The FBI’s decision on Friday to revisit its investigation into Hillary Clinton’s handling of classified material sent Democrats and Clinton campaign staffers into a frenzy, leading some to accuse the agency of election tampering and sounding much like Donald Trump as they did so.
“[FBI Director James] Comey needs to provide full info immediately. Otherwise he has clearly made a partisan intervention,” liberal New York Times columnist Paul Krugman tweeted soon after the bombshell announcement.
Krugman then added, “If we don’t hear more from Comey, we just have to conclude that he was trying to swing election. And that should be the story.”
Like Krugman, the chairman of Clinton’s campaign, John Podesta, demanded that Comey “provide the American public more information than is contained in the letter he sent to eight Republican committee chairmen.”
Podesta accused Republicans, including GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump, of “browbeating” FBI officials to “revisit their conclusion in a desperate attempt to harm Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign,” after the agency had previously concluded insufficient evidence existed to recommend criminal charges against the former secretary of state.
“It is extraordinary that we would see something like this just 11 days out from a presidential election,” Podesta concluded. “The director owes it to the American people to immediately provide the full details of what he is now examining.”
A spokesman for the Democratic presidential nominee later echoed Podesta’s stern statement, telling MSNBC: “As it is, we now have the worst of all worlds here where [Comey] has aired this in an extraordinary step that would almost never have been taken in any other circumstance and yet the public doesn’t have any information at their disposal to judge this or what it has to do with Hillary Clinton.”
The Clinton campaign’s criticism of the bureau comes just 48 hours after Trump told supporters of his at a campaign rally that “the biggest rigging of all is what has happened with the FBI and Justice Department” in deciding not to indict Clinton for her mishandling of state secrets.
“It might not be as rigged as I thought,” Trump said a day later during an appearance in New Hampshire minutes after Comey’s letter was made public. “I think they’re going to right the ship, folks.”
A left-wing group that has routinely criticized the Republican nominee and filed myriad complaints against him with the Federal Election Commission, FBI and New York Attorney General’s office accused Comey on Friday of “interfering in the presidential election” and propping Trump up in the final two weeks before Election Day.
“It is absolutely absurd that FBI Director Comey would support Donald Trump like this with only 11 days to go before the election,” Scott Dworkin, a senior adviser to the Democratic Coalition Against Trump, said in a statement.
Dworkin called Comey’s decision an “obvious attack from a lifelong Republican who used to server in the Bush White House, just to undermine [Clinton’s] campaign.”
Ian Millhiser, an editor for the left-leaning website ThinkProgress, also insinuated that Comey’s actions may stem from his own political persuasions.
Interim Democratic National Committee Chairman Donna Brazile called Comey’s decision to reopen the investigation an “irresponsible action” in a statement Friday evening.
“The FBI has a solemn obligation to remain neutral in political matters — event the faintest appearance of using the agency’s power to influence our election is deeply troubling,” she said. “At the very least, Director Comey must immediately address the serious outstanding questions over what, precisely his letter means, and what action or actions his agency plans to take.”
Trump avoided mentioning Democrats’ criticism of the FBI’s decision during his second rally on Friday in Lisbon, Maine, though his own reaction could not have differed more.
“I have great respect for the FBI for righting this wrong,” the billionaire told his supporters. “This is the biggest political scandal since Watergate and I’m sure that it will be properly handled from this point forward.”
