Republican vice-presidential candidate Mike Pence tried to help his running mate capitalize Sunday on the FBI’s decision to renew the investigation into Hillary Clinton’s private email server, saying Donald Trump’s change of attitude toward the bureau’s handling of the case was a sign of “real leadership.”
Trump is once again predicting a victory for his presidential campaign after FBI Director James B. Comey chose to notify Congress on Friday that he is renewing the Clinton email inquiry. The Republican presidential nominee has claimed repeatedly that the election is “rigged.” And just before news broke of Comey’s decision, he accused the FBI of “rolling over” on the Clinton email inquiry. Later on Friday, Trump said, “I have great respect for the FBI for righting this wrong.”
Pence, who is the governor of Indiana, addressed Trump’s about-face in an interview on Fox News Sunday.
“I think what you see here is an example of real leadership,” Pence told Fox.
“That’s because we thought the investigation never should have been closed … It was just incomprehensible when the director of the FBI came out and literally indicted Hillary Clinton in the press and then said we’re not recommending that she be indicted.”
In July, Comey recommended no charges be filed against Clinton, but he was highly critical of her use of a private email server while serving as secretary of state and of the potential risks it presented to possible classified material.
Pence said he sees “tremendous momentum in this campaign” and that Trump has indicated he will inject more of his own money into the race to compete with Clinton – who currently has more campaign cash on hand – in the final week. Pence did not say how much Trump plans to spend.
Clinton has called Comey’s decision, which was prompted by the discovery of emails on a computer seized during a probe of disgraced former congressman Anthony Weiner, “unprecedented” and “deeply troubling.” Weiner is the estranged husband of top Clinton adviser Huma Abedin.
Campaign manager Robby Mook echoed this response to Comey’s decision, calling the renewal of the probe “very strange.”
“We were very surprised by this letter and what we’re asking at this point is for Director Comey to get all of this information out on the table – all of it – so the American people can decide for themselves,” Mook said on Fox News Sunday.