I continue to believe that the FBI will refer charges against Hillary Clinton in the email case for at least the failure to preserve federal records and mishandling of classified information. I think this because the evidence of at least her misfeasance, and to only a slightly lesser degree her malfeasance, is so overwhelming that it would be a true travesty of justice and a huge black mark on that agency and its director, were there be any other conclusion.Lynch knows this, both because she knows the case, and probably the FBI told her so. But as bad as those charges would be for Hillary, they are not fatal, either legally or politically. It would be difficult, but not extraordinarily so (at least by the standards of the Obama administration) for Lynch (or her subordinates at Justice) to say they come to a different conclusion as to Hillary’s criminal culpability with respect to handling the documents, and thus defer actually charging her. Alternatively, it is also conceivable that Hillary even if charged with federal records violations and mishandling classified material could get the General Petraeus treatment plead to a misdemeanor, and still survive to win election. It was a largely political decision by Lynch's predecessor, Eric Holder, to charge Petraeus only with mishandling classified documents, rejecting the advice of the FBI and career prosecutors to also go forward with charges of making false statements.
Here then is the final piece of the Clinton-Lynch meeting puzzle. Lynch did not want to be put in Holder's position. It's one thing for her to help Hillary out on the documents, another if the FBI can bring credible charges of obstruction or making false statements. So Lynch's meeting with Clinton was not only to deliver news of the investigation's status, but to warn him -- and so Hillary -- not to trap herself in the forthcoming FBI interview. In other words, for Hillary to go against all instincts and try to tell the truth, or as much of it as possible, lest the FBI catch her out and solidify an obstruction case against her too.
Since news of the meeting has come to light and with it a storm of controversy, Lynch has said she will follow the advice of the FBI and career prosecutors. But this still gives her plenty of wiggle room. It is not a promise to vacate the FBI's findings should that agency recommend charges, as career prosecutors in her own department may differ. She has not recused herself, and retains the authority to overrule the FBI until she does. Not only that, but even if she recused herself, she'd be replaced by a subordinate political appointee, who would also likely do the Obama administration’s bidding.
Had the meeting in Phoenix never come to light, which was clearly the intention of Lynch and Clinton, the fix with Hillary would have been in. As it stands, Hillary's fate will depend on whether she escaped the FBI interview in good shape, the integrity of that agency's director, and the utter indifference of many Americans to her criminal dishonesty. Finally, it will depend on the Obama administration's tolerance for blatant political intrigues. If the past is any guide, that tolerance is quite high.
In other words, Loretta handed the Witch a status report so she could prepare a crib sheet in order to better fudge her answers to the FBI's questions and ultimately skate on anything more serious than a slap on the wrist.
Stated more simply: the fix is in!