Donald Trump said Monday that FBI Director James B. Comey had “a lot of guts” to buck political pressure and reopen the investigation of Hillary Clinton, rocking her presidential campaign.
Mr. Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, urged Mr. Comey to “hang tough” and keep pursuing justice.
Mr. Comey has come under withering attack from Democrats for telling Congress that new evidence prompted the FBI to renew the investigation of the party’s nominee for using a secret email setup as secretary of state, including potential criminal mishandling of government secrets.
“It took guts for Director Comey to make the move that he made in light of the kind of opposition he had where they are trying to protect her from criminal prosecution, you know that,” Mr. Trump told a rally in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
Democratic leaders have accused Mr. Comey of interfering with the presidential election by making public the investigation. Some have accused him of violating the Hatch Act, which prohibits federal officials of using their office to campaign for candidates.
Mr. Trump said that he wasn’t a fan of Mr. Comey after his July recommended against pursuing criminal charges against Mrs. Clinton. Mr. Trump pointed to that announcement as evidence that the political system was “rigged.”
But Mr. Trump said the renewed investigation had repaired Mr. Comey’s damaged reputation.
“What he did, he brought back his reputation,” Mr. Trump said. “He’s got to hang tough because a lot of people want him to do the wrong thing because what he did was the right thing.”
The FBI reportedly reopened the investigation after finding 650,000 emails that could relate to the probe on a laptop belonging top Clinton aide Huma Abedin’s now-estranged husband Anthony Weiner, who is under investigation for sexting with an underage girl.
• S.A. Miller can be reached at smiller@washingtontimes.com.
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