Comey says assumption Clinton would win "was a factor" in email probe

In an exclusive interview with ABC's George Stephanopoulos, James Comey revealed that his belief that Hillary Clinton would win the 2016 election "was a factor" in why he announced the FBI would be looking in to her emails, ABC reports.

"I don’t remember spelling it out, but it had to have been, that she’s going to be elected president and if I hide this from the American people, she’ll be illegitimate the moment she’s elected, the moment this comes out...I have asked myself many times since if I was influenced by that assumption. I don't know. Certainly not consciously, but I would be a fool to say it couldn't have had an impact on me."

Go deeper: The juiciest parts of James Comey's book; What Comey writes about Clinton.