With Clinton email case, FBI director on 'fraught, perlious' path

WASHINGTON — In a matter of four days, the man with the unassailable standing as director of the nation’s most powerful law enforcement agency, has become the target of unrelenting rebuke by the very people who once celebrated James Comey’s appointment three years ago to lead the FBI.

Perhaps most damaging so far was the criticism leveled by nearly 100 former Justice Department officials who characterized the director’s decision to notify Congress of a new review of emails that could be related to the previously closed Hillary Clinton inquiry as nothing short of “astonishing" so close to a presidential election.

“We cannot recall a prior instance where a senior Justice Department official — Republican or Democrat — has, on the eve of a major election, issued a public statement where the mere disclosure of information may impact the election’s outcome,’’ the former officials, including former attorney general Eric Holder, wrote.

The scathing public evaluation of Comey’s decision, which also defied long-standing Justice Department policy not to take actions in advance of an election that might appear to interfere with its outcome, threatens to cast a permanent shadow on the remaining seven years of the director’s term, some current and former government officials said.

Rep. Elijah Cummings, the ranking Democrat on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee who has been one of Comey's most vocal advocates, expressed deep concerns Monday that the FBI's institutional integrity hung in the balance.

“I have great personal respect for Director Comey, and I sincerely believe that he is a man of integrity, independence, and good intentions, but I have grave concerns that the credibility of the FBI could be damaged in immeasurable ways,'' Cummings said.