The controversy over the FBI director James Comey's cryptic announcement Friday that the bureau would be reviewing additional emails has only been inflamed in the days since. | AP Photo FBI's Comey becomes Washington's punching bag

FBI Director James Comey endured more blows on Monday from both Democrats and Republicans, but he has one guy in his corner — Donald Trump.

The controversy over the FBI director’s cryptic announcement Friday that the bureau would be reviewing additional emails in its investigation into Hillary Clinton’s private server as secretary of state has only been inflamed in the days since, drawing the law enforcement official into a polarizing, toxic presidential campaign already centered more on personality than on policy.


Even Trump acknowledged Monday that what Comey did, reportedly against the Justice Department’s counsel, took some audacity.

“It took guts for Director Comey to make the move that he made in light of the kind of opposition he had where they’re trying to protect her from criminal prosecution,” Trump told supporters during a rally in Grand Rapids, Michigan, suggesting Clinton should have been charged after the FBI’s yearlong investigation into her use of a private email server when she led the State Department. “You know that. It took a lot of guts.”

The Republican presidential nominee triumphantly seized on the fresh fodder for his email attacks, which Trump has begun leveraging in addition to the daily WikiLeaks revelations from Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta’s hacked personal email account and the 33,000 allegedly personal emails the former secretary of state had deleted.

“I was not his fan, but I’ll tell you what: What he did, he brought back his reputation,” Trump said. “He brought it back.”

But the tables have turned since Comey’s July announcement that while Clinton and her aides were “extremely careless” with their handling of classified information, “no reasonable prosecutor would bring” charges against them. While Trump has apparently become a fan, it’s Clinton who’s now bringing the heat.

The same Democrats who had nothing but praise for the FBI chief were sharply critical of Comey’s decision to revive Clinton’s email saga Friday and with little explanation, including whether the revelations would even be significant once the smoke clears from the bombshell announcement — whenever that may be.

Clinton told supporters at a rally in Kent, Ohio, she’s confident that many of them are asking: "Why in the world the FBI would decide to jump into the election with no evidence of any wrongdoing with just days to go.”

“That is a good question,” she said, adding that “there is no case here.”

Earlier Monday, the Clinton campaign highlighted dozens of former state attorneys general who have signed a letter criticizing Comey, essentially joining former U.S. Attorneys General Eric Holder, Michael Mukasey and Alberto Gonzales, who each offered their own criticism of the FBI head in the past couple of days.

“We call on him, now that he has injected himself into the electoral process, to immediately provide as much detail as possible so the American public can deal with facts rather than rank speculation and innuendo,” the bipartisan group of former top state law enforcement officials wrote. “But we should not be in this position in the first place.”

Comey’s unusual move just 11 days before Election Day has also put the White House in a tough position. Clinton’s most effective and high-profile surrogates have come from the White House — President Barack Obama, first lady Michelle Obama and Vice President Joe Biden — but even the administration waded cautiously into the Trump-Clinton battleground Comey has found himself on.

White House press secretary Josh Earnest stressed that he would not “defend or criticize” Comey’s letter but expressed confidence in him.

“The president does not believe that Director Comey is intentionally trying to influence the outcome of an election,” Earnest told reporters, breaking from Clinton and other Democrats who have suggested Comey caved to partisan pressure. “The president does not believe that he is secretly strategizing to benefit one candidate or one political party.”

Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley, a leading figure in the Senate’s blockade of Supreme Court nominee Merrick Garland, also broke ranks Monday. Grassley, who chairs the upper chamber’s Judiciary Committee, wrote in a four-page letter that Comey’s letter lacked adequate details to gauge it fairly.

“In the absence of additional, authoritative information from the FBI in the wake of your vague disclosure, Congress and the American people are left to sift through anonymous leaks from Justice Department officials to the press of varying levels of detail, reliability, and consistency,” Grassley wrote. “The American people deserve better than that.”

And they may get it — sooner than later. The Justice Department told members of Congress on Monday that DOJ “will continue to work closely with the FBI and together, dedicate all necessary resources and take appropriate steps as expeditiously as possible,” suggesting the email investigation will be prioritized and dealt with quickly, given Election Day is just eight days away.

In any case, Trump thanked top Clinton aide Huma Abedin and her estranged husband, disgraced former Congressman Anthony Weiner, whose laptop turned up the emails that prompted Comey’s letter, for dropping the political gift into his lap and renewing Republicans' hopes of retaking the White House.

“We can be sure that what is in those emails is absolutely devastating,” he predicted. “And I think we’re gonna find out, by the way, for the first time. Thank you, Huma. Thank you, Huma. Good job, Huma. Thank you, Anthony Weiner.”