Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla., says former FBI Director James Comey was a factor in Hillary Clinton's loss in the presidential race, the SunSentinel is reporting.
She maintained Comey's handling of the probe into Clinton's email contributed to Donald Trump's victory.
"Doing what he did 11 days before the election was inappropriate and definitely violative of longstanding FBI practice," Wasserman Schultz said of Comey.
She did not say whether she believed it cost Clinton the election, but said it had a negative impact, according to the newspaper.
"I don't see how it couldn't have," she said. "I don't see how that announcement, him coming out again and saying what he said that close to the election, I don't see how it didn't have an effect."
The newspaper noted Comey had announced a cache of emails had been discovered. But two days before the election, he said there was no evidence to warrant action against the candidate.
Still, Wasserman Schultz, the former chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee, said Comey is "an incredible public servant." She said he "deserves tremendous credit for being committed to public safety and public service."
Comey said his assumption that Clinton would win was a factor in opening an inquiry into her emails in the first place.
"I don't remember consciously thinking about that, but it must have been because I was operating in a world where Hillary Clinton was going to beat Donald Trump, and so I'm sure that it was a factor," Comey said during his ABC News interview on Sunday.
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