. He also wants to discuss the “scourge of gun violence.” Conyers also pushing amnesty for DREAMers.

[It seems like Republicans will grill Lynch about Clinton while Democrats will spend most of their time talking about various “social justice” and “police reform” issues.]

10:05: Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-VA) opens the Loretta Lynch hearing and mentions that the timing of FBI Director James Comey’s recommendation to exonerate Clinton is “troubling” as was Lynch’s meeting with Bill Clinton on the tarmac while Clinton and the Clinton Foundation were under investigation. Goodlatte says Comey’s comments were akin to a “public indictment” of Clinton and leads one to ask if someone who is not in Clinton’s position would have fared as well with the FBI as she did. He emphasizes that Clinton lied when she said that there were no emails on her private email server that were “marked classified.” He points out that Clinton lied about turning over “all relevant emails.” He says it defies “logic and the law” to not bring charges against Clinton in light of these facts. Goodlatte says Clinton may have testified falsely during the Benghazi hearings. He says Clinton’s “extreme carelessness” possibility jeopardized America and its citizens.

9:55: Some Sanders supporters in New Hampshire not happy with alliance:

9:45: Trump accuses Sanders of selling out:

9:40: NBC Poll: Even 20% of Clinton’s own supporters think she should be prosecuted over her email scandal.

9:35: New NBC poll has the race in a dead heat:

9:25: A woman is wearing a “Never Hillary” shirt, though:

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