Sen. Chris Coons (D., Del.) said Thursday that the private meeting between Attorney General Loretta Lynch and former President Bill Clinton sent "the wrong signal" given the ongoing criminal investigation into Hillary Clinton and her use of a private email server.
Coons said on CNN's New Day that he trusted Lynch, who has said her huddle with Clinton on her plane in Phoenix, Arizona, was in fact about "community policing." However, Coons agreed with host Alisyn Camerota's skepticism.
"I do agree with you that it doesn't send the right signal," Coons said. "I am impressed with Attorney General Loretta Lynch ... I'm convinced that she is an independent attorney general. But I do think that this meeting sends the wrong signal, and I don't think it sends the right signal. I think she should have steered clear, even of a brief, casual, social meeting with the former president."
"She should have said no, thank you, I'm not available to meet right now,'" Camerota s aid.
"I think she should have said, look, I recognize you have a long record of leadership on fighting crime, but this is not the time for us to have that conversation," Coons said.
Lynch has been criticized by both sides of the aisle for the appearance of impropriety in the meeting, given her stature as the nation's top law enforcement official. She has insisted there is no conflict of interest in the Department of Justice's investigation into Clinton, in spite of President Obama's endorsement of her for president.
I take @LorettaLynch & @billclinton at their word that their convo in Phoenix didn't touch on probe. But foolish to create such optics.
— David Axelrod (@davidaxelrod) June 30, 2016