WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama believes FBI Director James Comey is a man of integrity and is not trying to influence the U.S. presidential election by announcing scrutiny of additional emails linked to Democrat Hillary Clinton‘s private server, the White House said on Monday.
White House spokesman Josh Earnest says he will neither “defend nor criticize” FBI Director James Comey’s decision to disclose that the FBI is looking into newly discovered emails that may be pertinent to their dormant investigation of Hillary Clinton.
Earnest said Monday that there are significant institutional responsibilities that the Department of Justice must fulfil. He said that Obama believes “Director Comey is a man of integrity. He’s a man of principle and he’s a man of good character.”
Earnest said Obama believes that Comey isn’t trying to help one presidential candidate over another.
He said Comey is in a tough spot, but the FBI director is in the best position to defend his actions in the face of significant criticism