WASHINGTON — The top Senate Democrat said Sunday that FBI Director James Comey may have broken the law when he disclosed 11 days before the election that investigators had newly discovered emails that may be relevant to the inquiry into Hillary Clinton’s private email server.

In a scathing letter to Comey, Minority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada accused the FBI chief of a double standard, resisting Democratic calls to discuss possible ties between Donald Trump and the Russian government while informing Congress last Friday of the emails found in the sexting investigation of Anthony Weiner, the former New York congressman and estranged husband of Huma Abedin, a top aide to Clinton.

“Your actions in recent months have demonstrated a disturbing double standard for the treatment of sensitive information, with what appears to be a clear intent to aid one political party over another,” Reid said. “I am writing to inform you that my office has determined that these actions may violate the Hatch Act, which bars FBI officials from using their official authority to influence an election. Through your partisan actions, you may have broken the law.”

Comey jolted the White House race with his letter to Congress informing lawmakers of the newly found emails. Democrats fear the discovery creates fresh momentum for Republican Donald Trump in the final week of the presidential race as well as for down-ballot Republicans running for the Senate and the House.

With more than a half dozen toss-up or competitive Senate races, nearly all involving Republican-held seats, Democrats have a chance at reclaiming the majority. The one competitive Democratic seat is held by Reid, who is retiring at the end of the year.

Reid, never one to shy from a political fight in the heat of a campaign, said once Comey “came into possession of the slightest innuendo related to Secretary Clinton, you rushed to publicize it in the most negative light possible.”

Reid underscored that he has been a supporter of the FBI director and fought for Comey’s Senate confirmation when Republicans blocked the nomination.

“I led the fight to get you confirmed because I believed you to be a principled public servant,” Reid wrote. “With the deepest regret, I now see that I was wrong.”

Separately, former Attorney General Eric Holder and dozens of other former federal prosecutors signed a letter critical of Comey’s recent actions in the Clinton email case.

The letter obtained Sunday by The Associated Press contends that Comey deviated from Justice Department policy when he alerted Congress to the new discovery of emails potentially related to the Clinton email investigation.