In the letter, Harry Reid charged that James Comey is withholding sensitive information about Russian meddling in the United States election. | Getty Reid: FBI director 'may have broken the law'

FBI Director James Comey "may have broken the law" by showing favoritism to Republicans in announcing new investigative steps regarding Hillary Clinton's use of a private email server, Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid alleged on Sunday evening.

In a sharply worded letter that suggested Reid has lost confidence in Comey, the Nevada senator charged that Comey is withholding sensitive information about Russian meddling in the United States election and had "rushed to publicize" what Reid deems "thin innuendo" about emails that may be relevant to the FBI's investigation into Clinton's email practices. Reid said his staff's investigation into Comey's work indicates the FBI director may have violated the Hatch Act, a law that prohibits political activity by most executive branch officials.


"Your actions in recent months have demonstrated a disturbing double standard for the treatment of sensitive information, with what appears a clear intent to aid one political party over another," Reid said in the letter to Comey, dated Oct. 30. "Through your partisan actions, you may have broken the law."

An FBI spokeswoman had no comment and said it was not clear whether Comey had received the letter by Sunday evening.

On Friday, in a letter to congressional leaders, Comey said his department has discovered new evidence regarding a probe into Clinton's emails after Comey had cleared Clinton this summer, an event that had Democrats cheering and Republicans howling. With Comey's curveball coming less than two weeks before the presidential election between Clinton and Donald Trump, Democrats and Republicans alike have demanded more information about whether the emails are relevant and how they affect a long-standing investigation of Clinton. And Trump has celebrated Comey's decision, which seemingly rejuvenated his sagging hopes for the White House.

On Sunday, Reid became perhaps the harshest critic of the FBI director yet, making his case for a "double standard" by lambasting Comey for not releasing "explosive information" regarding "close ties and coordination between Donald Trump, his top advisers and the Russian government."

Meanwhile, Reid wrote that Comey had raced to publicize the new information about Clinton in the "most negative light possible."

Reid was the leader of the Senate when Comey was confirmed in 2013 over a filibuster by Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), who was requesting more information about domestic drone surveillance. The Nevada Democrat said Sunday he regretted his advocacy for the director's confirmation.

"I led the fight to get you confirmed because I believed you to be a principled public servant. With the deepest regret, I now see that I was wrong," Reid wrote.

In reaction to Reid's letter, Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) tweeted: "Harry Reid is a disgrace to American politics, among worst men ever in Senate. He can't go soon enough, & many Democrats privately agree."