James Comey on Wednesday defended his decision to announce a new investigation into Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton's emails while staying quiet on the Trump-Russia one prior to the 2016 USA elections. "It makes me feel mildly nauseous that we might have had some impact on the election".
Comey said Wednesday that Federal Bureau of Investigation agents had found emails on a laptop computer used by Anthony Weiner, the husband of a top Clinton aide, and thought they might include some missing emails from Clinton's first months at the State Department.
Comey is standing by his decision to tell congressional committee leaders his team was again looking into Hillary Clinton's emails - just days before the presidential election.
The FBI obtained a warrant to search the laptop and sifted through thousands of emails, Comey said, including ones with classified information that had been forwarded to the laptop by Abedin to be printed out.
President Trump tweeted that Comey "gave her a free pass for her many bad deeds".
"The phony Trump/Russia story was an excuse used by the Democrats as justification for losing the election", said Trump on Tuesday night.
Ex-Attorney General Loretta Lynch's surprise sitdown with Bill Clinton on an airport tarmac previous year convinced FBI Director James Comey there was no way the Justice Department could conduct an independent probe of Hillary Clinton, Comey testified Wednesday.
Persistent questions from senators, and Comey's testimony, made clear that the FBI director's decisions of last summer and fall involving both the Trump and Clinton campaigns continue to roil national politics and produce lingering second-guessing about whether the investigations were handled evenly.
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But a high number of blank or spoiled votes and an unusually low turnout are signs of an electorate dissatisfied with its choices. Macron's level of experience, especially given the fact he has never been elected to public office previously.
Comey and other intelligence officials have publicly said they're counting on Russian Federation trying to influence U.S. elections from here on, using similar tactics to what they used in 2016. "The election took place, Secretary Clinton lost and I just can't believe what happened". Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., said Clinton "said some horrific things, and I think, and just disgusting what she said".
If you think Russian Federation is done hacking USA politics, think again.
Comey said on Wednesday the probe into whether Russian hacking activities and American citizens was a classified investigation in its early stages - far different from the nearly completed email probe.
"That's not something, senator, I'm going to answer", replied Comey.
Comey said he didn't publicly disclose the FBI investigation into the Clinton emails until it was closed last summer.
The FBI chief said Russian Federation is still interested in trying to affect US politics, and he believes it "a certainty" that Moscow will try to influence the elections in 2018 and 2020. "The only thing I regret is maybe answering the phone when they recruited me to be Federal Bureau of Investigation director and I was living happily in CT".
FBI Director James Comey discusses the impact of technology on the work of law enforcement at a Brookings Institution event on October 16, 2014.
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