White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest reiterated President Barack Obama’s insistence that the investigation into Hillary Clinton's use of a private email server should be conducted without political interference. | AP Photo Lynch-Clinton 'tarmac summit': Another White House headache

White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest praised Attorney Gen. Loretta Lynch for her direct answer to questions about her tarmac summit with former President Bill Clinton.

The same could not be said of Earnest’s own answers to questions about its propriety.


Repeatedly, reporters on Thursday asked Earnest whether President Barack Obama approved of Clinton’s social visit with Lynch and her husband as her plane sat at the Phoenix airport on Tuesday even as her Justice Department investigates Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server in the midst of a presidential campaign. Repeatedly, Earnest deflected, instead stressing Obama’s insistence that the investigation should be conducted without political interference – and Lynch’s record on upholding that principle.

"I wasn't there for the meeting,” Earnest said when pressed on whether the White House was concerned not simply about how the meeting might affect the underlying investigation but rather how the mere fact of it could create the appearance of political influence. “But the attorney general was, she was asked a direct question about it, and she answered it. Again, I think that was consistent with everybody's expectations."

Lynch told reporters Tuesday that her conversation with Clinton “was a great deal about his grandchildren. It was primarily social and about our travels; he mentioned golf he played in Phoenix.”

Lynch also noted that the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s inquiry into Clinton’s private email server at the State Department is being conducted by career agents.

But her answers haven’t quieted criticism. Donald Trump pointed to it as evidence of a “rigged system,” and this Sun Belt runway equivalent of the much-maligned Georgetown cocktail party plays easily into the hands of anti-establishment critics.

Even some Democratic lawmakers have said the meeting “doesn’t send the right signal,” as Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.) put it in a television interview Thursday.

While Earnest wouldn’t “second-guess” the investigation or pass judgment on Lynch’s meeting, he did acknowledge that it deserved scrutiny – and that she did need to offer the public some reassurance.

"I think the question you're asking is entirely legitimate,” he told a reporter who asked if the meeting was cause for people to doubt the impartiality of the investigation. “And I think the question that was asked of Attorney Gen. Lynch was entirely legitimate. That's why I think it was appropriate for her to give the direct answer that she did. And I think it was also important for her to continue to demonstrate her commitment to a principle that she's stood up for in her three decades in public service, and that is the primacy of the rule of law.”

Lynch’s tenure leading the Justice Department has already featured some high-profile public corruption cases; just last week her office took down Democratic Rep. Chaka Fattah.

While Lynch might not have been perfectly attuned to appearances, the White House certainly is. The ongoing investigation into how Hillary Clinton handled her email while serving as Obama’s secretary of state has only grown more awkward for the White House since he endorsed her this month. The tarmac meeting only creates another headache: appearing too critical or too defensive of her behavior could be seen as trying to inappropriately influence Lynch.

“Without regard to who supports us politically or who opposes us politically, we're all subject to the rule of law in the same way,” Earnest stressed Thursday.

But it’s not quite as bad now as it was in March of 2015, before Hillary Clinton had announced her campaign. Since she was a private citizen without a communications apparatus, it was largely left to Earnest to field questions from the White House podium about her chosen email setup.

Then, too, Earnest said that it was the “responsibility of agencies to administer the emails,” without issuing an opinion of her chosen approach. And he expressed confidence – regardless of any appearance to the contrary -- that the public records would be preserved in accordance with federal law.

