President Obama denounced FBI Director James Comey's decision to reopen the investigation into Hillary Clinton's private email server days before the presidential election.
"We don't operate on incomplete information," Obama said in an interview with NowThis News broadcast Wednesday. He also suggested that Comey's announcement lacked concrete information and broke the FBI's normal pre-election protocols.
Comey touched off a political firestorm on Friday when he sent a letter to Congress saying the FBI discovered relevant emails in a separate probe that warranted relaunching the Clinton email investigation. FBI agents uncovered a trove of emails on a laptop used by former Congressman Anthony Weiner, who is being investigated for an unrelated alleged sexting relationship with an underage girl. Weiner is the estranged husband of top Clinton aide Huma Abedin, who also used the computer, which reportedly contains messages relevant to Clinton's tenure at the State Department.
"We don't operate on leaks. We operate based on concrete decisions that are made," Obama said, criticizing the vagueness of Comey's statement to Congress.
Obama was critical of Comey's decision but did not directly mention the FBI director by name.
The president defended Clinton in the interview and restated his support for her, the New York Times reported.
Declaring that he had "made a very deliberate effort to make sure that I don't look like I'm meddling in what are supposed to be independent processes for making these assessments," Mr. Obama nonetheless expressed confidence in Mrs. Clinton and her integrity.
Mr. Obama's comments were somewhat surprising since he weighed in on the investigation last year before the FBI had determined that neither Mrs. Clinton nor her aides would face charges for mishandling classified information that was found on the secretary of state's private email server. The president's comments angered FBI agents.
Obama's remarks come two days after his press secretary asserted that the White House would not be weighing in on the recent decision from Comey to reopen the investigation.
"I’ll neither defend nor criticize what Director Comey has decided to communicate to the public about his decision," White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said during Monday's press briefing.
Earnest also said Monday that the president believes Comey "is a man of integrity, he’s a man of principle, and he’s a man of good character."