FBI's James Comey Was Against Naming Russia in Hack; Critics Slam Double Standard

FBI Director James Comey was opposed to the Obama administration publicly accusing Russia of meddling in the 2016 election by hacking Democratic political organizations because, he argued, it was too close to Election Day and it would make the administration look exceedingly partisan.

Comey eventually supported the administration's formal statement last month so long as the list of agencies signing off on the rebuke did not include the FBI, according to Washington Post sources in the agency. However, his position on Russia now makes the FBI head hypocritical, critics say, given his decision last week to notify Congress just days before the election that the FBI was planning to review newly discovered emails in the investigation of Hillary Clinton’s email server.

Clinton criticized Comey's decision at a rally on Monday, saying, "There is no case here."

"I'm sure a lot of you may be asking what this new email story is about and why in the world the FBI would decide to jump into an election with no evidence of any wrongdoing with just days to go. That's a good question," said Clinton. "I am sure they will reach the same conclusion they did when they looked at my emails for the last year. There is no case here."

Clinton campaign manager Robby Mook took it one step further on Tuesday, saying that the FBI should release any information regarding investigations into Donald Trump's dealing in Russia out of "fairness."

“The FBI has been frustratingly noncommittal, and they don't say a thing when it comes to Donald Trump and investigations against him. Yet when it comes to Hillary Clinton, for some reason, they're more than happy to talk,” Mook said on CNN. “There's a lot out there on Donald Trump. Again, it was shocking to me yesterday that every time people asked questions about investigations pertaining to Donald Trump, they are tight-lipped and silent, quote unquote sticking with protocol. When it comes to Hillary Clinton, they don't.”

“We didn't cause this problem,” Mook continued. “James Comey opened this door, and we're just asking for him to make this right and treat everybody the same.”

Over the summer, the FBI investigated Russia's attempts to influence the outcome of the 2016 election by scrutinizing Trump advisers, financial connections, email trails and the hacks of Democratic political organizations, The New York Times reported on Monday. The FBI ultimately found no clear links between Trump's campaign and Russia, according to the report.

For his part, Trump has heaped praise upon Comey and the FBI for his Friday announcement, saying "it took guts" and doing so "brought back his reputation" — a sharp turnaround after having publicly denounced the director for his July testimony before Congress in which he said Clinton should be cleared of any criminal wrongdoing.

During that testimony, Comey promised to keep Congress informed of the investigation, which he explained to FBI employees as the reason for last week's letter.

"We don't ordinarily tell Congress about ongoing investigations, but here I feel an obligation to do so given that I testified repeatedly in recent months that our investigation was completed," Comey said in a letter to employees. "I also think it would be misleading to the American people were we not to supplement the record."

However, the record has not been supplemented because the FBI is uncertain of the content of the emails — something the Clinton camp has been keen to point out.

"Voting is underway, so the American people deserve to get the full and complete facts immediately," Clinton said at a brief news conference in Des Moines, Iowa, on Friday, adding it was "imperative that the bureau explain this issue in question, whatever it is, without any delay."

Photo credit: Pete Souza via White House archives