The White House made it quite clear it will not call for the FBI to issue an early report on the emails of Hillary Clinton.
Asked by Newsmax on Monday afternoon whether it would ask the FBI to issue such a report in order to expedite the latest controversy surrounding Clinton before the election, Press Secretary Josh Earnest left little doubt whether it would ask FBI Director James Comey to do anything regarding the Clinton emails.
"I will neither defend nor criticize Director Comey's decision to communicate to the public about the facts of this investigation," Earnest told us, underscoring his earlier remarks that President Barack Obama had full confidence in Comey and felt he was a man of "outstanding character and integrity."
Obama's top spokesman added he would make no comment on how Comey was handling the expediting of the email controversy "because of the institutional role of the White House not to interfere with an ongoing FBI or DOJ [Department of Justice] investigation."
"I'll also do that because I don't have any independent knowledge of what led Director Comey to decide to release that information," Earnest said. "He'll ultimately have to make that decision himself. There appear to be plenty of people willing to offer him advice about how to or whether to do that. So, he doesn't need advice from me, and I don't think he's looking for it."
John Gizzi is chief political columnist and White House correspondent for Newsmax.
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