US attorney general Loretta Lynch, seeking to tamp down a firestorm over her meeting with former President Bill Clinton, said on Friday she will accept the recommendations of career prosecutors and the FBI director on whether to charge Hillary Clinton for mishandling emails. 
 
The United States&#39; top law enforcement officer, however, stopped short of saying she would recuse herself from the investigation of the Democratic presidential candidate. 
 
&quot;I will be informed of those findings, as opposed to never reading them or never seeing them, but I will be accepting their recommendations and their plan for going forward,&quot; Lynch said. 
 
She was responding to questions from a Washington Post journalist who was introducing a talk by Lynch at the Aspen Ideas Festival, a gathering of government, technology and other business leaders in Aspen, Colorado. 
 
Republicans, including presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, have said a political appointee like Lynch should not be involved in the email investigation and that the Monday night meeting with Bill Clinton shows Lynch is too close to the Clintons. 
 
With a regretful tone, Lynch said on Friday she would not privately meet with Bill Clinton again and that she understood how the meeting &quot;casts a shadow&quot; over the perception of the Justice Department&#39;s probe into Hillary Clinton&#39;s email use. 
 
The attorney general said she has received many questions about her role in the investigation and &quot;whether someone who was a political appointee would be involved in deciding how to investigate.&quot;&nbsp; 
 
Republican lawmakers have called for an independent investigation of Hillary Clinton&#39;s use of a private email server while secretary of state, saying the Obama administration&#39;s justice department could not be free of bias.&nbsp; 
 
In Washington, White House spokesman Josh Earnest told a daily news briefing that the investigation is being handled independently of the White House and President Barack Obama. 
 
Lynch was appointed by the Democratic president and sworn in on April 1, 2015, well after Hillary Clinton left Obama&#39;s Cabinet in 2013. 
 
Career prosecutors are not appointed by a president and may serve through different administrations. The FBI director is appointed by the president but is not part of his Cabinet and is considered apolitical.&nbsp; 
 
Lynch said on Friday that she had already decided to accept whatever recommendations prosecutors presented her before her meeting with Bill Clinton.&nbsp; 
 
The private meeting with the former president took place on Lynch&#39;s plane after she landed in Phoenix on Monday night. Bill Clinton was leaving the airport after a rally for his wife earlier that day. 
 
Lynch told reporters earlier this week that she did not discuss the email probe or other matters pending before the justice department with Bill Clinton, calling their meeting &quot;primarily social.&quot;&nbsp; 
 
The FBI is investigating Hillary Clinton&#39;s email use and whether laws were broken as a result of a personal email server kept in her Chappaqua, New York, home while she was secretary of state, an issue that has overshadowed her campaign. 
 
She apologized last year for using the server, saying that while she did nothing wrong, she should have used two email accounts: one for state department business and another for personal matters. 
 
Representatives for her campaign could not be reached immediately for comment on Friday.&nbsp; 
 
Trump on Thursday called Lynch&#39;s meeting &quot;a sneak&quot; and questioned the judgement of both Bill Clinton and the attorney general. 
 
In a tweet on Friday, the wealthy businessman said the meeting showed the US political system was &quot;totally rigged&quot; and that Hillary Clinton had bad judgment.&nbsp; 
 
&quot;Bill&#39;s meeting was probably initiated and demanded by Hillary!&quot; Trump said on Twitter. 
 
The justice department, along with the White House, has said the probe should be free of political interference. 
 
(Reuters)

Loretta Lynch has faced questions over her private meeting with former president Bill Clinton which took place in Phoenix on Monday night

