FBI Director James Comey’s decision to unveil an inquiry into newly-discovered emails related to the closed investigation of Hillary Clinton has infuriated his former defenders, opened up a deep divide within the legal community and invited accusations from Clinton’s allies who say he has papered over Donald Trump’s alleged collusion with the Kremlin.
For many Democrats, Comey’s move represented an unwelcome attempt to influence the election just days before voters head to the polls. For many Republicans, it offered an opportunity to revisit a case whose conclusion, they felt, was unfair in the first place.
Rep. Mike Pompeo suggested some Democrats had tried to spin Comey’s move for partisan purposes.
“There’s an attempt, by Harry Reid and others, who are just playing pure politics in this thing,” Pompeo told the Washington Examiner. “Director Comey is doing the hard work that it takes to go conduct an investigation.”
“He got it wrong, in my opinion, the first time around,” Pompeo added.
Sen. Harry Reid led a handful of Democrats in criticizing the FBI director when, in a letter sent to Comey on Sunday, he accused the FBI of engaging in a “double standard” by announcing details of the Clinton probe but not any potential inquiries involving Donald Trump or his associates.
James Carville, a longtime Clinton confidante, told MSNBC during a heated interview Monday that Comey was acting in conjunction with House Republicans to malign Clinton in a plot whose participants included “the KGB.”
The KGB has not existed since 1991.
Other Clinton allies and campaign staffers flocked to the airwaves Sunday and Monday in order to hammer Comey for purportedly ignoring their allegations against Trump and the ties they claim he has nurtured with Russia.
Matthew Whitaker, executive director of the Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust, said Comey’s move was “unusual” but not outside the bounds of his authority.
“He must have had significant information to put out the reopening of the investigation,” Whitaker, a former U.S. attorney, told the Examiner. “I do not think that he stepped over any lines.”
However, more than 30 former state attorneys general from both parties signed a letter Monday at the behest of the Clinton campaign, in which they excoriated Comey for an “unacceptable” move that “injected himself into the electoral process.”
Just as Democrats who once sung Comey’s praises piled on him in a rush of condemnation, Republicans who had lamented his refusal to recommend an indictment in the first Clinton probe lauded Comey’s latest announcement.
Trump led the chorus of GOP praise, profusely thanking Abedin and Weiner during a campaign event Monday.
Through her attrney Monday evening, Abedin pledged to be “forthcoming and cooperative” with the FBI’s renewed probe. Abedin’s lawyer said she had not yet been contacted by the FBI.
A senior Justice Department official assured lawmakers Monday that the agency would dedicate significant time and resources to completing the investigation as soon as possible.
But the investigation is unlikely to see a resolution before Election Day. It’s an issue that has brought unlikely allies together in opposition to or defense of Comey’s surprising decision.
For example, Rep. Jim Jordan, head of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, admitted Monday that the FBI’s letter was “probably not the right thing for Comey to do.”
Jordan’s response placed him on the same side of the issue as the liberal former Gov. Howard Dean, who tweeted Saturday that “Comey put himself on the same side as [Russian President Vladimir] Putin” by disclosing the investigation into Abedin’s emails.
Anonymous FBI sources told CNBC and the Huffington Post Monday that Comey had cautioned against adding the bureau to a letter naming Russia as the likely culprit behind a series of high-profile hacks. Some of those cyber breaches have resulted in the publication of thousands of internal Clinton campaign emails through WikiLeaks, as well as a previous batch of emails taken from the Democratic National Committee.
Clinton and her allies have escalated their rhetoric against Russia in recent months, using the frosty relationship between Washington and Moscow to frame their argument that Trump is unprepared to handle the complexities of U.S. foreign policy.
Democrats have accused Roger Stone, a Trump ally, and Paul Manafort, Trump’s former campaign manager, of fostering secret connections with the Kremlin.
Manafort’s lobbying firm provided public affairs services to the pro-Russian government of Ukraine years before he joined the Trump campaign. However, the Trump campaign severed its relationship with Manafort once those ties became public.
Stone has denied working with the Russians to undermine Clinton’s campaign. Democratic allegations against him stem largely from the fact that he has praised WikiLeaks for exposing emails from the Clinton campaign.
