FBI Director James Comey privately argued that it was too close to Election Day for the United States government to name Russia as meddling in the presidential race and ultimately ensured that the FBI's name was not on the document that the U.S. government put out, a former FBI official tells CNBC.
Comey's position, according to the official, was "if it is said, it shouldn't come from the FBI, which as you'll recall it did not."
In the end, the Department of Homeland Security and The Office of the Director of National Intelligence issued the statement on Oct. 7, saying "The U.S. intelligence community is confident that the Russian Government directed the recent compromises of emails from US persons and institutions," CNBC reported.
Government insiders are perplexed as to why Comey would have election timing concerns with the Russian disclosure but not with the Huma Abedin email discovery disclosure he made Friday.
