Former FBI Director James Comey said he thinks he would still make the decision to reopen the investigation into former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s private email account just days before the 2016 presidential election.
The investigation into Clinton’s private emails containing government information while she served as secretary of state was a major topic of the 2016 presidential election as she went up against President Donald Trump in the general election. Comey said on Sunday that he made the decision to reopen the investigation into the emails on Oct. 28, 2016, 11 days before Election Day, “because it was the least bad option” out of those on the table.
“Both options sucked, honestly, but this was the one most consistent with the values of the department, so as painful as it is, I’d have to do the same thing again,” Comey said on NBC’s Meet the Press on Sunday.
Comey reopened the investigation in late October because the FBI learned of new emails related to the case through a separate investigation into former Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-NY). He told NBC’s Kristen Welker that the only other thing he considered was whether or not to punt the case to former Attorney General Loretta Lynch, but he said he thought that would have been a “chicken” thing to do.
“It was a decision that I had to make because I testified all summer that the investigation was done, and now it’s not done. Do I really conceal that from the American people, from the Congress? I can’t. And it would have been a chicken thing to do to dump it on the [attorney general], but sometimes when people are unhappy with me on the street, I think I should have left it for Loretta Lynch,” Comey said.
Eleven days after Comey reopened the investigation, Trump defeated Clinton. Comey told Welker on Sunday that he “hoped” the decision did not impact the election.
JAMES COMEY CRIMINAL TRIAL OVER ’86 47′ POST SET FOR JULY 15
“My goal all of that year was to stay out of politics,” Comey said.
Comey has been back in the news this year with two indictments against him from the Department of Justice. One was tossed, but he is set to head to trial in July over a social media post he made reading “86 47.” The Department of Justice prosecutors allege the post was a threat to President Donald Trump‘s life.