Report: Lynch Advised Comey Against Letter to Congress

Attorney General Loretta Lynch advised FBI Director James Comey against sending a letter to Congress about the review of new Hillary Clinton emails, The New Yorker reported Saturday. Citing an unnamed source in the Obama administration, the report said Lynch urged Comey against taking any actions that might sway the outcome of the Nov. 8 vote, in accordance with a longstanding practice in the department. Comey, however, said he felt “an obligation” to send the letter in light of the fact that he’d earlier testified about the investigation. Comey is now under fire for breaking with the policy of the Justice Department to avoid commenting on investigations involving a presidential candidate when it can be viewed as meddling in the election. One former official told The New Yorker, “You don’t do this. It’s aberrational. It violates decades of practice.” While it’s unclear how Comey’s letter will affect the election, Trump has already seized on the news, reacting with glee on Friday night. He told a crowd of supporters in New Hampshire that the new emails showed Clinton had engaged in corruption “on a scale we have never seen before.”