"I need to improperly influence the AG. Why don't I do it on a tarmac in front of the media?"

[EffieBlack]

Said no one ever.

This is all BS.

If the Clintons wanted to influence the Attorney General, they have all manner of ways to get to her. It wouldn't be Bill Clinton chatting her up at an FBO.

This was a spontaneous social chat. Period.

Of course, none of that matters anymore - this has taken on a life of its own, thanks to the bored media who need to cover something other than Trump's meltdown and love nothing more than smearing the Clintons.

[Her Sister]

1. Ding Ding Ding!

Absolutely!

[TheDebbieDee]

2. Like!

[morningfog]

3. Bill served it up on a platter. Thanks Bill.

The stories of his grandchildren were really important. Enough for him to wait for Lynch to land, board her plane unannounced and uninvited.

If he did attempt to discuss the FBI criminal investigation of the DOJ's participation, I am sure Lynch cut him off.

Thanks to Bill, Lynch has to make a statement today that a career prosecutor will follow the FBI recommendation to a T.

Bill made this story.

[EffieBlack]

8. What about Lynch?

Bill's a private citizen. She's the public official governed by ethics laws. I don't think either of them did anything wrong at all. But if blame is being cast, why is it limited to him?

[morningfog]

10. Lynch was broadsided. This is all on Bill.

He waited for her plane and boarded unannounced and uninvited.

[EffieBlack]

17. No one just "boards" the Attorney General's plane

She has security, staff, etc. You don't get on her plane unless you are invited on by her. If this was a problem, she or her staff - a bunch of lawyers - should have simply told Clinton that this would be inappropriate and could put the AG in a difficult position. Instead, they invited him aboard, obviously not thinking it was any big deal - because it wasn't. Until the press and Republicans made it one. And now Democrats are helping them feed the bullshit narrative. Nice.

[morningfog]

18. Former presidents do, apparently. You theory is not consistent with what Lynch said happened.

Are you suggesting she is lying?

[EffieBlack]

19. The Attorney General said that Bill Clinton ambushed her plane?

[Yupster]

24. What Lynch could have done

when an aide said the former President wanted to visit with her was to meet him at the bottom of the steps in public where reporters could be there listening as she pleasantly greeted him and they made small talk for a few minutes.

Even that wouldn't be great, but it would be better than meeting in private in her plane.

[jberryhill]

40. Do you know what the temperature at PHX has been?

There have been flights turned back from PHX because 118F is above the specified operating temperature of Embraer jets.

[JudyM]

42. Exactly. And it should have been very, very brief.

[840high]

52. yep

[okieinpain]

20. Lol you can if your former president. N/t.

[JudyM]

44. Despite his being the initiator, the clearer lapse of ethics, technically, is hers for not escorting

him mmediately to the door and saying goodbye. She is the one with a duty, legally.

[Armstead]

41. Because its a typical case of flouting the normal rules of behavior

For a supposedly smart guy, Bill Clinton dios some really muddleheaded things in his belief that the rules that normal people are expected to follow don;t apply to him.

This is not like they ran across each otehr in the terminal and stopped and had some chit chat.

Bill the Bull in the China Shop burst onto her place. My guess is that when she saw him Lynch did an inner

[zonkers]

56. This post is exactly how I feel. Bill made this story. Either arrogant and boneheaded or crazy

like a fox.

[Hortensis]

4. Maybe they believe the "any press is good press" thing?

Ummm, probably not.

[sufrommich]

5. It's more grinned up outrage embraced by both the

right and left.

[JudyM]

46. It's actually a breach of legal ethics on her part. If it lasted 5 minutes instead of 30 it wouldn't

be of such concern, but it is most assuredly not ginned up if you look at her actual legal and ethical responsibilities. This is a crystal clear "appearance of impropriety" since she would have been (until she just declared otherwise) ruling on whether to prosecute his wife.

[Duckhunter935]

6. Because he believes he is above

Normal rules and does not care.

[joshcryer]

16. More that he knows the American people don't care.

And it provides a very nice distraction from everything else, over literally nothing controversial at all. Brilliant move, effectively making Comey the lead on the indictment which isn't happening.

