Hillary Clinton says she regrets not dealing with 'reckless' Jim Comey in 2016
Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton revealed during a podcast discussion on Wednesday that she regretted not confronting former FBI Director James Comey more forcefully ahead of the 2016 presidential election.
"I wish somebody had told me that I needed to take on Jim Comey," Clinton said on "High Stakes" alongside Kara Swisher. "I needed to really challenge his breach of precedent, his breaking the Justice Department's norms of not interfering in elections, his deliberate, reckless effort to curry favor with the Republicans. I wish I had taken it on in a very forcefully, frontal way. And I didn’t."
Comey, while serving as FBI director in 2016, sent a letter to Congress on Oct. 28, 2016 — exactly 10 years ago Wednesday — informing lawmakers that the FBI would review newly discovered emails potentially related to its investigation into Clinton's use of a private email server. Just two days before the 2016 election, on Nov. 6, Comey informed Congress that the review had not changed the FBI's earlier conclusion that criminal charges against Clinton were not warranted.
"Did I want to pick a fight with the director of the FBI? Well, in retrospect, yeah, I did. So, yeah. I wish I had been, you know, really in his face and picked a fight with him in a way," Clinton added.
Swisher agreed and said, "You have to push back."
"I've been the do-right person for way too long when it comes to not fighting back, because you know the old assumptions are gone, and you've got to be much more in the mix and aware of, you know, what the real dangers are and speak up and fight back," Clinton added.
The Justice Department filed criminal information against Comey on Monday over allegations that he willfully communicated national defense information to an unauthorized person in connection with an alleged 2016 disclosure.
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Federal prosecutors filed the two-count criminal information in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, alleging Comey communicated national defense information and conspired with others to unlawfully disclose it.
The Justice Department said that the filing was made to preserve the allegations before the statute of limitations expired as an investigation remains ongoing.
Prosecutors allege that on or about Oct. 5, 2016, Comey knowingly and willfully communicated information related to the national defense to a person who was not entitled to receive it.
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Comey's attorneys have challenged the filing. They've argued that prosecutors cannot move forward with the case without first obtaining an indictment from a federal grand jury.
Comey denied wrongdoing in an Instagram post Monday, calling the latest action an "appalling abuse of the Department of Justice."
"Nothing's changed with me. I'm still innocent. I'm not afraid of these people. And I still believe in the independent federal judiciary," Comey said.
"To quote Elsa from ‘Frozen’: ‘Let It Go! Let It Go!’," Fox News contributor Joe Concha told Fox News Digital in a statement about Clinton's remarks. "As for Hillary, the way she so carelessly and recklessly, and probably illegally handled highly classified information is something she shouldn’t be revisiting now, as if she was the victim. Even if she took on Comey, that still doesn’t change the fact she never campaigned in Wisconsin. It doesn’t change the fact that she spoke down to more than 70 million Trump voters at the time whom she called deplorable. And it doesn’t change the fact that, without a time machine, she doesn’t get a do-over now."
Fox News Digital reached out to Comey's team for comment.
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In another recent episode of "High Stakes," Clinton criticized a video from actor Matthew McConaughey encouraging voters to consider independent candidates.
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McConaughey took to social media this month and challenged the long-held notion that voting for an independent candidate is a wasted vote, arguing that just a handful of independent lawmakers could dramatically shift the balance of power in Washington.
"I think it's really unfortunate that somebody who's such a great actor with such a reach … two weeks before a midterm that is aimed at stopping Trump's corruption, impunity and extreme damage to the country, would suggest that any independent candidate is really a better choice," Clinton said.