On Capitol Hill, FBI Director James Comey told a Senate committee Wednesday that he agonized over his decision—just days before November’s election—to reveal a new investigation into Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server to send classified messages when she was secretary of state. Clinton and her supporters have said Comey’s move helped swing the presidential election to Donald Trump. But on Wednesday, Comey said he would do the same thing over again.
James Comey: “Look, this was terrible. It makes me mildly nauseous to think that we might have had some impact on the election. But honestly, it wouldn’t change the decision. Everybody who disagrees with me has to come back to October 28th with me and stare at this and tell me what you would do. Would you speak, or would you conceal? And I could be wrong, but we honestly made a decision between those two choices, that even in hindsight—and this has been one of the world’s most painful experiences—I would make the same decision.”
Meanwhile, Director Comey acknowledged the FBI is continuing to probe allegations that Russia interfered in the 2016 election, but refused to comment on any links between Russia and President Trump or his associates. That prompted California Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein to question why Comey revealed the investigation into Clinton’s email server while failing to reveal the FBI’s investigation into whether Trump officials colluded with Russia to sway the election. Comey is set to meet with members of the House Intelligence Committee today in closed-door briefings on the FBI’s probe into Russia.