James Comey says it makes him 'mildly nauseous' to think he influenced election

Mr Comey said he did not consider 'for a second' if his actions affected election (AP)

FBI Director James Comey says that it makes him “mildly nauseous” to think that his decision to disclose an investigation into Hillary Clinton’s emails affected the election, but that he still thinks he made the right choice.

Lawmakers from both parties have questioned Mr Comey's judgment on the investigations into both Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server and Russian meddling in the presidential election.

During a Senate Judiciary Committee oversight hearing, Mr Comey said that he can't consider "for a second whose political fortunes will be affected" by revealing an investigation.

Mr Comey sent a letter Oct 28 to congressional leaders saying the FBI would continue investigating whether Ms Clinton sent additional classified emails from a private email server while she was Secretary of State. In July, he had recommended that no charges be filed against Clinton or her aides, effectively closing the email probe.

Before the House of Representatives Intelligence Committee in March, Mr Comey said that the FBI over the summer had opened a probe into Russian meddling in the presidential election and whether the Trump campaign was involved. The disclosure elicited criticism from Democrats, who questioned why Mr Comey had not confirmed the existence of the investigation earlier.

When asked why he had commented on only the email investigation before the election, Mr Comey said that he treated both the Clinton and Trump probes "consistently".