FBI Director James Comey told lawmakers Sunday the
agency hasn't changed its opinion that Hillary Clinton should not face criminal
charges after a review of new emails.
"Based
on our review, we have not changed our conclusions that we expressed in
July," Comey wrote in the new letter to congressional committee chairmen.
Comey
dropped a bombshell on the presidential race last month when he sent a letter
to Congress saying the FBI had discovered emails in a separate investigation
that could be connected to the now-closed probe of whether Clinton mishandled
classified information. The move infuriated Democrats and emboldened Republican
nominee Donald Trump.
It's
impossible to know before results are tallied what impact Comey's actions --
first raising a vaguely worded red flag 11 days out, and then lowering it two
days from the election -- will have on the contest. But the news could help
Clinton put to rest a controversy that has dogged her in the 2016 race's
closing days, helping Trump narrow a polling gap nationally and in key
battleground states.
Trump
assailed the FBI's handling of the matter, though he did not directly address
Comey's announcement at a rally in Sterling Heights, Michigan.
"You
can't review 650,000 new emails in eight days. You can't do it, folks,"
Trump said, adding, "Hillary Clinton is guilty. She knows it, the FBI
knows it, the people know it, and now it's up to the American people to deliver
justice at the ballot box on November 8."


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