Rep. Trey Gowdy (R., S.C.) on Monday described Sen. Harry Reid's allegation that FBI Director James Comey violated the Hatch Act as "laughable."
Gowdy appeared on MSNBC's Morning Joe, and co-host Mika Brzezinski read a the letter penned by Reid. The Nevada lawmaker released a letter on Sunday in which he stated that he believes Comey violated the Hatch Act by announcing Friday that the FBI would be reopening its investigation into Clinton's use of a private email server.
The Hatch Act prevents federal government employees from directly engaging in political activity. Reid's letter alleges that Comey made his Friday announcement because he wanted to help the Republicans in the last week of the election.
After Brzezinski read out sections of Reid's letter, she asked Gowdy for his reaction.
"Just how laughable that is. It was the attorney general who met with the spouse of the target of an investigation on a tarmac," Gowdy said referencing the meeting between Attorney General Loretta Lynch and Bill Clinton this summer. "The president himself prejudged the outcome of the investigation and Senator Reid didn't write a letter to either of one of them violating the Hatch Act."
"How Jim Comey supplementing his record before Congress violates the Hatch Act is just laughable," Gowdy added.
The FBI has not responded to Reid's letter but the senator received blowback from many other Republicans who found his statement bizarre. Sen. Tom Cotton (R., Ark.) took to Twitter to express his thoughts on Reid's letter.
Harry Reid is a disgrace to American politics, among worst men ever in Senate. He can't go soon enough, & many Democrats privately agree. https://t.co/4lCKx5pKi4
— Tom Cotton (@TomCottonAR) October 30, 2016
Reid's recent statements about Comey contradict the praise he lavished on the FBI director for recommending this summer that the Justice Department bring no charges against Clinton for her private email server use. Back in July, Reid stated, "No one can question the integrity, the competence" of Comey.