US attorney general Loretta Lynch, seeking to tamp down a firestorm over her meeting with former President Bill Clinton, said on Friday she will accept the recommendations of career prosecutors and the FBI director on whether to charge Hillary Clinton for mishandling emails. The United States' top law enforcement officer, however, stopped short of saying she would recuse herself from the investigation of the Democratic presidential candidate. "I will be informed of those findings, as opposed to never reading them or never seeing them, but I will be accepting their recommendations and their plan for going forward," Lynch said. She was responding to questions from a Washington Post journalist who was introducing a talk by Lynch at the Aspen Ideas Festival, a gathering of government, technology and other business leaders in Aspen, Colorado. Republicans, including presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, have said a political appointee like Lynch should not be involved in the email investigation and that the Monday night meeting with Bill Clinton shows Lynch is too close to the Clintons. With a regretful tone, Lynch said on Friday she would not privately meet with Bill Clinton again and that she understood how the meeting "casts a shadow" over the perception of the Justice Department's probe into Hillary Clinton's email use. The attorney general said she has received many questions about her role in the investigation and "whether someone who was a political appointee would be involved in deciding how to investigate." Republican lawmakers have called for an independent investigation of Hillary Clinton's use of a private email server while secretary of state, saying the Obama administration's justice department could not be free of bias. In Washington, White House spokesman Josh Earnest told a daily news briefing that the investigation is being handled independently of the White House and President Barack Obama. Lynch was appointed by the Democratic president and sworn in on April 1, 2015, well after Hillary Clinton left Obama's Cabinet in 2013. Career prosecutors are not appointed by a president and may serve through different administrations. The FBI director is appointed by the president but is not part of his Cabinet and is considered apolitical. Lynch said on Friday that she had already decided to accept whatever recommendations prosecutors presented her before her meeting with Bill Clinton. The private meeting with the former president took place on Lynch's plane after she landed in Phoenix on Monday night. Bill Clinton was leaving the airport after a rally for his wife earlier that day. Lynch told reporters earlier this week that she did not discuss the email probe or other matters pending before the justice department with Bill Clinton, calling their meeting "primarily social." The FBI is investigating Hillary Clinton's email use and whether laws were broken as a result of a personal email server kept in her Chappaqua, New York, home while she was secretary of state, an issue that has overshadowed her campaign. She apologized last year for using the server, saying that while she did nothing wrong, she should have used two email accounts: one for state department business and another for personal matters. Representatives for her campaign could not be reached immediately for comment on Friday. Trump on Thursday called Lynch's meeting "a sneak" and questioned the judgement of both Bill Clinton and the attorney general. In a tweet on Friday, the wealthy businessman said the meeting showed the US political system was "totally rigged" and that Hillary Clinton had bad judgment. "Bill's meeting was probably initiated and demanded by Hillary!" Trump said on Twitter. The justice department, along with the White House, has said the probe should be free of political interference. (Reuters)

US attorney general to accept FBI findings in Clinton email probe

The FBI quizzed Democratic White House hopeful Hillary Clinton on Saturday about her use of personal email while serving as secretary of state, a campaign spokesman said. 
 
Questions over Clinton`s use of a private account and homebrew server during her time as America&#39;s top diplomat have dogged her presidential campaign for more than a year, and fueled voter concerns that she is not trustworthy. 
 
An aide said the interview at FBI headquarters in Washington lasted about 3.5 hours. 
 
&quot;Secretary Clinton gave a voluntary interview this morning about her email arrangements while she was secretary,&quot; spokesman Nick Merrill said in a statement.&nbsp; 
 
&quot;She is pleased to have had the opportunity to assist the Department of Justice in bringing this review to a conclusion. Out of respect for the investigative process, she will not comment further on her interview.&quot; 
 
Clinton, aiming to become the nation&#39;s first female commander-in-chief, has apologized for exclusively using a private email account and her own server during her time as secretary of state from 2009 to 2013. 
 
Opponents argue that this breached rules about protecting classified documents from cyber attack and may have amounted to a crime. 
 
The FBI interview came amid revelations that US Attorney General Loretta Lynch held an impromptu meeting with Clinton`s husband, former president Bill Clinton, at the airport in Phoenix, Arizona this week. 
 
The exchange touched off a political firestorm. 
 
On Friday, Lynch vowed to respect the decisions of the FBI and the prosecutors on whether to charge Hillary Clinton. 
 
The top US law enforcement official admitted that the private encounter with Bill Clinton had &quot;cast a shadow&quot; over the investigation into the emails in the runup to the November general election. 
 
But Lynch insisted that she, as a political appointee, will not overrule investigators or otherwise interfere in the legal process regarding the probe, and that the integrity of the Justice Department will be upheld. 
 
(AFP)

According to a spokesman Clinton gave a 'voluntary interview' to FBI over her use of personal email while she was secretary

The FBI quizzed Democratic White House hopeful Hillary Clinton on Saturday about her use of personal email while serving as secretary of state, a campaign spokesman said. Questions over Clinton`s use of a private account and homebrew server during her time as America's top diplomat have dogged her presidential campaign for more than a year, and fueled voter concerns that she is not trustworthy. An aide said the interview at FBI headquarters in Washington lasted about 3.5 hours. "Secretary Clinton gave a voluntary interview this morning about her email arrangements while she was secretary," spokesman Nick Merrill said in a statement. "She is pleased to have had the opportunity to assist the Department of Justice in bringing this review to a conclusion. Out of respect for the investigative process, she will not comment further on her interview." Clinton, aiming to become the nation's first female commander-in-chief, has apologized for exclusively using a private email account and her own server during her time as secretary of state from 2009 to 2013. Opponents argue that this breached rules about protecting classified documents from cyber attack and may have amounted to a crime. The FBI interview came amid revelations that US Attorney General Loretta Lynch held an impromptu meeting with Clinton`s husband, former president Bill Clinton, at the airport in Phoenix, Arizona this week. The exchange touched off a political firestorm. On Friday, Lynch vowed to respect the decisions of the FBI and the prosecutors on whether to charge Hillary Clinton. The top US law enforcement official admitted that the private encounter with Bill Clinton had "cast a shadow" over the investigation into the emails in the runup to the November general election. But Lynch insisted that she, as a political appointee, will not overrule investigators or otherwise interfere in the legal process regarding the probe, and that the integrity of the Justice Department will be upheld. (AFP)