But yeah, he knew exactly what he was doing and how it would play. But I would wager that he went on that plane thinking "you know, for once, this ought to not be a big fucking deal."

It worked perfectly for him.

[B2G]

38. Yeah, utterly brilliant.

Cause Comey is such a Clinton fan.

You do know he was a Whitewater investigator and couldn't stand her even then, right?

Brilliant, I say.

[joshcryer]

49. Yep, just like Gowdy.

[840high]

53. I care. The

outrage on the net shows me people do care.

[joshcryer]

59. People on the net get outraged about every little thing.

[PJMcK]

62. No, we don't!!!

And I'm outraged that you would suggest such an outrage!!!

(wink)

Happy 4th of July.

[lumberjack_jeff]

22. He does care. He cares that the people know that they are above the normal rules. n/t

[840high]

60. .that^

[SharonClark]

73. Don't think so...B Clinton is a social animal who has social skills and likes people

Some people, even a certain presidential candidate, simply doesn't get that.

[leftofcool]

7. Winner!

[yodermon]

9. I'm meeting some relatives this weekend. I will be sure to meet them in my private jet on a tarmac

at taxpayer expense.

[EffieBlack]

12. If you're already on the tarmac and they happen to be there as well, it certainly makes sense

Enjoy!

[NWCorona]

11. In full view of the media? Where were they?

The reporter that broke this story had a tip after the fact and nobody would have known otherwise.

[EffieBlack]

13. If that's the case, I stand corrected. But even if no media was present, WAS in full view of

numerous people not associated with either DOJ or the Clintons. This was not a secret or surreptitious meeting.

[JustAnotherGen]

14. Thanks for this

Hence why I've trashed a "Poor judgment?" OP.

This is just more Republican fantasy and media ad buys.

Nonsense.

[JoePhilly]

15. The kind of nonsense that whips the crazies into a frenzy.

[BobbyDrake]

55. One of these "Ermagerd da FBI!" threads/comments is now grounds for an Ignore, in my book.

I'm not putting up with this shit all the way until the convention. Apparently it's the most right-wing talking point that can survive a jury vote these days, but that doesn't mean it's not still a right-wing talking point.

[JoePhilly]

58. + 1

[Hekate]

64. +2

[NorthCarolina]

21. I don't believe he waited for her on the tarmac to "influence" her. I actually think it was more

about establishing cause for her recusal from the email case. He was probably successful in that regard.

[Maru Kitteh]

31. Well that will give the FOX news crowd

A convenient rationalization to cling to when then the indictment fairy never comes.

[flamingdem]

23. Silver lining could be that Bill is admonished

and gets his behavior under control. Our futures depend on this!!!!!!!

[Yupster]

27. Yeah, one thing you can say about 70 year old men is

they are quick to change their behavior when people tell them they've done something inappropriate.

[flamingdem]

39. Hillary must be pissed today

but one must accept Bill with warts if one wants him to be a surrogate.

You are right, he probably cannot change his stripes

[Yupster]

25. Yeah but it wasn't on the tarmac, it was in her plane

and there was no media there.

[Orsino]

26. And the MSM aren't talking about the aliens Bill met in the sky on his flight. n/t

[tk2kewl]

28. unless one's intention was to throw a wrench in the gears

[Else You Are Mad]

29. The problem isn't the substance of what was discussed...

The optics of it are awful and are damaging to the Dems. He is one of the most powerful people in America, he could have had a meeting with her anywhere at any time. This just adds fuel to the fire of the majority of Americans that believe that the Clintons abuse their power and are unethical liars. Bill Clinton should have known better.

[ChairmanAgnostic]

69. He does know better. He just doesn't care.

Yet again, one wonders if dep don he resents her running for "his" office.

[libodem]

30. Nothing like a rw conspiracy

To make me come home to mama. Those people are nutz.

[DawgHouse]

32. I heard he stormed the plane like a pirate capturing a ship.

[merrily]

33. When was the last time Bill Clinton waited in his plane on the tarmac to schmooze an AG?

I have no clue what Bill Clinton intended by this meeting, but, according to reports, it was not spontaneous.

