Loretta Lynch: Meeting with Bill Clinton a Bad Idea 

WASHINGTON -- If she had to do it over again, Attorney General Loretta Lynch says she would tell former President Bill Clinton to leave her plane.

Lynch was referring to a meeting between herself and Clinton that took place earlier this week on the attorney general's jet. 

Speaking at a summit in Colorado Friday, Lynch says she knows the private conversation has "cast a shadow" over how the investigation into Hillary Clinton's email server is being handled.

"I certainly won't do it again," Lynch said.

Still, the attorney general insists it was little more than an exchange of pleasantries. She says she asked the former president about his grandchildren, which led to a conversation about his recent travels and former Attorney General Janet Reno.  She added that the two never discussed the email investigation during the encounter. 

While Lynch views the conversation innocently, she said she understands why others view it differently, which is why she wants to clarify the role she'll be playing in the investigation of Hillary Clinton.

The nation's top lawyer says she will not recuse herself from the case, adding that she will accept whatever recommendations made by career prosecutors and federal agents involved in the investigation -- something she'd decided to do even before this controversy.

Meanwhile, Lynch and other federal officials find themselves in a precarious situation investigating the former secretary of state and presumptive Democratic nominee for president who has already been endorsed by their boss, President Barack Obama. 
     
It's unclear when federal officials will announce their recommendations.