Loretta Lynch says she will accept the findings of prosecutors in Hillary Clinton email case

Loretta Lynch, the US Attorney General, has said she will accept the conclusions of prosecutors and the FBI in the investigation of Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server as Secretary of State, days after Ms Lynch stoked controversy by meeting privately with Bill Clinton.

The Attorney General and the former President conferred on board her government plane at the Sky Harbor Airport in Phoenix, Arizona on Monday, creating outrage among Republicans who believe Ms Lynch’s relationship with the Clintons could colour the investigation.

“I certainly wouldn’t do it again because I think it has cast this shadow over what it should not, over what it will not touch,” Ms Lynch said on Friday, adding: “It’s important to make it clear that that meeting with President Clinton does not have a bearing on how this matter will be reviewed and resolved.”

Ms Lynch will not formally recuse herself from the case, and has refused demands from Republicans to assign a special counsel to oversee it. But, speaking at the Aspen Ideas Festival, she said would follow the recommendations of prosecutors. “I will be accepting their recommendations and their plans for going forward,” she said.

FBI director James Comey and the agents investigating the email case will also advise on whether to charge Ms Clinton or others, but the decision ultimately lies with prosecutors. The Attorney General’s promise to accept their findings is standard procedure, though it precludes the possibility that Ms Lynch would overrule them.

According to the New York Times, which first reported her decision, the arrangement had been planned for several months but its announcement was brought forward by the prospect of a political backlash over her meeting with Mr Clinton.

Ms Lynch insisted that the conversation, which reportedly lasted around 20 minutes, was informal and did not touch on any official business. “We basically said hello, and I congratulated him on his grandchildren as people tend to do,” she said. “It really was a social meeting."

The Attorney General and the former President go way back: in 1999, towards the end of his second White House term, Mr Clinton nominated Ms Lynch to serve as US attorney for the Eastern District of New York.

As Secretary of State, Ms Clinton had a private email server installed at her home, which was used to send some classified information. The investigation concerns whether that amounted to criminal mishandling of the material by Ms Clinton or members of her staff.

That question has been a niggling worry for supporters of the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee as she prepares to face Donald Trump in the general election. Ms Clinton has yet to be interviewed by the FBI, but has said she hopes for a swift end to the matter.

Mr Trump was quick to pounce on the news of Ms Lynch’s meeting with Mr Clinton this week, tweeting: “Does anybody really believe that meeting was just a coincidence?”

Judicial Watch, the conservative legal watchdog that has spearheaded the criticism of Ms Clinton over the email case, said the meeting created “the appearance of a violation of law, ethical standards and good judgment,” and accused Ms Lynch of “an outrageous abuse of the public’s trust."