President Donald Trump, center, shakes hands with James Comey, director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), during an Inaugural Law Enforcement Officers and First Responders Reception in the Blue Room of the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Sunday, Jan. 22, 2017.

President Donald Trump has asked James Comey to stay on as FBI director, The New York Times reported Tuesday.

Comey, who Democrats say may have cost Hillary Clinton the election with a late campaign announcement that the FBI had found emails pertinent to its investigation of her emails, told top agents that Trump asked him to remain in the job, the newspaper reported. It cited people familiar with the matter.

Trump was highly critical of Comey when the FBI director recommended last year that Clinton should not get charged for her handling of classified information at the State Department. Then, just days before the presidential election, Comey shook up the race when he told lawmakers about the discovery of new emails that were potentially related to the Clinton investigation. Two days before the election, he announced that there was no reason to reopen the investigation.

Comey became FBI chief in 2013.

Read the full Times story here.