--- title: Loretta Lynch To Accept FBI Recommendation On Clinton Email description: Loretta Lynch will accept the recommendation from the FBI about whether to bring charges in the inquiry over Hillary Clinton's email server. canonical: https://time.com/4390961/loretta-lynch-hillary-clinton-fbi-email-probe/ author: Tessa Berenson article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-07-01T11:35:04.000Z article:modified_time: 2023-12-13T06:55:57.000Z article:section: Politics og:title: Loretta Lynch To Accept FBI Recommendation On Clinton Email og:description: Loretta Lynch will accept the recommendation from the FBI about whether to bring charges in the inquiry over Hillary Clinton's email server. og:url: https://time.com/4390961/loretta-lynch-hillary-clinton-fbi-email-probe/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt67d5ae2e4b764177/69889279428a9e4e96cd28ea/loretta-lynch-002.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2560 og:image:height: 1440 og:image:alt: Attorney General Loretta Lynch pauses during a news conference at the Justice Department in Washington, Monday, May 9, 2016. North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory's administration sued the federal government Monday in a fight for a state law that limits protec og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Loretta Lynch To Accept FBI Recommendation On Clinton Email twitter:description: Loretta Lynch will accept the recommendation from the FBI about whether to bring charges in the inquiry over Hillary Clinton's email server. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt67d5ae2e4b764177/69889279428a9e4e96cd28ea/loretta-lynch-002.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Loretta Lynch Won't Overrule FBI On Hillary Clinton Email Probe > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: September 2026. ## TIME D.C. Brief: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition D.C. Brief is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=cf420cfa-c5db-47bf-9c80-630c1384770e&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Loretta Lynch Will Accept the FBI's Investigation On Clinton Emails [Watch (HLS stream): Loretta Lynch Will Accept the FBI's Investigation On Clinton Emails](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/L0jM7tXD.m3u8) (1:11)  _Published 2016-07-01. Attorney General Loretta Lynch attended the Aspen Ideas Festival, where she discussed her meeting with Bill Clinton and her involvement in the FBI investigation of Hillary Clinton's emails._  by [Tessa Berenson](https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Updated: Dec 13, 2023 6:55 AM UTCPublished: Jul 1, 2016 11:35 AM UTC Attorney General Loretta Lynch attended the Aspen Ideas Festival, where she discussed her meeting with Bill Clinton and her involvement in the FBI investigation of Hillary Clinton's emails.  by [Tessa Berenson](https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Updated: Dec 13, 2023 6:55 AM UTCPublished: Jul 1, 2016 11:35 AM UTC Attorney General Loretta Lynch says she will accept whatever recommendation the FBI and prosecutors make about charges in the inquiry over Hillary Clinton’s email server. The FBI investigation concerns whether Clinton or her aides broke the law by setting up a [private email server](http://time.com/4348021/hillary-clinton-emails-ig-report/?iid=sr-link4) for use while she was Secretary of State. During a newsmaker conversation at the Aspen Ideas Festival, Lynch explained the process through which the controversial case will be resolved. “A lot of the questions that I’ve gotten about my role \[in the Clinton investigation\] was a question or concern about whether someone who was a political appointee would be involved in how to investigate a matter, or what something meant, or how would the case proceed,” Lynch said. “As I’ve always said this role will be handled by the career people, who are independent.” Those career investigators and prosecutors will present their findings and recommendations, which will be reviewed by FBI Director James Comey, she explained. Lynch said that while she doesn’t have a role in the recommendations or findings, she will then receive the recommendations and she “fully expects to accept them.” Lynch said the department typically does not explain the process through which they resolve cases, but given the poor optics of a [social meeting between her and former president Bill Clinton](http://time.com/4389433/bill-clinton-hillary-clinton-email-attorney-general-loretta-lynch/?iid=sr-link1) earlier this week, she wanted the process to be as clear as possible. The arrangement means that Lynch, a political appointee, won’t overrule investigators in a case entangled with politics.The matter was reported earlier on Friday by the [New York ](http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/02/us/politics/loretta-lynch-hillary-clinton-email-server.html?%5Fr=0)_Times._ Lynch said that while the conversation she had with former president Bill Clinton focused on grandkids and travel, if given a shot at a do-over, she wouldn’t meet with him again. “I think it has cast a shadow over what it should not. Over something it will not touch,” Lynch said. –_with reporting by Maya Rhodan_ ## Transcript Friends, supporters, backers are saying what on Earth was she thinking talking to Bill Clinton? So what on Earth were you thinking, what happened? Well I think that's the question of the day, isn't it? Yeah, yes. People have also wondered and raised questions about my role In the ultimate resolution of matters involving the investigation into the state department e- mails. As I've always indicated the matter's being handled by career agents and investigators with the Department of Justice. They've had it since the beginning. They are independent. Which pre- dates your tenure as Attorney General. It pre- dates my tenure as Attorney General. It is the same team. And they are acting independently, they follow the law, they follow the facts. That team will make findings, that is to say they will come up with a chronology of what happened, the factual scenario. They will make recommendations as to how to resolve what those facts lead to. The recommendations will be reviewed by career supervisors in the department of justice and in the FBI, and by the FBI director. And then, as is the common process, they present it to me, and I fully expect to accept their recommendations. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4390961/loretta-lynch-hillary-clinton-fbi-email-probe/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4390961/loretta-lynch-hillary-clinton-fbi-email-probe/"},"headline":"Loretta Lynch Won't Overrule FBI On Hillary Clinton Email Probe","datePublished":"2016-07-01T11:35:04.000Z","dateModified":"2023-12-13T06:55:57.000Z","description":"Attorney General says she will accept whatever the FBI and prosecutors recommend on potential charges","url":"https://time.com/4390961/loretta-lynch-hillary-clinton-fbi-email-probe/","keywords":["Hillary Clinton","politics","Justice Department"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt67d5ae2e4b764177/69889279428a9e4e96cd28ea/loretta-lynch-002.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Tessa Berenson","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt67d5ae2e4b764177/69889279428a9e4e96cd28ea/loretta-lynch-002.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Attorney General Loretta Lynch pauses during a news conference at the Justice Department in Washington, Monday, May 9, 2016. 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