Title: Fact-check: Comey didn’t say he reopened Clinton investigation because of poll numbers - POLITICO
Headings: Fact-check: Comey didn’t say he reopened Clinton investigation because of poll numbers
Fact-check: Comey didn’t say he reopened Clinton investigation because of poll numbers
Content: Fact-check: Comey didn’t say he reopened Clinton investigation because of poll numbers - POLITICO
The Republican response is based on a what seems to be a misreading of one passage in James Comey‘s new book in which the former FBI director reflects on the Clinton investigation. | Alex Brandon/AP Photo
Fact-check: Comey didn’t say he reopened Clinton investigation because of poll numbers
As FBI director, James Comey reopened the investigation into Hillary Clinton’s private email server days before the 2016 election because of poll numbers, the White House said on Friday, repeating an assertion that doesn’t square with a passage in Comey’s new book. Press secretary Sarah Sanders leveled several broadsides against the former bureau director at a White House briefing, responding to reporters’ questions about decisions related to the Clinton investigation by saying, “Now he claims it was based because of poll numbers.” The comment appeared to be part of a coordinated Republican effort to undermine Comey’s reputation for integrity upon the release of his new book, “A Higher Loyalty.” The Republican National Committee sent an email quoting a tweet from political analyst Nate Silver, who wrote: “ If Comey’s decision to release the letter on Oct. 28 was influenced by his interpretation of the polls, that really ought to cut against his image as an honorable, principled decision-maker. Instead, he was just being expedient and trying to save his own hide.” The Republican response is based on what seems to be a misreading of one passage in the book, as Comey reflects on his decisions regarding the Clinton investigation in the days before the 2016 election.