Interesting choice of words, "merely".
The response from the attorney general’s office is “unacceptable” and provides evidence that Lynch has chosen to “essentially plead the fifth and refuse to respond to inquiries regarding [her] role in providing cash to the world’s foremost state sponsor of terrorism,” Rubio and Pompeo wrote on Friday in a follow-up letter to Lynch, according to a copy obtained by the Free Beacon.I suppose stonewalling by this administration can be considered by some as "merely" an acceptable tactic, and say that Lynch is "merely" doing her job. If you consider the chief law enforcement officer of the United States declining to answer legitimate questions from a co-equal branch of the government as not a problem, "merely" to be dismissed as yet another clever political ploy, fine. I don't.The inquiry launched by the lawmakers is just one of several concurrent ongoing congressional probes aimed at unearthing a full accounting of the administration’s secret negotiations with Iran.
“It is frankly unacceptable that your department refuses to answer straightforward questions from the people’s elected representatives in Congress about an important national security issue,” the lawmakers wrote. “Your staff failed to address any of our questions, and instead provided a copy of public testimony and a lecture about the sensitivity of information associated with this issue.”
“As the United States’ chief law enforcement officer, it is outrageous that you would essentially plead the fifth and refuse to respond to inquiries,” they stated. “The actions of your department come at time when Iran continues to hold Americans hostage and unjustly sentence them to prison.”
The lawmakers included a copy of their previous 13 questions and are requesting that Lynch provide answers by Nov. 4.
When asked about Lynch’s efforts to avoid answering questions about the cash payment, Pompeo told the Free Beacon that the Obama administration has blocked Congress at every turn as lawmakers attempt to investigate the payments to Iran.
“Who knew that simple questions regarding Attorney General Lynch’s approval of billions of dollars in payments to Iran could be so controversial that she would refuse to answer them?” Pompeo said. “This has become the Obama administration’s coping mechanism for anything related to the Islamic Republic of Iran—hide information, obfuscate details, and deny answers to Congress and the American people.”
“They know this isn’t a sustainable strategy, however, and I trust they will start to take their professional, and moral, obligations seriously,” the lawmaker added.
The executive branch frequently refuses to answer questions, using executive privilege. All administrations have done this, and short of a court order concerning specific questions or records, no president has been required to reveal the reasoning and arguments of his staff and advisors concerning executive actions or negotiations with foreign powers.
Refusing to answer in this case is a far cry from someone who is under some form of governmental coercion as a witness declining to answer for fear of self-incrimination.
Congressmen conflating executive branch refusal to answer questions about policy decisions with taking the Fifth are merely out for cheap publicity. They can be disappointed and angry at this refusal, but they have no basis for intimating any crime, at least at this point. If they truly do believe that she has committed a crime, then they should impeach her.
They are merely grandstanding.