Donald Trump will enter the White House with an awkward relationship with the FBI director after attacking the bureau over its handling of the investigation into former secretary of state Hillary Clinton’s private email server, the Washington Post reports. Hours after FBI Director James Comey cleared Clinton in July for using a private server to send classified emails, Trump accused him of rigging the justice system. “It’s a bribe,” tweeted Trump, suggesting that Comey was in the tank for the Democrats. “Very very unfair! As usual, bad judgment.”
Then on Oct. 28, 11 days before the election, Comey sent a bombshell letter to Congress announcing that he was renewing the Clinton probe after agents turned up new emails. Trump said then, “I was not his fan. But I’ll tell you what. What he did, he brought back his reputation. He brought it back. . . . What he did was the right thing.” Comey, in the third year of a 10-year term, is unlikely to go anywhere. Unlike the attorney general, the FBI director does not change with the administration. Officials close to Comey say he has no plans to leave. James Pasco of the National Fraternal Order of Police, which endorsed Trump, said Comey needs to avoid controversial actions if he is to succeed with Trump. “The thing about Comey is that he set himself up as a man who reports to no one,” Pasco said. “Because he reports to no one, he feels empowered to just act with his own voice. I think it’s important for any public servant to be responsive to the people that the public has elected to represent them. And I think if he does that, he’ll probably be okay.”