The US presidential election took another unexpected twist on Friday when the FBI said that it was investigating newly-found emails connected to Democrat candidate Hillary Clinton’s use of a personal server.
Landing 11 days before Election Day on November 8th, the bombshell has the potential to narrow Ms Clinton’s lead over the Republican nominee Donald Trump further, as the controversy over her use of a personal email during her time as US secretary of state resurfaces in the closing stages of her campaign.
The new emails were reportedly uncovered by the FBI on seized electronic devices belonging to Ms Clinton’s aide Huma Abedin and her husband, the former US congressman Anthony Weiner.
Speaking to reporters in Des Moines, Iowa, following the FBI’s announcement, Ms Clinton said: “The American people deserve to get the full and complete facts immediately. . . It’s imperative that the bureau explain this issue and question whatever it is without delay.
“We have not been contacted by anyone . . . We don’t know the facts which is why we’re calling on the FBI to release all it has.”
“We don’t know what to believe, and I’m sure there will be even more rumours. That’s why it’s incumbent on the FBI to tell us what they know.”
The FBI opened a separate investigation into Mr Weiner last month after media reports appeared to show the former politician engaging in sexual correspondence with a 15-year-old girl.
US prosecutors issued a subpoena for Mr Weiner’s mobile phone.
FBI director James Comey told Republican congressmen in a letter that it would investigate whether Ms Clinton mishandled classified information as a result of new emails discovered in an “unrelated” case.
The FBI director told the congressmen that he “cannot yet assess whether or not this material may be significant” nor could he predict “how long it will take us to complete this additional work.”
Mr Weiner, whose career ended when he was caught in a “sexting” scandal, split from his wife following the more recent allegations against him.
The FBI’s decision, in effect reopening the investigation into her emails, comes three months after Mr Comey criticised Ms Clinton for her “extremely careless” handling of classified material in the emails, but recommended that no criminal charges be brought against the second-time presidential candidate.
Campaign statement
Ms Clinton’s campaign chairman John Podesta called on Mr Comey to release more information about the new material they have found, pointing to the political pressure on the FBI to reopen the investigation in a “desperate attempt to harm Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign.”
“It is extraordinary that we would see something like this just 11 days out from a presidential election,” he said in a statement.
“The director owes it to the American people to immediately provide the full details of what he is now examining. We are confident this will not produce any conclusions different from the one the FBI reached in July.
Mr Trump jumped on the disclosure, telling supporters at a rally in New Hampshire that it was “bigger than Watergate” and describing Ms Clinton’s “corruption” as being “on a scale we have never seen before”.
“We must not let her take her criminal scheme into the Oval Office,” the New York businessman said during a speech that was interrupted by loud cheers from his supporters and chants of, “Lock her up!”
“I have a great respect for the fact that the FBI and the department of justice are now willing to have the courage to right the horrible mistake that they made. This was a grave miscarriage of justice that the American people fully understood and it was everybody’s hope that it is about to be corrected.”
Ms Clinton’s use of a personal email address during her time as secretary of state has plagued her campaign, with the FBI saying her use of a personal server at her home in New York potentially left her exposed to foreign computer hackers.
Her decision to delete 33,000 emails from her personal server during her time as secretary of state has also become a line of attack for Mr Trump and his supporters.
Prior to the disclosure of the FBI’s decision, Ms Clinton was already losing ground to Mr Trump.
A new ABC News/Washington Post poll showed her lead over the Republican nominee narrowing to just four points, 48 per cent to 44 per cent, down from a 12-point margin as recently as last weekend.