[deathrind]

34. A rookie error...

By seasoned professionals. What was Lynch and BC's and their staff thinking.

SMH

[Separation]

66. Probably the same thing Hillary Clinton thought

When she used her own email server.


It doesn't apply to me.

[still_one]

35. wow, a post which actually involves critical thinking skills. Excellent!!!

[Armstead]

43. I think you give Bill too much credit

He long ago lost touch with those quaint notions of propriety and self-restraint.

[still_one]

45. That is a different point than the one I was affirming. This was not a planned meeting

[Bodhi BloodWave]

74. Actually, the moment Bill decided to wait for her plane to land it became planned(on his part)

rather then head whereever it was he was going as planned.

Had they actually met on the tarmac as one was heading to their plane and the other away from theirs i could agree with ya but its no longer unplanned the moment one party decides to wait in order to have a meeting(the major reason some people puts most blame on Bill for this.)

[radical noodle]

36. It's hotter than holy hell in Arizona

Of course they chatted in an air conditioned plane instead of on the tarmac. You're right, Clinton and Lynch undoubtedly know the way to have a "secret" meeting about something they shouldn't be discussing and it wouldn't be in full view of everyone like that.

[LexVegas]

37. Yep. nt

[Exilednight]

47. I now wonder how much tax payer money is going to be wasted

On this boneheaded move by Clinton?

[Surya Gayatri]

48. Absolutely spot on...

[treestar]

50. Yeah if he were going to do that

He'd be smart enough to do it another way.

The media makes a soap opera of something as serious as our politics.

[Hiraeth]

51. If it were me I wouldn't have given a chance for the question to

Be asked but, that's just me. Flame away.

[840high]

54. .+1

[zonkers]

57. Its actually so far out there, it is diabolically brilliant.

[AgadorSparticus]

61. K&R. They are giddy at any chance to demonize the Clintons.

This is a non story fueled by desperation for something, anything to talk about.

[R B Garr]

63. Thank you, and it's total BS. Actually, these talking points are exactly what Hannity was

promoting. Exactly. I got stuck in the car on an AM station with Hannity's show on a couple days ago, and this is exactly what he was saying. To see it here is just pure nonsense and smacks of an agenda.......

MSNBC was saying yesterday that Bill C. also did this with Ted Cruz. It is his style in general to be spontaneous in reaching out to all politicians and people he knows. Anyone who has seen him in person or listened to him knows he is verbose and long-winded and very outgoing.

I saw Bill in person at Ganesha High School in Pomona, CA a couple months ago. He went on at some length about the origin of the name Ganesha, so it was obvious he cared enough to educate himself about where he was speaking and tailored his words to his audience. I am not familiar with the high school, but I was impressed by how detailed his presentation was about the location. This is why he is such a popular politician.

Great thread, EffieBlack. It is nothing more than smear.

[robbedvoter]

65. A tweet storm from someone who gets it

https://twitter.com/Khanoisseur/status/749045491539652612/photo/1

[marshall]

67. Impossible now to meet in private

This type of meeting is what old style politics was made of--only it didn't have nosy reporters connected via technology to a 24 hour news cycle.

[EffieBlack]

68. It was hardly private

If they had really wanted to meet in private, they could have done so and no one would ever have known.

[marshall]

72. That would be secret

Private meetings used to stay private, without becoming fodder for newscasters' speculations. That sort of privacy used to be respected. Privacy is no longer respected.

[hobbit709]

70. One should avoid even the appearance of impropriety.

[thesquanderer]

71. I question your premise about having "all manner of ways to get to her."

I could imagine Bill thinking, "I wish I could just get a few minutes of private time with her, to give her my perspective on things." Just how does even Bill Clinton arrange a private face-to-face off-the-record meeting with the attorney general who may have to decide about a case he is involved in? (Remember, there are questions not just about Hillary's emails, but also conceivably about his Clinton Foundation.)

If he had been thinking that way, this may be the best opportunity that presented itself.