The FBI told lawmakers in July it had concluded its investigation into Hillary Clinton’s private email server, but that changed this afternoon when FBI Director James Comey informed congressional leaders that his agency had learned of “the existence of emails that appear to be pertinent to the investigation.”
Comey said the team in charge of looking into Clinton’s server briefed him yesterday on new emails it found “in connection with an unrelated case.”
The case he is referring involves seized electronic devices from Huma Abedin, Clinton’s top aide, and her husband, former congressman Anthony Weiner.
“The FBI cannot assess whether or not this material may be significant,” Comey wrote, adding, “I cannot predict how long it will take us to complete this additional work.”
This is an issue Clinton’s campaign had thought they had put behind her after Comney told Congress in July that his agency could not “find a case that would support bringing criminal charges on these facts.”
Clinton’s campaign has not yet released an official response.
Law enforcement sources say the newly discovered emails are not related to WikiLeaks or the Clinton Foundation. They would not describe in further detail the content of the emails. It’s also unclear whether the emails in question are from Clinton herself.
On Wall Street, stocks fell sharply after the FBI’s announcement, a sign of the uncertainty this may cause in the final week of the campaign.
Donald Trump wasted no time pouncing on the news at a rally Friday afternoon.
“Hillary Clinton’s corruption is not on a scale we have ever seen … the FBI and the Justice Department now have the chance to right the horrible mistake that they made” in not previously recommending that Clinton be charged with criminal wrongdoing.
Clinton supporters condemned the timing of the FBI’s decision, putting the agency, once again, in the center of the presidential election year.
“It’s bad enough having the media do the ‘raises questions,’ substance-free innuendo thing,” said economist Paul Krugman on Twitter. “Worse when the FBI director does it. Disgraceful. Comey needs to provide full info immediately. Otherwise he has clearly made a partisan intervention, betraying his office.”
“I have zero faith that anyone will handle this responsibly,” former Obama speechwriter Jon Favreau wrote. “It’s insane. Comey at least owes the country a press briefing — anything more than a vague letter.”
Even some Republicans were displeased.
“Director Comey should give a more complete explanation,” said longtime Republican strategist John Weaver. “Is this reviewing newly found emails? Is this reopening? Too much at stake.”
In March 2015, Clinton first admitted to exclusively using a private email account to send and receive work-related emails while she served as secretary of state. The controversy compelled her to hand over roughly 30,000 work-related emails to the State Department, but she deleted about 30,000 additional emails from her server that she said were “personal” in nature before handing it over to the FBI.