WASHINGTON (AP) — Democrats are criticizing the FBI over its refusal to discuss potential contacts between Russian officials and associates of President Donald Trump, saying the bureau's tight-lipped approach and its public disclosures about Hillary Clinton's emails during the fractious election campaign reflect a double standard.
While distinctions between the two matters could help explain why they're being treated differently, critics of the FBI's approach say Director James Comey set a precedent with his unusually public accounting of the Clinton email case that roiled the final stretch of the presidential race. Congressional Democrats and former Clinton aides who seethed at the FBI's actions last year say they're upset that a law enforcement organization that so publicly discussed one probe didn't even hint at the existence of another.