An email sent to some of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s top staffers indicates that the campaign blames FBI Director James Comey for her loss to President-elect Donald Trump.
According to Politico and Business Insider, Navin Nayak, head of the Clinton campaign’s opinion research division, sent an email to staffers outlining “early signals” as to why Clinton lost.
“We believe that we lost this election in the last week,” Nayak’s email, published by Politico, said. “Comey’s letter in the last 11 days of the election both helped depress our turnout and also drove away some of our critical support among
college-educated white voters—particularly in the suburbs. We also think Comey’s 2nd letter, which was intended to absolve Sec. Clinton, actually helped to bolster Trump’s turnout.”
Comey received significant backlash after he sent a letter to Congress weeks before Election Day saying the FBI would look into emails pertaining to Clinton. After that initial message, it was revealed that the agency was investigating emails that had been found on devices belonging to Clinton aide Huma Abedin and her husband, former Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-N.Y.). Weiner has been under federal investigation over allegations that he traded sexually explicit messages with an underage girl. Abedin and Weiner separated in August.
On Nov. 6, the Sunday before Election Day, Comey announced Clinton would not face charges over the emails.
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