FBI director says it would have been ‘catastrophic’ to hide the Hillary Clinton investigation
James Comey said that it made him ‘mildly nauseous’ to even think that his decision to expose the probe had affected the election.
FBI Director James Comey on Wednesday said it said it would have been “catastrophic” to conceal his decision to reopen the investigation into presidential candidate Hillary Clinton’s emails. He said it made him “mildly nauseous” to even think that his decision to expose the investigation affected the election, reported Reuters.
“To not speak about it would require an act of concealment in my view...Concealing, in my view, would be catastrophic,” he said. Comey was questioned by Democrat Senator Dianne Feinstein on Wednesday. Lawmakers from both Democratic and Republican parties have questioned Comey’s investigations into Clinton’s email controversy and Russia’s alleged meddling in the presidential elections.
The FBI director further said that Clinton’s emails had classified information on Anthony Weiner, BBC reported. “Somehow, her [Clinton’s] emails were being forwarded to Anthony Weiner, including classified information by her assistant Huma Abedin,” he added. At the time, Weiner and Abedin were married.
Comey also called WikiLeaks “intelligence porn” and said it had become a “conduit for the Russian intelligence” rather than a source of information for the public, reported The Week.
On Tuesday, Clinton had blamed the FBI director for her loss in the presidential elections against current US Republican President Donald Trump in November last year, CNN had reported. “I was on the way to winning, until a combination of Jim Comey’s letter on 28 October and Russian WikiLeaks raised doubts in the minds of people who were inclined to vote for me but got scared off,” she said.
However, Clinton also added that she took absolute responsibility for her defeat. “I was the candidate...I am very aware of the challenges, the problems, the shortfalls that we had,” she said.
In July last year, Comey had effectively closed the probe while recommending that no charges will be filed against Clinton and her aides in the case. However, on October 28, only 11 days before the presidential elections, he said the FBI would continue the investigation.
