Dems trying to nudge Comey out at FBI after Clinton probe decision

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Impact of Comey's decision on presidential, senate races

Insight from Julie Bykowicz, national political reporter for the Associated Press

Top Democrats are ratcheting up their criticism of FBI Director James Comey for going public with a decision to revisit the Hillary Clinton email probe days before the election, with a few even hinting they want him fired -- though President Obama has shown little indication he'd oblige right now.

Valerie Jarrett, Obama’s chief adviser, reportedly is among those who want Comey gone.

“Valerie argued that Comey was interfering deliberately in the election process and had to be stopped,” a source told The New York Post. The same source said Obama, though, is “worried about the consequences of taking such an action – the tsunami of outrage that would come his way, and possibly become a major footnote, or worse, in the history of the presidency.”

The outrage from Democrats in recent days has been matched by applause from Republicans, in a reversal from the summer -- when GOP lawmakers were grumbling about Comey's decision not to pursue charges in the Clinton case and Democrats praised Comey's professionalism.

House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Mike McCaul, R-Texas, called Comey a "hero" and ripped Jarrett.

“I don’t think Valerie Jarrett has any credibility here,” he told Fox News.

Comey notified Congress last Friday that during an investigation of Clinton confidant Huma Abedin’s estranged husband Anthony Weiner, FBI agents found indications that a laptop used by the disgraced congressman contained some emails related to the FBI’s earlier probe of Clinton’s private computer server.

The disclosure, coming 11 days before the election, roiled the presidential campaign as top Democrats sprung into damage control.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi told CNN, “Maybe he’s not in the right job.”

She added, “I think that we have to just get through this election and just see what the casualties are along the way.”

New York Sen. Chuck Schumer called Comey’s actions “appalling,” adding that he has lost “confidence” in the director.

Schumer’s comments come on the heels of outgoing Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid accusing Comey of possibly violating federal law.

In an Oct. 30 letter to Comey, Reid said Comey may have violated the Hatch Act, which prohibits government officials from using their positon of power to influence an election.

Republicans blasted Reid for the letter.

Meanwhile, as Democrats pile on the criticism, a new report in The Guardian seems to indicate many FBI agents are backing Donald Tump.

“The FBI is Trumpland,” one agent told the paper.

The unnamed agent said Clinton is “the antichrist personified to a large swath of FBI personnel” and is the reason why so many leaks about the investigation have been anti-Clinton and pro-Trump.

FoxNews.com has not independently verified the claims made by the FBI agent.