Kevin Johnson

USA TODAY

WASHINGTON — Attorney General Loretta Lynch told a Senate panel Wednesday that the White House has not been briefed on the Hillary Clinton email inquiry and asserted that the Justice Department would not discuss the matter, even with President Obama.

“No, sir, I do not,’’ Lynch told Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., when asked if she could foresee a scenario in which the White House would be briefed on the ongoing review.

Lynch also declined comment on the progress of the investigation and a reported grant of immunity to former State Department information technology staffer Bryan Pagliano who set up the private email server that Clinton, now the Democratic presidential front-runner, used while she was secretary of State.

Republican members of the Senate Judiciary Committee repeatedly pressed the attorney general on the status of the inquiry, which is focusing on whether classified information was mishandled. Each time, Lynch pushed back and declined to elaborate, saying that all investigations are handled similarly, whether or not they involve "a famous name.''

Asked at one point whether she would ultimately decide whether criminal charges would be sought in the case, Lynch said decisions would be made on "many levels.''

"I wouldn't necessarily be involved in every decision,'' she said.

Lynch did tell the committee's chairman, Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, that Justice would respond to a letter that the senator sent to the department last week asking for a copy of the immunity agreement.

Without acknowledging that such an agreement had been struck with the witness, Lynch said the department would address Grassley's concerns. Specifically, the Iowa senator is seeking to learn whether any agreement of immunity between Pagliano and federal investigators would extend to congressional testimony.

The witness invoked his Fifth Amendment right before a congressional committee last September, refusing to offer testimony about the email matter at that time.

The Clinton email inquiry was a running theme during the Senate hearing where the attorney general also strongly defended the government's pursuit of assistance from Apple Inc. in unlocking a phone used by one of the San Bernardino terrorists, Syed Farook.

Apple questions FBI's right to compel creation of anti-encryption software

Responding to a suggestion that the government was only pursuing the case through the courts because Congress had blocked previous relief on encryption issues, Lynch offered an icy response to Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah.

"What happened was someone killed 14 people,'' Lynch said, referring to the casualties in the December mass shooting carried out by Farook and his wife, Tashfeen Malik.

Apple is challenging a federal magistrate's order directing the tech giant to assist the FBI in bypassing a password security function on an iPhone used by Farook that may allow federal investigators access to information stored in the phone.

Lynch said the government's request is narrow in scope and not unlike a request for help in gaining access to a locked desk or locker used by a criminal suspect.

Elections 2016 | USA TODAY Network