Trump Claims Comey Was the “Best Thing” to Happen to Clinton

The president accuses FBI director of giving her a “free pass.”

Andrew Harrer/CNP/ZUMA

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President Donald Trump took aim at Hillary Clinton in a pair of late-night tweets Tuesday, claiming FBI director James Comey’s decision to renew an investigation into Clinton’s emails was the “best thing” to happen to her.

Trump’s comments came just hours after Clinton pointed to Comey’s actions, along with Russia’s interference in the presidential election, for tipping the election in favor of her opponent. She also held herself accountable for the loss.

“The reason why I believe we lost were the intervening events in the last 10 days,” she said in an interview with CNN’s Christiane Amanpour. “If the election had been on October 27, I’d be your president.”

Comey is slated to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday, where he will likely face intense questioning over his decision to announce the newly discovered emails. Just two days before the November 8 election, the FBI concluded the trove of emails did not affect its previous determination not to bring charges against Clinton over her email handling. By then, however, voters had made up their minds.

Since defeating his opponent, Trump has repeatedly re-litigated the outcome of the election, and has refused to accept he lost the popular vote. As recently as last week, Trump gave copies outlining the “final map” of the election results to Reuters reporters on hand to interview the president about his first 100 days in office—proving both Clinton and the presidential election are still very much at the forefront of his mind.

DONALD TRUMP & DEMOCRACY

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DONALD TRUMP & DEMOCRACY

Mother Jones was founded to do things differently in the aftermath of a political crisis: Watergate. We stand for justice and democracy. We reject false equivalence. We go after, and go deep on, stories others don’t. And we’re a nonprofit newsroom because we knew corporations and billionaires would never fund the journalism we do. Our reporting makes a difference in policies and people’s lives changed.

And we need your support like never before to vigorously fight back against the existential threats American democracy and journalism face. We’re running behind our online fundraising targets and urgently need all hands on deck right now. We can’t afford to come up short—we have no cushion; we leave it all on the field.

Please help with a donation today if you can—even just a few bucks helps. Not ready to donate but interested in our work? Sign up for our Daily newsletter to stay well-informed—and see what makes our people-powered, not profit-driven, journalism special.

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