Corey Lewandowski Says FBI’s Decision to Reexamine Email Case Helped Deliver Trump Victory

“With eleven days to go, something amazing happened.”

Oxford Union/Rex Shutterstock/ZUMA

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Donald Trump’s former campaign manager Corey Lewandowski credited the FBI director’s decision to notify Congress that it was reviewing newly discovered emails related to Hillary Clinton as a key turning point in the election that helped deliver Trump’s surprise victory last week.

“What that did was remind people that there are two different rules in Washington—those of the elites, the privileged, and those for everybody else,” Lewandowski said during a speech at the Oxford Union debating society on Wednesday. “When Comey came forward with that investigation, it allowed the campaign a little spring in their step and for them to redouble their efforts.”

According to Lewandowski, the announcement to reexamine Clinton’s email use gave way to an “exceptionally disciplined” Trump. He also described the turn of events as “amazing.”

“He used a teleprompter and he did less media,” he said. “And then Donald Trump won the election campaign by the largest majority since Ronald Reagan in 1984.”

Comey has come under intense fire from both Democrats and Republicans who claim the decision may have inappropriately influenced the outcome of the election. Days after her shocking loss, Clinton told high-level donors that she believed Comey’s letter lead to her defeat.

After the disclosing the discovery of the Clinton-related emails, Comey announced that the FBI did not find anything new to change its previous conclusion not to bring charges against Clinton.

Lewandowski, who joined CNN as an analyst after he was ousted from Trump’s campaign in June, recently stepped down from the cable network and is reportedly angling for a high-level role in the incoming administration. But with reports of infighting dogging the president-elect’s transition, it remains to be seen which of Trump’s loyalists actually make it to the White House.

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We can afford to take our time because we don’t report to oligarchs or corporations. We report to you, and for you.

And the stakes are high. Democracy is on the defense. We’ve been exposing corruption and scandal for five decades, and this is a pivotal moment in our country’s history. Will democracy prevail? We won’t wait for time to tell—independent journalism is essential for democracy, and we’ll keep doing our part to amplify the free press.

So, we’re asking: Will you join the fight? Mother Jones has been here for 50 years, and we need your support to fuel the future of investigative journalism. Mark our 50th anniversary with a gift of any amount.

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