AsianTrumpSupporter
Platinum Member
Comey says he is âmildly nauseousâ over possibility his October letter led to Clinton loss
FBI Director James Comey gave an impassioned defense to lawmakers on Wednesday of his decision, just days before the 2016 presidential election, to inform Congress that the bureau was reopening its investigation into Hillary Clintonâs use of a private email server as secretary of state.
âI faced a choice,â Comey said in testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee. âIâve lived my entire career by the tradition that if you can possibly avoid it, you avoid any action in the run-up to an election that might have an impact, whether itâs a dog-catcher election or president of the United States. But I sat there that morning and I could not see a door labeled, âNo action here.'â
Comey said that on Oct. 27, the investigative team informed him that the metadata analysis of emails on disgraced former Rep. Anthony Weinerâs laptop â seized by the FBI in an unrelated investigation â showed thousands of Clintonâs emails on that device, possibly including those from her first three months as secretary of state, which had been missing until then. Weiner was married to Clintonâs close aide, Huma Abedin.
Comey said he then authorized the team to seek a search warrant.
In deciding how to handle the potentially explosive information, âI could see two doors and they were both labeled âaction,ââ Comey told the committee. âOne was labeled âspeak,â and the other was labeled âconceal.ââ
To ânot speak about itâ to Congress â which had been assured months earlier that the investigation was closed â would have been âan act of concealment,â the FBI director concluded.
âSo I stared at âspeakâ and âconceal,'â Comey recalled. âSpeak wouldâve been really bad. Thereâs an election in 11 days. Lordy that would be really bad. Concealing, in my view, wouldâve been catastrophic, not just to the FBI but well beyond. And honestly, if itâs between really bad and catastrophic, I said to my team, âWeâve got to walk into the world of really bad.'â
The FBI director sent his letter to Congress the next day, news of which leaked almost immediately.
âOne of my junior lawyers said, âShould you consider what youâre about to do could help elect Donald Trump president?ââ Comey recalled. âAnd I said, âThank you for raising that. Not for a moment. Because down that path lies the death of the FBI as an independent institution in America.ââ
Comeyâs comments came a day after Clinton first publicly blamed his letter, in part, for her election loss...
If Crooked Hillary hadn't deleted those emails in response to a Congressional subpoena, she could have avoided this controversy (assuming those emails wouldn't land her in prison). Thank God for President Trump. #MAGA
FBI Director James Comey gave an impassioned defense to lawmakers on Wednesday of his decision, just days before the 2016 presidential election, to inform Congress that the bureau was reopening its investigation into Hillary Clintonâs use of a private email server as secretary of state.
âI faced a choice,â Comey said in testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee. âIâve lived my entire career by the tradition that if you can possibly avoid it, you avoid any action in the run-up to an election that might have an impact, whether itâs a dog-catcher election or president of the United States. But I sat there that morning and I could not see a door labeled, âNo action here.'â
Comey said that on Oct. 27, the investigative team informed him that the metadata analysis of emails on disgraced former Rep. Anthony Weinerâs laptop â seized by the FBI in an unrelated investigation â showed thousands of Clintonâs emails on that device, possibly including those from her first three months as secretary of state, which had been missing until then. Weiner was married to Clintonâs close aide, Huma Abedin.
Comey said he then authorized the team to seek a search warrant.
In deciding how to handle the potentially explosive information, âI could see two doors and they were both labeled âaction,ââ Comey told the committee. âOne was labeled âspeak,â and the other was labeled âconceal.ââ
To ânot speak about itâ to Congress â which had been assured months earlier that the investigation was closed â would have been âan act of concealment,â the FBI director concluded.
âSo I stared at âspeakâ and âconceal,'â Comey recalled. âSpeak wouldâve been really bad. Thereâs an election in 11 days. Lordy that would be really bad. Concealing, in my view, wouldâve been catastrophic, not just to the FBI but well beyond. And honestly, if itâs between really bad and catastrophic, I said to my team, âWeâve got to walk into the world of really bad.'â
The FBI director sent his letter to Congress the next day, news of which leaked almost immediately.
âOne of my junior lawyers said, âShould you consider what youâre about to do could help elect Donald Trump president?ââ Comey recalled. âAnd I said, âThank you for raising that. Not for a moment. Because down that path lies the death of the FBI as an independent institution in America.ââ
Comeyâs comments came a day after Clinton first publicly blamed his letter, in part, for her election loss...
If Crooked Hillary hadn't deleted those emails in response to a Congressional subpoena, she could have avoided this controversy (assuming those emails wouldn't land her in prison). Thank God for President Trump. #MAGA