Comey defends Clinton choice; says he had limited options

WASHINGTON – FBI Director James Comey says that revealing the reopening of the Hillary Clinton email probe just before Election Day came down to a painful, complicated choice between “really bad” and “catastrophic” options.

He told a Senate panel Wednesday he’d felt “mildly nauseous” to think he might have tipped the election outcome but in hindsight would change nothing.

During the lengthy hearing, Democratic senators grilled him on the seeming inconsistency between the Clinton disclosure 11 days before the election and his silence about the bureau’s investigation into possible contacts between Russia and Donald Trump’s presidential campaign.