[DailyMail] An astonishing confrontation between the attorney-general and the FBI director over Hillary Clinton's emails was revealed Monday.
Sources told Reuters how James Comey, the FBI boss, challenged Loretta Lynch, the nation's most senior prosecutor, over whether she was directing him to keep the bombshell discovery of new, 'relevant' emails secret from Congress.
The development was revealed by the news agency hours after the White House went out of its way to back Comey as a man of 'integrity' and rubbish Hillary Clinton's attack on him.
It also slapped down claims by Harry Reid, the Democratic Senate leader, that Comey may have been breaking the Hatch act and influencing the election, saying the President did not believe he was doing such a thing.
The Comey-Lynch confrontation unfolded on Thursday, some time after Comey was fully briefed on the existence of the trove of emails uncovered by agents investigating Anthony Weiner's sexting of a 15-year-old girl.
Lynch made it known that she thought his decision violated department policy, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters on Monday.
As Comey and Lynch aides debated last Thursday whether alerting Congress about the emails would comply with longstanding Justice Department policy against announcing overt investigative steps that would influence an upcoming election, Comey asked whether he was being explicitly directed not to do so.
Lynch never gave Comey the order not to send the emails, a senior government official said.