Bill Clinton and Loretta Lynch talked at airport

Former US president Bill Clinton spoke with attorney general Loretta Lynch at an impromptu meeting in Phoenix, but Ms Lynch said that the discussion did not involve the investigation into Hillary Clinton’s email use as secretary of state.

She told reporters that the meeting at a Phoenix airport on Monday was unplanned and happened while Mr Clinton was waiting to depart and walked over to the attorney general’s plane after she landed.

Ms Lynch said their conversation “was a great deal about his grandchildren” and their travels.

Mr Clinton told her he had been playing golf in Arizona and they discussed former attorney general Janet Reno, whom they both know.

The FBI is investigating the potential mishandling of information that passed through the server Ms Clinton used for personal and government correspondence as secretary of state.

Ms Lynch later deflected questions from reporters about whether the meeting was appropriate given the investigation.