FOX NEWS
The
FBI has reopened its investigation into Hillary Clinton’s use of a private
server while secretary of state after discovering new emails, in a stunning
turn of events just days before the presidential election.
FBI
Director James Comey wrote in a letter to top members of Congress Friday that
the bureau has “learned of the existence of emails that appear to be pertinent
to the investigation.”
Comey
did not detail those emails, saying only that they surfaced “in connection with
an unrelated case.”
He
told lawmakers the investigative team briefed him on the information a day
earlier, “and I agreed that the FBI should take appropriate investigative steps
designed to allow investigators to review these emails to determine whether
they contain classified information, as well as to assess their importance to
our investigation.”
He
said the FBI could not yet assess whether the new material is significant and
he could not predict how long it will take to complete “this additional
work.”
The
move comes after Comey and the Justice Department decided in July not to pursue
charges over Clinton's email practices, saying at the time that the
investigation was finished.
Comey
has since come under criticism from Donald Trump, lawmakers and others who
claim the investigation downplayed the mishandling of classified information
during Clinton's tenure.
Trump,
speaking to cheering supporters Friday afternoon in Manchester, N.H., praised
the FBI for having the “courage” to “right the horrible mistake that they made”
– saying he hopes that is “corrected.”
“Hillary
Clinton’s corruption is on a scale we have never seen before,” Trump said. “We
must not let her take her criminal scheme into the Oval Office.”
In
a nod to the significance of the FBI’s announcement, Trump quipped: “The rest
of my speech is going to be so boring.”
Other
GOP lawmakers also weighed in.
“The
FBI’s decision to reopen its investigation into Secretary Clinton reinforces
what the House Judiciary Committee has been saying for months: the more we
learn about Secretary Clinton’s use of a private email server, the clearer it
becomes that she and her associates committed wrongdoing and jeopardized
national security," House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte,
R-Va., said in a statement.
“Now
that the FBI has reopened the matter, it must conduct the investigation with
impartiality and thoroughness. The American people deserve no less and no one
should be above the law.”
Republican
National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus said the discovery must be “serious”
for the bureau to investigate this close to the election.
Clinton
did not respond to questions from reporters about the development as she landed
in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
The
development comes 11 days before the general election, and is the latest
shockwave to hit the race. Clinton had been gaining in the polls over Trump in
the wake of the release of footage showing Trump talking about groping women
and subsequent allegations of sexual assault and harassment against him.
However,
daily revelations from hacked Clinton campaign emails obtained by WikiLeaks
have become a headache for the Democrat's campaign. The resumption of the FBI
probe poses a potentially bigger problem.
Ron
Hosko, former assistant director of the FBI, told Fox News in a telephone
interview that retired FBI officials were "livid" at Comey over the
fact that charges were not brought against Clinton in round one of the
investigation.
"He
lit her on fire and then walked away," Hosko said of Comey holding a news
conference laying out Clinton's mishandling of classified information but then
not pressing criminal charges.
Hosko
said he still defends Comey for not pressing charges because the FBI always has
to make a decision "based on what they have" at the time. Hosko said
he thinks agents were probing a separate matter and found emails that made them
say, "Oh my God look at what we have."
House
Speaker Paul Ryan called the FBI decision "long overdue."
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