Congressman calls on Comey to resign
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Julia Manchester, CNN
(CNN) — Tennessee Congressman Steve Cohen is publicly calling for FBI Director James Comey to resign in light of the FBI effort to review emails discovered on former Rep. Anthony Weiner’s laptop to see if they are related to the bureau’s investigation of Clinton’s private email server.
“The FBI has to be held to a high standard, and it is. We give the FBI director a 10-year term so they are immune from politics and can do their job,” the Tennessee Democrat told CNN’s John Berman and Kate Bolduan Monday.
“There is no reason to believe there is anything in there that shows that Secretary Clinton had any intent to violate the law which is the basis upon why he did not recommend or to bring an indictment this past summer, and there is no reason that’s changed.”
The Tennessee Congressman told the Commercial Appeal newspaper of Comey, “he should resign his position effective immediately.”
On Monday, Cohen praised Comey for his work in the past, telling CNN he has “such respect” for Comey. However, he said this time the FBI director “went too far.”
“He violated the oath. The FBI has been hurt and justice has been hurt,” Cohen said.
Cohen is not the first lawmaker to speak out against the FBI Director’s decision. Democratic Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid said Comey broke the law by violating the Hatch Act, which prohibits the use of federal offices for political efforts.
And former Rep. Joe Walsh, a Republican who tweeted last week if Trump lost the election he would be “grabbing” his musket, said “James Comey screwed this thing up from the get go. “He wrongly let her off in July & he wrongly stuck it to her Friday.”
However, when asked by Bolduan if he thought Comey was trying to influence the election, Cohen stopped short of saying Comey was politically motivated.
“I think he was excessively careless in making a statement at this time. And the FBI director is supposed to be beyond that,” Cohen said.
“We look more like an Eastern European nation or a Latin American country with chief law enforcement person coming out and making statements that can effect the results of an election,” he said. “That’s why I spoke up, because it’s wrong and its not American.”
When asked whether this could cost Hillary Clinton the election November 8, Cohen said “I think it could yes.”