The Senior Counselor
said that
when
she tried to
go back on the plane
, she
was
stopped by
the head of
Lynch
’
s security detail
, who was at the door of the
plane
.
The Senior Counselor
said that she told
him
that
Lynch’s
meeting
with
former President Clinton
was not a good idea, and that she needed to get
back on
the plane, but he still would not
let
her on.
The Senior Counselor
said that she
then
asked him to convey to Lynch that she was advising that the meeting was a bad
idea
. According to
the Senior Counselor
,
he
told
her, “
All right, w
hy
don
’
t you t
ell
her yourself
,” and
finally allowed her to board
.
The Senior Counselor
said that when she got on the plane, she saw Lynch,
Lynch
’
s husband, and former President Cli
nton sitting down and “chatting...
in a
casual way.”
The Senior Counselor
said that she w
alked up to the three of them
and stood there hoping that her presence would break up the meeting. She said
that Lynch saw her and introduced her to former President Clinton, and she shook
his hand.
The Senior Counselor
said that she hoped this would get
everyone
moving, but then former President Clinton sat back
down.
The Senior Counselor
stated, “So then...
I kind of didn
’
t know what to do because...
it was a little b
it
unusual to be in a room with...a former president and say...
you need to leave
....
So
...
I think I stared at them for a little bit longer, and then wen
t back to where [the
head of Lynch
’
s security detail] was standing.”
The Senior Counselor
sai
d that she
considered whether she should
go g
et someone else or
go back over to Lynch and
tell he
r, “Look, ma
’
am, we have to go.” She said she then went and stood in front
of the group again.
The Senior Counselor
said that
her presence prompted Lynch to tell former
President Clinton that the reason she (
the Senior Counselor
) was standing there
was th
at she was too polite to tell Lynch that they had to go.
The Senior Counselor
said that Lynch told former President Clinton, “
And we do have to go. You
know...
we have a pretty busy schedule.”
The Senior Counselor
said that she could
not recall what Lync
h and former President C
linton were discussing, but
that her
148
We asked Lynch about news reports that her security detail did not allow photos to be
taken of the meeting. Lynch said that she did not recall any such
discussions, but that it was her
standard practice not to take photos with anyone involved in a campaign around an election.
211
impression was tha
t
Lynch
was “uncomfortable and wanted the
meeting to be
done
.
”
Lynch said that after
the Senior Counselor
got back on the plane, former
President Clinton commented, “Oh, she
’
s m
ad at me, because I
’
d been on the plane
too long. And she
’
s come to get you.” Lynch said that she replied to him, “[W]ell,
we do have to go. And then he kept talking about something else.” She said that
he
kept talking for “a good
5
minutes” after
the
Senior Counselor
got back on the
plane. Lynch said that she finally stood up and said, “[Y]ou know, it was very nice
of you to come
. Thank you so much. And just...
thank you again for stopping by.”
She said that
they said goodbye several times, and her
husband shook former
President Clinton
’
s hand again
.