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When former Attorney General Loretta Lynch testified last year about her decision not to prosecute Hillary Clinton for mishandling classified information, she swore she never talked to anyone on the Clinton campaign. That categorical denial, though made in response to a series of questions about whether she spoke with Clintonworld about remaining attorney general if Hillary won the election, could come back to haunt her.

The Senate Judiciary Committee, which has launched a bipartisan investigation into Lynch for possible obstruction of justice, recently learned of the existence of a document indicating Lynch assured the political director of Clintons campaign she wouldnt let FBI agents go too far in probing the former secretary of state.

Lynchs lawyer says she is cooperating with committee investigators, who are seeking answers to several questions, as well as relevant documents. Among other things, they want to know if she or any of her Justice Department staff ever communicated with Amanda Renteria, who headed Clintons political operations during the campaign. Renteria, who has been identified in the document as the senior Clinton campaign aide with whom Lynch privately communicated, has also been asked to testify.

The committee also wants to know if Lynch or any of her aides were in contact with former DNC chief Debbie Wasserman Schultz regarding the Clinton e-mail investigation, according to a three-page list of questions that Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley and ranking Democrat Dianne Feinstein recently sent to Lynch at her New York apartment.

Senate investigators have combed through a transcript of Lynchs testimony before the House Judiciary Committee in July 2016. In retrospect, several of her statements strain credulity. But one in particular stands out, and could present legal problems for Lynch.

During the House Judiciary hearing, Rep. David Trott (R-Mich.) slammed Lynch for failing to recuse herself from the Clinton investigation despite meeting privately with the targets husband, former President Bill Clinton, a week before the then-attorney general let Hillary skate. Then, referring to rumors of her possibly staying on in a hypothetical Hillary administration, he asked if Lynch had met with anyone on Hillarys staff during the yearlong investigation, to which she replied: I have not spoken to anyone on either the campaign or transition or any staff members affiliated with them.

The committee, however, now knows from a document obtained by the FBI reportedly showing a Democratic operatives claim that Lynch had privately assured Renteria that the Justice Department would not push too deeply into the investigation of Clintons private e-mail server, which contained top secret information from the State Department.

And it will press her to explain the discrepancy along with why she reportedly asked former FBI Director James Comey to leave her office when he confronted her with the document.

There are three explanations: Either Lynch lied under oath, or she never in fact talked to Renteria, or her categorical denial was meant to later claim she was merely discussing her role post-election.

The committee will also drill down on her explanation of her highly suspicious meeting with Bill Clinton during the investigation.

Lynch claimed the former president boarded her plane, which was parked on the tarmac at the Phoenix airport, simply because he wanted to say hello.

But the meeting lasted at least 30 minutes and had to be cleared by the Secret Service as well as FBI security details. It was also the first meeting of any kind on Lynchs plane.

And if the purpose was a greeting, why wouldnt a phone call do?

Lynch also got squirrelly when asked about reports that her FBI security detail had banned cameras, even phones, from her meeting with Clinton.

Since her lawyer is on record saying Lynch will fully cooperate in the Senate investigation, shell have a hard time pleading the fifth in hearings. But that doesnt mean she wont try to stonewall.

Dozens of times during the House hearing, Lynch claimed, I do not recall, when pressed for sensitive information about her role in the Hillary investigation. And the committee determined that she either refused to answer or give appropriate response no fewer than 74 times during the four-hour hearing.

Hopefully Grassley, who now has the backing of Feinstein, who said Lynchs actions made her feel queasy, will have better luck drawing the truth out of Lynch.

Paul Sperry is the author of Infiltration: How Muslim Spies and Subversives Have Penetrated Washington.

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New holes in Loretta Lynch's story on the Hillary probe - New York Post

Theres no denying the first half of 2017would have been very different had Hillary Clinton defeated Donald Trump in the 2016 presidential election. In her current St. Louis gallery exhibition, artistBunny Bursonremembers the future that very nearly was, creating an artwork using the iridescent confetti that was primed to go off on election night this past November 8, had the country elected its first woman president.

A longtime Clinton devotee, Burson was the executive director of thePresidents Committee on the Arts and the HumanitiesunderPresident Bill Clintons administration. In the aftermath of the 2016 election, she hopes her art will helpmotivate women to run for office in 2018.

Bunny Burson, And Still I Rise (2017) installation view at Bruno David Gallery, Clayton, Missouri. Courtesy of Bruno David Gallery, Clayton, Missouri.

