But no matter. See, Trump has cleverly constructed a narrative here that only allows for two possibilities: Either the FBI now finds that the new emails prove Clinton’s criminality, rectifying Comey’s previous wrong (when Trump calls this new discovery the “mother lode,” he means that it will have to prove this). Or, if Comey does not find that, he will be caving to those who want to cover up that criminality, thus perpetuating that previous wrong once again, which, Trump says, also was the result of pressure for a cover up.

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In saying this, Trump is referring to Justice Department officials, who argued to Comey that it would be a violation of department protocol if he sent a letter notifying Members of Congress of the new discovery, because it would constitute improper public comment on an ongoing investigation and might influence the election. Trump is essentially saying that if Comey does not find evidence of criminality in the new emails, he will be participating in corruption himself by caving to Justice officials once again.

What this really illustrates is that Comey has created a trap for himself from which there is no escape. Even if you accept that Comey might have had an obligation to notify Congress of the new find, it is still true that the letter’s wording was indefensibly vague, allowing Republicans to hype the new discovery by falsely claiming it shows a criminal probe into Clinton had been reopened. As a result, Comey now is under tremendous pressure to offer up more detail on what the findings really mean with regard to Clinton.

Comey may not be able to do that before the election, because there are a lot of emails to go through. But he can mitigate the damage. Legal experts Jack Goldsmith and Benjamin Wittes explain how Comey can do that in the near term:

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If there is more that Comey can say, he should probably do so — even at the risk of sliding further down the slippery slope he is on. Specifically, assuming the following statements are true, it would be worth Comey’s saying them publicly:

Now, it would be great if Comey did clarify these things publicly. But even if he does, at some point, Comey is going to have to share definitive conclusions about the new emails with the public. Legal experts anticipate that Comey will likely conclude that there are no grounds to revisit his decision not to recommend charges against Clinton. If so, Trump will go right back to bashing Comey and the FBI as corrupt for covering up her criminality — as his remarks today clearly signal.

In this sense, the damage here could extend well past the election. Remember, if Trump loses, he and his campaign CEO Stephen Bannon are reportedly trying to build an apparatus to convert his campaign into a vehicle for sustaining a post-election following. At the center of that effort will likely be an ongoing narrative holding that the election was stolen from Trump by the criminal who is illegitimately occupying the White House. If Comey does find nothing in the new emails, Trump will neatly slot that into this narrative, and it’s likely a whole lot of Republican voters will believe all of it.