FBI boss sticks to his guns on probe

Washington, May 3: An unfazed FBI chief James Comey on Wednesday strongly defended his controversial decision to alert Congress just days before the US general election about the probe into Hillary Clinton’s emails, saying concealing the probe developments would have been “catastrophic”.

“It was a hard choice, I still believe in retrospect the right choice,” the FBI director told senators at a judiciary committee hearing on oversight of his agency.

“I can’t consider for a second whose political fortunes will be affected,” he said, a day after both the sitting US president and the 2016 Democratic presidential nominee sharply criticised him for his role in the outcome of last year’s presidential election.

Ms Comey said he stands behind his letter to Congress that shook up the final days of last year’s presidential election and he would do it again. Still, he said his decision to tell Congress that the Federal Bureau of Investigation had found new emails that could be relevant to Ms Clinton’s private email server was not an easy one.

“This was terrible. It makes me mildly nauseous to think we might have had some impact on the election ... I would make the same decision,” Mr Comey, 56, said.

Asked why he publicly announced the probe, he said, “This has been one of the world’s most painful experiences. I would make the same decision.” He said he notified lawmakers about the findings because he “testified under oath repeatedly” that the investigation was over.