I was among her supporters at the Javits Center waiting for the symbolic shattering of the glass ceiling and the shard like confetti to fall down on us. We left the Javits Center at 2 in the morning with profound emptiness, Burson told NBC. The unused confetti had to be removedfrom the air cannons and swept into empty boxes by workers.

I wanted to fill that emptiness with hope by giving voice to my feelings that even in defeat, Hillarys confetti could be used to inspire the next generations of little girls and young women to dream big and to act on their dreams, she added.

Tracking down the unused confetti was no easy task. Burson made calls to Arkansas, Boston, New York, Connecticut, Illinois, and Washington, DC. Though many warned her the confetti she sought had likely wound up in the trash, Bursons quest was ultimately successful.

After about two weeks of searching, she tracked downthe confetti in Chicago and was able to acquire several large boxes of it200 pounds, to be exactfor her work.

Bursons sculpture, titledAnd Still I Rise, takes its titlefrom the Maya Angelou book of poetry of the same name. Pieces of clear, shiny confetti swirl around inthe gallery window, which has essentially been transformed into a political snow globe. The works title is printed on the glass in white block letters. The colorless confetti was chosen for itsresemblance to shards of broken glass, to represent the breaking of the highest, hardest glass ceiling, as Clinton referred to a woman someday winning the presidency.

Bunny Burson, And Still I Rise (2017) installation view at Bruno David Gallery, Clayton, Missouri. Courtesy of Bruno David Gallery, Clayton, Missouri.

For Burson, the artwork is more than just a message of hope, but a call to action in the face of Trump administration policies. We need to think about all of these rights that we have sort of gotten used to, which we may not always havewomens rights, voting rights, shetoldSt. Louis Public Radio.Elections have consequences, serious consequences we need to stay engaged.

The piece is displayed 24 hours a day in the gallerys front window, overlooking Forsythe Boulevard.

Bunny Burson: And Still I Rise is on display through at Bruno David Gallery,7513 Forsythe Boulevard, Clayton, Missouri, May 4August 12, 2017.

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The Unused Confetti From Hillary Clinton's Election-Night Loss Is Now a Work of Art - artnet News

Right now, GOP senators are trying to gather enough votes to pass their Obamacare replacement plan, but even fellow Republicans are having a time a hard time accepting the health care bill. USA TODAY

The Republican National Committee attempted to highlight Democrats' lack of solutionsover problems with Obamacare on Wednesday,but a question directed at Hillary Clinton, likely didnt go asplanned.

The RNC tweeted thechallenge to Clinton:

Clinton responded with a link to her 2016 presidential campaign website, where there was a bullet-point version of a health care plan that would keep Obamacare and further expand Medicaid.

The Congressional Budget Office has estimated that 23 million people will not have health coverage by 2026 under the repeal and replacement plan the House passed in May. The Senate is working on a plan of their own the last CBO-scored version had 22 million people without insurance but the narrow majority Republicans hold is making it difficult for them to come to consensus on a bill of their own.

If they want their legislation to pass, Republicans cant lose more than two votes in the Senate. No Democrats are expected to vote to repeal former president Barack Obamas signature health care law and Republicans have so far limited the legislation drafting process to members of their party.

The RNCattempted to put the responsibility on Democrats in multiple emails and tweets Wednesday.

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Hillary Clinton responds to RNC asking where her health care plan is: 'Right here' - USA TODAY

Huma Abedin / Getty Images

BY: Joe Schoffstall July 6, 2017 3:08 pm

Huma Abedin, a longtime aide to failed Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, has collected more than $50,000 from Clintons campaign since the November election loss to Donald Trump, according to federal election commission filings.

Abedin, who served as the vice chair of Clinton's campaign, has been given $52,180.65 from Hillary for America, Clinton's campaign committee, from mid-November to the end of March, the time of the latest available filings. Abedin received 12 checks ranging from $2,316.06 to $6,005.45 and was also paid hundreds for phone and travel expenses.

A handful of other close Clinton associates,includingNick Merrill, Hillary's former press secretary, were also still being compensated as of late March.

Donald Trump's campaigncommittee has also continued to pay staffers, including John Pence, the nephew of Vice President Mike Pence, who became the campaigns executive director in January. However, Trump filed for re-election and has been pulling millions into his campaign committee for 2020.

