Joe Walsh, a former Illinois congressman and ardent supporter of Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, came to Hillary Clinton’s defense Sunday in response to the news that the FBI is reviewing new emails connected to her use of a private email server.
“Politics aside, James Comey has screwed this thing up from the get go,” he tweeted about the FBI director.
{mosads}”He wrongly let her off in July & he wrongly stuck it to her Friday.”
In a series of tweets, Walsh said the timing of Comey’s Friday announcement, just 11 days before the election, is “unfair to her” and questioned whether he was seeking to meddle in the upcoming presidential election.
Democrats have assailed Comey for announcing Friday that the bureau discovered more emails that “appear to be pertinent” to the earlier investigation into Clinton. Clinton and her allies have questioned his timing, and Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) accused him of working to benefit Trump’s campaign.
But many Republicans have pushed back, framing Comey’s move as righting what they saw as a perceived wrong when he declined to charge Clinton over her handling of classified emails on that server, despite labeling her conduct “extremely careless.”
Walsh made news last week when he tweeted, “If Trump loses, I’m grabbing my musket.” During the series of tweets on Sunday, he added that he’ll have his “musket ready November 9th. No matter who wins.”
The former congressman turned conservative talk show host served one term in Congress before Rep. Tammy Duckworth, the Illinois Democrat running for Senate, defeated him in 2012.