Rep. Steve Cohen (D., Tenn.), a Hillary Clinton supporter, released a statement Monday morning calling for FBI Director James Comey to resign after he reopened the bureau's investigation into Clinton's use of a private email server.
Cohen explained in the statement why he wants Comey to resign, citing his Friday afternoon announcement that the FBI would be looking into more emails related to Clinton's email practices while she was secretary of state.
The congressman from Tennessee, the first Democrat to call for Comey's ouster, said it is unfair to relaunch the probe, which was meant to determine if Clinton mishandled classified material over her server, so close to the Nov. 8 election.
The fairness of our electoral system is like the fairness of a trial, and no justice official should act in such a way to potentially influence an election whether intended to or not. Standards must be upheld and an FBI director needs to investigate, not inject issues into a presidential election when no investigation dictates action or basis for action. At a minimum, Director Comey's actions are, to use his own verbiage, 'extremely careless' this close to the election and without any apparent substance. If Director Comey cares about the Bureau and the rule of law, as I have felt he has in the past, I'm sure upon reflection of this action, he will submit his letter of resignation for the nation's good.
Cohen also said that he approved of Comey's July decision to not recommend criminal charges against Clinton in the initial probe but called Friday afternoon's announcement "premature, careless, and unprecedented."
Cohen is a member of the House Judiciary Committee, before which Comey testified in September.