Two wrongs don't make a right, the adage goes. And in James Comey's case that couldn't be more true. His first mistake was deciding to go against FBI norms and make a public statement explaining his recommendation not to recommend changes be pressed against Hilary Clinton for using her private email server for the sending of classified information. While his fear that not to prosecute would be viewed as favouring candidate Clinton, he violated a long-standing and important FBI norm in making that statement.
That the created a problem later on, when the Weiner laptop was "discovered". Having appeared to "let Clinton off the hook" he felt obligated to put her back on it when the laptop was found to have some of her emails on it. That was a second violation - commenting on a now on-going (reopened) investigation.
The first blunder infuriated Republicans who hated Hilary with a vengeance (think "Benghazi, Benghazi, Benghazi", as well as the emails). The second, writing to Congress to inform it that the investigation had been reopened, provided the GOP with much needed talking points and "dirt" on the eve of the election, and despite that fact that there was no "there" there, that impression wasn't correct for several days by which time votes had been cast and minds made up.
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