Senate Minority Leader Responds To FBI Director’s Letter About Clinton Case
In a blistering letter released Sunday, Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid called on FBI Director James Comey to release “explosive information” that Reid claims Comey possesses about ties between Donald Trump and the Russian government.Â
Reid’s letter came in response to Comey’s decision on Friday to notify Congress that the FBI is reviewing new evidence in connection with its investigation into Hillary Clinton’s private email server. Reid said Comey’s letter to Congress may have violated the Hatch Act, which bars FBI employees from using their authority to influence an election. Reid also accused Comey, a Republican, of using “a disturbing double standard” that favors one political party.Â
“In my communications with you and other top officials in the national security community, it has become clear that you possess explosive information about close ties and coordination between Donald Trump, his advisors, and the Russian government – a foreign interest openly hostile to the United States, which Trump praises at every opportunity,” Reid wrote, adding that the public has a right to know and that he first called on Comey to release the information months ago.
“There is no danger to American interests from releasing it. And yet, you continue to resist calls to inform the public of this critical information,” Reid wrote. “By contrast, as soon as you came in possession of the slightest innuendo related to Secretary Clinton, you rushed to publicize it in the most negative light possible.”Â
Reid closed his letter by noting that Reid once led the fight to get Comey confirmed as FBI director despite a Republican filibuster.Â
“With the deepest regret, I now see I was wrong,” Reid wrote.
Read the full letter here.