Trust in government is at a horrible low point and for good reason. The American people feel like elected officials don’t listen and aren’t interested in doing the right thing for the good of the country. With scandal after scandal, failed policy after failed policy, and an abysmal lack of transparency to boot, taxpayers are tired of the federal bureaucratic monster that has grown out of control. At my organization, Citizens United, for more than 25 years, we’ve worked on behalf of our members across the country to fight for honesty and integrity in government, most recently with the Hillary Clinton email investigation.
This isn’t the first special counsel we’ve demanded recently. In May 2013, as troubling allegations surfaced about the political targeting of conservative groups at the Internal Revenue Service, Citizens United called for then-Attorney General Eric Holder to appoint an impartial special counsel to investigate. We recognized immediately that political appointees at the Department of Justice could not have been expected to conduct a fair and thorough investigation of such a politically charged subject. More than two years later, as new revelations continue to trickle out about questionable IRS practices to this day, I believe our call was absolutely correct.
Today, President Obama’s new Attorney General Loretta Lynch has been confronted with another politically charged investigation. A month ago, Citizens United called on Attorney General Lynch to appoint a special counsel to investigate Hillary Clinton’s troubling email allegations.
President Obama and his administration — Loretta Lynch specifically — have a clear conflict of interest when it comes to any federal investigation or inquiry into the Clinton email mess. Democrat political appointees in the Justice Department cannot be trusted to run an independent, unbiased, and thorough review of allegations surrounding someone who could very well be the Democrat nominee for president of the United States. Attorney General Lynch has a personal conflict of interest in this matter since she was first appointed United States Attorney by President Bill Clinton in 1999. This is a tailor-made case for the appointment of a special counsel, and Lynch must see that.
Attorney General Holder passed on the chance to restore some trust in government by appointing a special counsel in the IRS political targeting case. Now Attorney General Loretta Lynch has another opportunity to do so in the Clinton email case. Lynch should transcend politics as our nation’s top law enforcement officer and move this investigation beyond the reach of political appointees by appointing a well-respected special counsel with credibility on both sides of the aisle.
Americans are tired and frustrated with what’s happening inside their government in Washington, D.C. Call your Member of Congress today and demand that your voice be heard. Tell them to do the right thing by joining together and calling on Loretta Lynch to appoint a special counsel in the Clinton email case without delay. With every day that goes by, trust in government will continue to suffer unless Attorney General Lynch takes action.