At first I couldn’t believe what I was reading.  I thought it surely was one of those pop-up sites that twists a story around to get a headline that grabs the reader’s attention, while re-hashing old news from years past about one of the ideologues on the other side.

But this was mainstream media reporting.  It wasn’t even Fox News, although they did cover the story extensively.  The was the major networks and news sources from around the country, so it had to have some credibility.

Former President Bill Clinton, whose wife is under investigation by the FBI, met privately on a plane with Attorney General Loretta Lynch.  What they discussed is only known by the two participants, but it doesn’t matter if they talked about the case against Ms. Clinton or the grandchildren and his golf game, as Ms. Lynch contends.

As expected the right wing conservatives erupted at the appearance of impropriety, but even the Democrats viewed the incident as, at least, in poor judgement.  There is plenty of blame to go around.

Surely, Attorney General Lynch had to have considered the implications of such an encounter, and how it would play out in the press before consenting to meet with Mr. Clinton.  I think the bigger question is why she agreed to such a meeting.  Did she feel that a snub would have an adverse effect on her political standing should Ms. Clinton become president?  Or was it simply bad judgement, seeing no harm in a meeting between old friends?

In today’s 24-hour news cycle, the latter seems implausible.  Every move by public officials is scrutinized by the press and pundits from both sides of the political spectrum, and Ms. Lynch, often the subject of such scrutiny, could not be unaware of this.

Clearly, she should have sent a message to Mr. Clinton that a private meeting was inappropriate, and she would be happy to meet in a public forum, completely out in the open, to discuss their travel plans and their grandchildren.  But she chose not to, and that reason could give a great insight into the political climate surrounding the Clintons and their influence.

But what about Mr. Clinton?  He is a former lawyer, Yale graduate, and former President of the United States.  If a former president is not aware of the hints and allegations such meeting would preclude, who would be?  Mr. Clinton knew a private meeting with the Attorney General of the United States, who holds the power to decide whether to prosecute his wife or not, was inappropriate in the highest order, and down-right unethical.

But he did it anyway, likely causing at least some temporary harm to his wife’s campaign for president.  To risk that, he must have been expecting something in return, something quite valuable.  He didn’t have to specifically ask for favors.  Powerful men and women have a way of being understood without using the words.  Whether such an understanding was implied or understood, we will never know.

Maybe all they talked about was the grandchildren’s soccer and baseball games.  Maybe it was just an encounter between old friends, as is claimed.  But, in the end, Ms. Lynch’s integrity was severely compromised, and the incident has become another pillar of mistrust in the Obama administration, already filled with secret deals and misinformation.  But, this time even the Democrats are appalled, even if most are staying quiet about it.

The whole thing just looks bad, whether it was or not, and it reverberates with the strong-armed politics with which the Clintons are often associated.  Ms. Lynch may have to fall on her sword to protect the realm.  Politics is a dangerous business.