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Trump: Comey ‘the best thing’ that happened to Clinton

by Nikita Vladimirov - 05/02/17 11:12 PM ET

President Trump on Tuesday said that FBI Director James Comey was the “best thing” that ever happened to his 2016 Democratic opponent, Hillary Clinton.

“FBI Director Comey was the best thing that ever happened to Hillary Clinton in that he gave her a free pass for many bad deeds!” Trump tweeted.

“The phony Trump/Russia story was an excuse used by the Democrats as justification for losing the election. Perhaps Trump just ran a great campaign?” he continued.

FBI Director Comey was the best thing that ever happened to Hillary Clinton in that he gave her a free pass for many bad deeds! The phony…

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 3, 2017

…Trump/Russia story was an excuse used by the Democrats as justification for losing the election. Perhaps Trump just ran a great campaign?

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 3, 2017

The president’s remarks came after Clinton earlier Tuesday blamed her loss in the presidential election on Comey and WikiLeaks’ publication of emails hacked from the Democratic National Committee and Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta.

“If the election had been on Oct. 27, I would be your president,” she told CNN’s Christiane Amanpour at a Women for Women event in New York, referencing the day before Comey sent a letter informing Congress that the FBI had discovered new emails that appeared pertinent to an investigation into Clinton’s handling of classified material.

“I was on the way to winning until the combination of Jim Comey’s letter on Oct. 28 and Russian WikiLeaks raised doubts in the minds of people who were inclined to vote for me, but got scared off,” Clinton said.

“And the evidence for that intervening event is, I think, compelling, persuasive. And so we overcame a lot. We overcame an enormous barrage of negativity, of false equivalency and so much else,” she added.

Comey will be back in the spotlight Wednesday morning, when he testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee.

It’s the first of two hearings for Comey this week — on Thursday he will appear before the House Intelligence Committee behind closed doors as part of the ongoing investigations into Russia’s meddling in the election.

Tags Hillary Clinton