FBI Director James Comey 'Mildly Nauseous' That He Might Have Impacted Election Results

WASHINGTON, DC — FBI Director James Comey defended his decision to notify Congress just days before the 2016 election about new emails connected to Hillary Clinton, telling the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday that concealing the information wold have been worse than revealing it but conceding that suggestions that he affected the vote’s outcome made him “mildly nauseous.” He offered few details about an ongoing investigation into Russian meddling in the election.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, a Democrat from California, asked why Comey decided to release a letter to Congress on October 28 announcing the reopening of the investigation into Clinton's emails but did not reveal the bureau was investigating the Trump campaign for possible illegal ties to Russia. Comey said that because he had told Congress months earlier that the Clinton investigation was closed, he felt obligated to disclose the probe was being reopened.

(For more information on this and other political stories, subscribe to the White House Patch for daily newsletters and breaking news alerts.)

"It makes me mildly nauseous to think that we might have had some sort of impact on the election," he said. He added later that, "concealment, in my view, would have been catastrophic.”

"The actions taken by the FBI did in fact have an impact on the election," Feinstein said.

Coincidentally, election analyst Nate Silver posted an in-depth story on FiveThirtyEight Wednesday arguing that Comey's letter was likely decisive in the outcome in the election. Not only did it affect the way people voted, he said, it likely made the difference between a Clinton win and a Trump win. He also criticizes members of the media for not acknowledging the impact of the letter.

On Twitter, Rep. Adam Schiff, a California Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, repudiated Comey's defense of his actions:

Sen. John Cornyn, a Texas Republican, said he was disappointed that Clinton has said Comey's letter was part of the reason she lost the 2016 election. He said she did not accept any blame for the loss herself, though in her public comment Tuesday, Clinton did say she took responsibility for the loss.

Comey also confirmed that Huma Abedin, an aide of Hillary Clinton's, and her husband Anthony Weiner, were the subject of a now-closed investigation regarding the distribution of classified emails. He said the bureau did not pursue charges because it could not determine with reasonable confidence that Abedin knowingly violated the law, which would have been required for her actions to constitute a crime. He added that this was the reason why no charges came out of the investigations into emails sent connected with Clinton's tenure in the State Department.

Comey revealed that he is currently under investigation for his behavior during the email investigation, a probe which he says he welcomes. He said he'd like his story told, because much of it is classified, but he also noted that he'd like to know if he did anything wrong. He added: "I think I've done the right thing at each turn."

Asked about the investigation into Trump and Russia, which the FBI has confirmed continues, Comey said, "We won't reveal another peep on it until it's completed." But under questioning from Lindsey Graham, Comey confirmed that he believed that Russia is still interfering in American politics. He denied that there was evidence that Russian spies tampered with voting results in the 2016 election, though he did say there was reason to believe they tried to hack voter registration data.

Russia, Comey said, "certainly is the greatest threat of any nation on Earth given their intention and their capability."

Comey refused to answer questions about whether President Trump himself is under investigation for colluding with Russian spies to undermine the American election. He insisted, however, that his refusal to answer should not be overly interpreted in any way.

Regarding the differential treatment of the investigations into Clinton's emails and Trump's ties to Russia, given that Comey disclosed the first but concealed the former, he said, "I think I treated both investigations consistently under the same principles."

Though he wouldn't confirm the existence of any particular investigations into leaks, Comey said, "If I find out that people were leaking information... there'll be severe consequences."

In a provocative coinage, Comey referred to WikiLeaks as an outlet that engages in "intelligence porn." While distinguishing between real journalists, who Comey said behaved responsibly and in the public interest, he said WikiLeaks' activities were intentionally designed to use leaks to harm the United States. One distinction Comey made was that news agencies call the FBI ahead of disclosing potentially damaging information, whereas WikiLeaks does not.

Julian Assange challenged Comey's assertions on Twitter:

Sen. Patrick Leahy asked Comey to comment on Trump's proposed Muslim ban, but the FBI director did not want to remark on specific policies. However, Comey did say that anti-Muslim policies and bigotry make the FBI's job harder.

Watch a replay of the proceedings below.

Like the White House Patch Facebook Page.

Follow us on Twitter.

Sign up to comment on the site.

Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images News/Getty Images