Former U.S. Attorneys Lewis, Coffey Stunned At Comey's Timing On Letter To Congress
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MIAMI (CBSMiami) – Two former U.S. Attorney's for the Southern District of Florida are stunned by FBI Director James Comey's letter to congress Friday.
"Good, smart people make mistakes and I think this was clearly, without question, a whopper of a mistake," said Guy Lewis.
Fellow former U.S. Attorney Kendall Coffey weighed in saying, "when a cryptic bombshell is unleashed days before the election, it leaves everybody asking questions and frankly concerned about why now."
They're talking about emails found on a computer shared by Clinton's top aid Huma Abedin and her estranged husband Anthony Weiner.
The head of the FBI said they could be related to the investigation into Clinton's private server.
"The FBI is normally very, very reluctant to release details with about any investigation that's ongoing, let alone an investigation that might have some election ramification overtones," said Lewis.
Puzzling to many is Comey's statement saying "the FBI cannot yet assess whether or not this material may be significant."
Coffey believes Comey may have felt obligated to make a statement.
"He had already announced publicly said that the investigation was closed that there were no further investigative steps. When that became untrue in October he felt that would mislead the public and the congress to remain silent," Coffey said.
Lewis said when he oversaw the US Attorney's office in South Florida, they would say very little about active investigations.
"We would never ever go out and start making it public," he said. "We wouldn't even confirm that there was an investigation on going and that's the way it normally happens."
Neither men believe Comey intended to sway the election, but both still wonder why he didn't just wait until after the election when he had more information.
"I think ultimately this will be viewed as a mistake," Coffey said. "I don't believe the evidence is going to implicate Hillary Clinton. If that's the case, history will not be kind to director James Comey."