MOSCOW (Sputnik) — He stated that the FBI showed preferential treatment to the Republican Party's candidate Donald Trump by covering up the evidence of his close relationship with the Russian government.
"The double standard enlisted by your actions is clear," Reid said in the letter released by media on Sunday.
He accused FBI of being biased against the US Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton, based on the organization's handling of the most recent probe into Clinton's use of the private email account as the Secretary of State.
"By contrast, as soon as you came into possession of the slightest innuendo related to Secretary Clinton, you rushed to publicize it in the most negative light possible," Reid said.
Reid also accused Comey of breaching the Hatch Act which prohibits any employees of the executive branch of the US government from engaging in certain forms of partisan political activity.
"The clear double-standard established by your actions strongly suggests that your highly selective approach to publicizing information, along with your timing, was intended for the success or failure of a partisan candidate or political group," Reid wrote after referring to the 2016 memo on the Hatch Act which specified the accountability of all Justice Department employees, including the head of FBI.
On Friday, FBI Director James Comey told members of the US Congress in a letter that the bureau found additional emails relevant to its investigation into Clinton’s use, as secretary of state from 2009 to 2013, of a private email server. FBI investigators will determine whether the newly uncovered emails contain classified information, Comey wrote.
The FBI found new emails during a non-related investigation of the former US congressman Anthony Weiner, the estranged husband of longtime Clinton aide and campaign vice chairwoman Huma Abedin. Weiner is alleged to have sent illicit texts to an underage girl.
In July, the FBI concluded its investigation into Clinton’s use of a private server and email account while she was the United States’ top diplomat. Comey ultimately stated that Clinton’s use of a home-based email server for official business as a cabinet secretary was "extremely careless," but he did not recommend criminal charges against her.
