Obama: I would never tell Loretta Lynch what to do on the Hillary investigation

What I've embedded here is Obama's entire 15-minute interview with Chris Wallace from Sunday, which covers a lot of other topics, including Obama's attitude toward terrorism and the status of the Merrick Garland nomination. The Hillary e-mail part doesn't start until around the 10-minute mark, This is where Obama insists - and leaves no room for ambiguity - that he never talks to the DOJ or the FBI about criminal investigations and never tells them what to do, because no one is above the law.

Now that's a pretty strong and unmistakable statement. Is it possible that it was a bold-faced lie? There's no way to know for sure, but my guess is that it's techically true but designed to mislead. In other words, it's the sort of thing we used to call a Clinton Truth. I seriously doubt that Obama has picked up the phone (or ever would) and told Loretta Lynch, "Do not indict Hillary. We need her to win the election." So if a conversation like that would have to have taken place in order for Obama to be a liar on this question, then I'm sure he's not a liar. But that doesn't mean Lynch is unaware of what Obama wants. There are many ways to send that signal while maintaining plausible deniability concerning your own involvement. You send Josh Earnest out to minimize the seriousness of Hillary's actions during a press gaggle. You yourself insist that Hillary's actions didn't pose any sort of threat to national security. You didn't just give Loretta Lynch a direct order, but do you seriously mean to tell me you're not sending a message by doing things like this? Now that may not guarantee Hillary skates. If the FBI recommends indictment and it's evidence is overwhelming, Lynch may well conclude (and Obama might even agree) that the Democrats take a greater political risk by not indicting because it will be so obvious that it was political. But one thing is true either way: Obama will want Lynch to do what is best for the Democrats politically, not what constitutes justice based solely on the facts of the case. And Obama doesn't have to speak directly to Loretta Lynch to make sure she knows that.

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