Abedin is in the midst of filing for divorcefrom disgraced former Rep. Anthony Weiner.

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Huma Abedin Paid More Than $50K From Hillary Clinton's Campaign Since Election Loss - Washington Free Beacon

In Defense of Hillary Clinton

I was disturbed to read that columnist Willem Lange (The Democrats Have Lost Their Bearings Along the Way, July 5) joined the many disgruntled Americans who voted for Hillary Clinton because the alternative was unthinkable. At a recent social event here in Grantham, neighbors sat around a table lamenting the fact that both candidates were flawed.

I am not a historian or a politician, but am very interested in both American history and our political history. I read widely and have worked for every political candidate whose ideas I support. (Full disclosure: I am culturally deprived. I do not watch Fox News.) I believe that Hillary Clinton was the most qualified presidential candidate in my lifetime, more qualified than her husband and certainly more qualified than any of the candidates mentioned by Lange in his column, even Joe Kennedy, whom I admire.

Clinton has been maligned by some in letters to this newspaper for daring to try to explain her loss, and by others for retreating into relative obscurity. I write to praise her for her dignity, her intelligence, patriotism and gravitas. She is a class act.

Judy McCarthy

Grantham

Sad but true!

So sad that Twitter users did not recognize our own Declaration of Independence (NPRs Declaration of Independence Tweets Called Propaganda, July 7).

The tradition of reading the Declaration dates back to the first Fourth and I am thankful to NPR for doing that reading every year. Thank you for printing this story that underlines the strong feelings people have in this day and time, plus many more good op-eds to keep us informed.

Susan Westbrook

Randolph

As we celebrated July Fourth: We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

In 1776, there was no need to mention medical care, since purging and bleeding were the mainstays of treatment back when life expectancy was 36 years. Modern health concepts and medical science have altered disease, alleviated suffering and extended life. So it is gratifying to see our nation coming to recognize the moral imperative of affordable health care.

However, we are hobbled by a 70-year legacy of supposed free-market and employer-based insurance concepts to the realm of health care. Medicare remains the most efficient (2-3 percent overhead) and popular form of American health insurance since 1965. But younger Americans increasingly became uninsured in the two decades before Obamacare, as fewer employees received benefits from lifelong employers, and health premiums for the self-insured became progressively unaffordable. Not long ago, 62 percent of U.S. personal bankruptcy was a consequence of medical expenses and 75 percent of Americans who incurred medical bankruptcy did so while covered by flimsy under-insurance that was affordable but worthless.

The introduction of multiple patchwork, tax-funded programs (Medicaid, Medicare, SCHIP, ACA, VA, tax credits, etc.) to this system has resulted in the most expensive and inefficient health care system in the world. Pharmaceutical and health lobbies support the pretense that free-market rules apply. In the effort to avoid any taint of socialism, we spend more tax money per capita than any other developed country, but rank dead last in efficiency, equity and outcome.

As we reflect on American values and our health care, its time to become educated on the advantages of substituting an expanded Medicare for All to our citizens, business and our nation. Please join us on Sunday at 2 p.m. for a panel discussion and information meeting on Medicare for All at Main Street BookEnds in Warner, N.H.

Kenneth Dolkart, M.D.

Grantham

I was encouraged to see that a Vermont legislative committee delayed until October adopting new rules for wind turbines in the state. Although there are many legitimate concerns individuals may have concerning large wind turbines on ridgelines near their homes and community, there are also many ways of addressing those concerns without making efficient wind power installation impractical or impossible in Vermont.

Near-100 percent carbon-free energy will be essential if we are to limit our planets temperature to levels conducive to life, and perhaps even to pre-industrial levels. And because both wind and solar power will be essential ingredients in this centurys carbon-free energy system, Vermont should be very careful to develop its guidelines in such a way as not to limit Vermonts ridgeline wind potential.

Vermonts wind energy potential belongs to all of us. And like our roads, wind power generated as part of our states carbon-free energy infrastructure will serve us all. And also like our roads and other infrastructure, restrictions to construct must not be allowed based on the interests of a few who may be affected. Rather, the entire states interest must be weighed.

Carbon-free energy system development, just as for roads or other public infrastructure, should include reimbursement costs to those adversely affected. A science-based effort to define reimbursable impacts should be an important part of any new legislation impacting carbon-free energy development.

Charles McKenna

Wilder

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Forum, July: In Defense of Hillary Clinton - Valley News