Former FBI director James Comey has piped up about the bureau’s investigation into Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, saying it is “idiotic” to have a “shot clock.” His critics, both left and right, were not amused.

The FBI opened a background investigation into Kavanaugh - his seventh - on Friday, after the White House humored the demands of Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee and one Republican, Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Arizona). Though initially fine with the investigation wrapping up by this Friday, the Democrats are now asking it to be unlimited in time and scope - and Comey, writing in the New York Times, agreed.

A number of people quickly observed that Comey doesn’t have a leg to stand on, given that he actually admitted putting a “shot clock” on the FBI probe of Hillary Clinton’s email use, due to the 2016 presidential election.

James Comey jumps into the Kavanaugh debate to observe it’s “idiotic to put a shot clock on the FBI” — he doesn’t mention that is literally what he did for the Weiner email review before Election Day. https://t.co/WIunMW4k2W — Ari Melber (@AriMelber) September 30, 2018

Jim Comey just might be the dumbest person on the planet to be complaining about the timing of any FBI investigation, given his disastrous record in that department... https://t.co/E8qzHEoQff — Charlie Hurt (@CharlesHurt) October 1, 2018

Comey also claimed FBI agents could do the job in a week, because they are good at sorting out lies from truth. Or are they?

In NYT, James Comey says FBI can investigate Ford-Kavanaugh situation in 7 days. In part, he says, because agents are good at figuring out who's telling the truth. Can't help applying this to Michael Flynn case, when agents did not think Flynn was lying: https://t.co/PkUe5yNHdopic.twitter.com/R2gLHsnWvR — Byron York (@ByronYork) September 30, 2018

The former FBI director also echoed a Democrat talking point of “obvious lies by the nominee about the meaning of words in a yearbook,” calling them a “flashing signal to dig deeper.” This got him flak from Republicans - but also from Democrats who argued he was lending legitimacy what they called “an illegitimate process.”

Three thoughts on Comey Op-Ed:1. Comey is not a hero. 2. I do appreciate Comey speaking out about this, esp. his directness in saying Kavanaugh lied. 3. At the same time, I worry Comey is lending legitimacy to what appears to be an illegitimate process. https://t.co/wJ9QONBhj2pic.twitter.com/LNW8KPaXYb — Mangy Jay (@magi_jay) September 30, 2018

The mendacity & pre-judgment @Comey holds against Kavanaugh is another reason why everyone — Left & Right — should be thrilled he’s no longer running the @FBI.Someone this biased has no business leading our law enforcement & would give ammo to partisans unhappy with the result. https://t.co/ZwguerVGBZ — Scary Dunleavy 🎃👻 (@JerryDunleavy) September 30, 2018

Finally makes sense why Dems demand FBI "investigate" Kavanaugh; same FBI that colluded w/ GPS, leaked to media, and tried to "insure" against @realDonaldTrump election and overthrow it after he won. Heck, let's bring Comey, Strzok, Page, Ohr, McCabe back to do it! — Gov. Mike Huckabee (@GovMikeHuckabee) September 28, 2018

For some conservative commentators, Comey's op-ed was proof of his partisanship, as they brought up his role in promoting the “Russiagate” narrative and using the Steele Dossier to obtain a spying warrant for a Trump campaign adviser - issues that are still being investigated by both Congress and internal inspectors at the Department of Justice.

Comey, disgraced FBI director who stole @realDonaldTrump's FBI files and then illegally leaked them, tries to influence Kavanaugh investigation for leftists. Deep State's target isn't only President Trump. https://t.co/H6ybwtLbg0 — Tom Fitton (@TomFitton) September 30, 2018

James Comey takes to the NYT Oped page to show how HE would have rigged this week’s FBI inquiry. So glad Trump got rid of this dirty cop! — Dinesh D'Souza (@DineshDSouza) October 1, 2018

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