Nation briefs 7/13/16

Lynch defends act on Clinton probe

WASHINGTON -- Attorney General Loretta Lynch deflected a barrage of Republican questions Tuesday about her decision not to prosecute Hillary Clinton for her use of private email, saying it "would not be appropriate" to discuss the matter in her role as the nation's top law-enforcement official. GOP members of the House Judiciary Committee voiced frustration, with the panel's chairman, Bob Goodlatte of Virginia, telling Lynch her reticence was "an abdication of your responsibility." Lynch repeatedly referred the committee to last week's testimony by FBI director James Comey, who gave a detailed account of the investigation in a nearly five-hour appearance before another House panel and described the rationale that no charges be brought. Comey is a lifelong Republican who served as deputy attorney general during George W. Bush's GOP administration. "I accepted that recommendation. I saw no reason not to accept it," Lynch testified.

Probe: Top envoy deleted emails

WASHINGTON -- A senior U.S. diplomat deleted an untold number of work emails, apparently unaware even routine messages received and sent by a top government official should be saved, according to a Senate investigation released Tuesday. When Michael Ratney served as the top diplomat in Jerusalem, he found emails with attachments to be a nuisance, the report from the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations said. So, at times, he simply got rid of them to keep his inbox from breaching storage limits. Ratney, now U.S. Special Envoy for Syria, didn't know he was required to keep the messages, the report said. The Federal Records Act requires the preservation of government records.

U.S. Capitol briefly locked down again

WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Capitol and its office buildings were locked down briefly Tuesday after suspects nearby shot at District of Columbia police with a small machine gun. Police arrested three men after stopping their car about two blocks from the Capitol, police chief Cathy Lanier said. Police were alerted to a man with a gun near Fort McNair in southwest Washington, about a mile and a half south of the Capitol, shortly after 4 p.m., police spokesman Dustin Sternbeck said. Lanier said officers followed the car into a tunnel under the National Mall near the Capitol. As the car entered the tunnel, Lanier said, someone fired at the officers with what she called "a small machine gun." No officers fired their weapons, Lanier said. "They were in the middle of a crowded tunnel, and that was not an option at that point," said Lanier, who said the gun was dropped in the tunnel and recovered by police.

Workers fired for helping hurt eagle

GOSHEN, Va. -- Two Boy Scout camp employees said they were fired after trying to rescue an injured bald eagle. Jeremy and Eliana Bookbinder said they were fired last month at Camp Marriott, about 20 miles from Lexington, Virginia. Eliana Bookbinder said she and her brother took the injured bird to a wildlife-rehabilitation center after she found it, despite being told by her boss not to. Camp officials told them they were fired for disobeying orders, and they had broken an unspecified federal law. It was unclear which law they were referencing.

-- From wire reports