Comey in new book: ‘I’m sorry’ I couldn’t better explain decision on Clinton probe

Former FBI Director James Comey offers an apology in his forthcoming book for not providing a better explanation of his decision to announce that he had reopened the probe into Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server just days before the 2016 election.

“I have read she has felt anger toward me personally, and I’m sorry for that,” Comey writes of Clinton, according to ABC News. “I’m sorry that I couldn’t do a better job explaining to her and her supporters why I made the decisions I made.”

The book, “A Higher Loyalty: Truth, Lies, and Leadership” is slated for release next week.

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Comey initially announced in July 2016 that Clinton had acted carelessly in her use of a private email server during her tenure as secretary of State, but declined to recommend criminal charges.

But months later, just days before the November election, he publicly disclosed that the FBI had reopened the Clinton probe to review additional emails that had been recovered. The investigation was closed again days later, again without recommending charges.

Clinton has publicly decried Comey’s decision to announce that the investigation had been reopened, and has suggested that it played into her eventual electoral defeat by President Trump. 

Comey has said that he made the public announcement in part because he was concerned concealing the FBI’s investigation would imply bias. However, in the book Comey acknowledges that he assumed at the time that Clinton would win the election.

“Certainly not consciously, but I would be a fool to say it couldn’t have had an impact on me,” he wrote of the assumption, according to ABC News. “It is entirely possible my concern about making her an illegitimate president by concealing the restarted investigation bore greater weight than it would have if the election appeared closer or if Donald Trump were ahead in all polls. But I don’t know.”

Comey continued to serve as FBI director under Trump until he was abruptly fired in May 2017.

Trump initially pointed to Comey’s handling of the Clinton investigation as the reason for his dismissal, though he later acknowledged that he had considered the FBI’s probe into possible collusion between his campaign and Russia as part of his decision to fire the top cop.