Hillary Clinton quizzed by FBI

The wife of the gunman who killed 49 people at an Orlando gay nightclub knew of his plans for the attack and could soon be charged in connection with the deadliest mass shooting in modern US history, a law enforcement source said today. 
 
The source told Reuters that a federal grand jury had been convened and could charge Omar Mateen&#39;s wife, Noor Salman, by today. 
 
&quot;It appears she had some knowledge of what was going on,&quot;&nbsp;said US Senator Angus King, a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, which received a briefing on the attack on Tuesday. 
 
&quot;She definitely is, I guess you would say, a person of interest right now and appears to be cooperating and can provide us with some important information,&quot; King told CNN. 
 
Mateen, who was shot dead by police after a three-hour standoff at the Pulse club early on Sunday, called 911 during his rampage to profess allegiance to various militant Islamist groups. 
 
Federal investigators have said he was likely self-radicalised and there was no evidence that he received any instruction or aid from outside groups such as Islamic State. Mateen, 29, was a US citizen, born in New York of Afghan immigrant parents. 
 
&quot;He appears to have been an angry, disturbed, unstable young man who became radicalised,&quot; President Barack Obama told reporters after a meeting of the White House National Security Council. 
 
During his rampage, Mateen systematically made his way through the packed club shooting people who were already down, apparently to ensure they were dead, said Angel Colon, a wounded survivor. 
 
&quot;I look over and he shoots the girl next to me and I was just there laying down and thinking: &#39;I&#39;m next, I&#39;m dead,&#39;&quot; he said. 
 
Mateen shot him twice more, one bullet apparently aimed for Colon&#39;s head striking his hand, and another hitting his hip, Colon said at Orlando Regional Medical Center, where he is one of 27 survivors being treated 
 
FoxNews.com, citing an FBI source, said prosecutors were seeking to charge Mateen&#39;s wife, Salman, as an accessory to 49 counts of murder and 53 counts of attempted murder and failure to notify law enforcement about the pending attack and lying to federal agents. 
 
NBC News said Salman told federal agents she tried to talk her husband out of carrying out the attack. But she also told the FBI she once drove him to the Pulse nightclub because he wanted to scope it out, the network said. 
 
A former wife of Mateen, who was a security guard, has said he was mentally unstable and beat her. The ex-spouse, Sitora Yusufiy, said she fled their home after four months of marriage. 
 
He also claimed solidarity with the ethnic Chechen brothers who carried out the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing and with a Palestinian-American who became a suicide bomber in Syria for al Qaeda offshoot the Nusra Front, authorities said. 
 
&quot;We could hear him talking to 911 saying that the reason why he&rsquo;s doing this is because he wants America to stop bombing his country. From that conversation from 911 he pledges allegiance to ISIS,&quot; said Patience Carter, 20, who was trapped in a bathroom stall at the nightclub as Mateen prowled outside. 
 
LUCKY TO BE ALIVE 
 
Carter, from Philadelphia, read a poem to the media that she said she wrote to help her heal. 
 
&quot;Looking at the blood and debris covered on everyone&#39;s faces. Looking at the gunman&#39;s feet under the stall as he paces. 
 
The guilt of feeling lucky to be alive is heavy,&quot; the poem read. 
 
One official said investigators believe Mateen browsed militant Islamist material on the internet for two years or more before the shootings. 
 
Soon after the attack, Mateen&#39;s father indicated that his son had harboured strong anti-gay feelings. He recounted an incident when his son became angry when he saw two men kissing in Miami while out with his wife and son. 
 
US officials were investigating media reports that Mateen may have been gay but not openly so, and questioning whether that could have driven his attack, according to two people who have been briefed regularly on the investigation and requested anonymity to discuss it. 
 
The owner of Pulse, speaking through a representative, denied reports that Mateen had been a regular patron of the nightclub. 
 
&quot;Untrue and totally ridiculous,&quot; Sara Brady, a spokeswoman for club owner Barbara Poma, said in an e-mail when asked about the claim. 
 
Mateen&#39;s father, Seddique Mateen, told reporters his son had never mentioned being homosexual. &quot;I don&#39;t believe he was a whatever you call it,&quot; he said. 
 
Mateen&#39;s name was listed on an unclassified federal database for nearly a year from 2013 to 2014 after he allegedly told co-workers of sympathies he had with militants overseas, three federal officials familiar with the investigation told Reuters. 
 
He was removed from that so-called selectee list after the Federal Bureau of Investigation completed an investigation and concluded he had no connections with known militant groups.&nbsp; 
(Reuters)

She reportedly tried to talk him out of this plan but apparently drove him to the nightclub because he wanted to recce the spot

The wife of the gunman who killed 49 people at an Orlando gay nightclub knew of his plans for the attack and could soon be charged in connection with the deadliest mass shooting in modern US history, a law enforcement source said today. The source told Reuters that a federal grand jury had been convened and could charge Omar Mateen's wife, Noor Salman, by today. "It appears she had some knowledge of what was going on," said US Senator Angus King, a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, which received a briefing on the attack on Tuesday. "She definitely is, I guess you would say, a person of interest right now and appears to be cooperating and can provide us with some important information," King told CNN. Mateen, who was shot dead by police after a three-hour standoff at the Pulse club early on Sunday, called 911 during his rampage to profess allegiance to various militant Islamist groups. Federal investigators have said he was likely self-radicalised and there was no evidence that he received any instruction or aid from outside groups such as Islamic State. Mateen, 29, was a US citizen, born in New York of Afghan immigrant parents. "He appears to have been an angry, disturbed, unstable young man who became radicalised," President Barack Obama told reporters after a meeting of the White House National Security Council. During his rampage, Mateen systematically made his way through the packed club shooting people who were already down, apparently to ensure they were dead, said Angel Colon, a wounded survivor. "I look over and he shoots the girl next to me and I was just there laying down and thinking: 'I'm next, I'm dead,'" he said. Mateen shot him twice more, one bullet apparently aimed for Colon's head striking his hand, and another hitting his hip, Colon said at Orlando Regional Medical Center, where he is one of 27 survivors being treated FoxNews.com, citing an FBI source, said prosecutors were seeking to charge Mateen's wife, Salman, as an accessory to 49 counts of murder and 53 counts of attempted murder and failure to notify law enforcement about the pending attack and lying to federal agents. NBC News said Salman told federal agents she tried to talk her husband out of carrying out the attack. But she also told the FBI she once drove him to the Pulse nightclub because he wanted to scope it out, the network said. A former wife of Mateen, who was a security guard, has said he was mentally unstable and beat her. The ex-spouse, Sitora Yusufiy, said she fled their home after four months of marriage. He also claimed solidarity with the ethnic Chechen brothers who carried out the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing and with a Palestinian-American who became a suicide bomber in Syria for al Qaeda offshoot the Nusra Front, authorities said. "We could hear him talking to 911 saying that the reason why he’s doing this is because he wants America to stop bombing his country. From that conversation from 911 he pledges allegiance to ISIS," said Patience Carter, 20, who was trapped in a bathroom stall at the nightclub as Mateen prowled outside. LUCKY TO BE ALIVE Carter, from Philadelphia, read a poem to the media that she said she wrote to help her heal. "Looking at the blood and debris covered on everyone's faces. Looking at the gunman's feet under the stall as he paces. The guilt of feeling lucky to be alive is heavy," the poem read. One official said investigators believe Mateen browsed militant Islamist material on the internet for two years or more before the shootings. Soon after the attack, Mateen's father indicated that his son had harboured strong anti-gay feelings. He recounted an incident when his son became angry when he saw two men kissing in Miami while out with his wife and son. US officials were investigating media reports that Mateen may have been gay but not openly so, and questioning whether that could have driven his attack, according to two people who have been briefed regularly on the investigation and requested anonymity to discuss it. The owner of Pulse, speaking through a representative, denied reports that Mateen had been a regular patron of the nightclub. "Untrue and totally ridiculous," Sara Brady, a spokeswoman for club owner Barbara Poma, said in an e-mail when asked about the claim. Mateen's father, Seddique Mateen, told reporters his son had never mentioned being homosexual. "I don't believe he was a whatever you call it," he said. Mateen's name was listed on an unclassified federal database for nearly a year from 2013 to 2014 after he allegedly told co-workers of sympathies he had with militants overseas, three federal officials familiar with the investigation told Reuters. He was removed from that so-called selectee list after the Federal Bureau of Investigation completed an investigation and concluded he had no connections with known militant groups. (Reuters)

Police: Orlando shooter's wife knew about attack, may be charged soon

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US attorney general to accept FBI findings in Clinton email probe

Hillary Clinton quizzed by FBI

Police: Orlando shooter's wife knew about attack, may be charged soon