Clinton email problem resurfaces as FBI
announces review
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[October 29, 2016]
By Mark Hosenball and Jonathan Allen
WASHINGTON/NEW YORK (Reuters) - The FBI is
investigating more emails as part of a probe into Hillary Clinton's use
of a private email system, it said on Friday, in a new twist that could
damage the Democratic candidate in the 2016 presidential race.
Federal Bureau of Investigation Director James Comey said in a letter to
senior lawmakers that the agency would determine whether the additional
emails contained classified information, adding that he did not know
"how long it will take us to complete this additional work."
The announcement came as Clinton and Republican opponent Donald Trump
enter the final stretch of campaigning ahead of the Nov. 8 election.
In a news conference late on Friday in Des Moines, Iowa, Clinton urged
Comey to release more details about what the FBI was looking for in the
newly discovered emails.
She leads Trump in opinion polls after a bruising campaign in which she
has struggled to convince voters that she is trustworthy and honest.
Fresh revelations about her use of email are unlikely to assuage those
concerns, and questions around the FBI investigation will now likely dog
her in the coming days as she campaigns across battleground states.
U.S. stocks immediately fell sharply on the news, but went on to
partially recover.
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The FBI spent about a year investigating Clinton's use of the
unauthorized server at her home in Chappaqua, New York, while she was
U.S. secretary of state after classified government secrets were found
in some of her emails.
Comey said in July that while "there is evidence of potential violations
of the statutes regarding the handling of classified information, our
judgment is that no reasonable prosecutor would bring such a case."
Although Comey recommended no criminal charges be brought against
Clinton, Trump has repeatedly said her email practices are criminal and
should disqualify her for office. He seized on Friday's development at
rallies in Maine and New Hampshire.
"This is the biggest political scandal since Watergate, and I'm sure it
will be properly handled from this point forward," Trump told a crowd in
Lisbon, Maine.
"We hope that all, all justice will be fully served," he said.
Supporters cheered his words and chanted, "Lock her up."
Clinton said she had learned of the newly discovered emails from news
reports.
"I'm confident whatever they are will not change the conclusion reached
in July," she said. "That’s why it’s incumbent upon the FBI to tell us
what’s going on."
WEINER
Two sources close to the investigation said the latest emails were
discovered not during an investigation into Clinton, but rather as part
of a separate probe into Anthony Weiner, the estranged husband of top
Clinton aide Huma Abedin.
The FBI has been investigating illicit text messages allegedly sent from
Weiner to a 15-year-old girl in North Carolina, and found the Clinton
emails on a device related to that investigation, the sources said.
Abedin told federal investigators in April that she used several email
accounts for her work, including a Yahoo email, according to a summary
of the interview released by the FBI in September. She said it was
difficult to print from the State Department's email system so she
routinely forwarded documents to her private accounts when she needed to
print them out, according to the summary.
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Abedin announced her separation from Weiner in August after a sex
scandal similar to an earlier incident that led him to resign from the
U.S. Congress.
Lawyers representing Abedin did not respond to questions sent by email
on Friday. Weiner did not immediately respond to an email seeking
comment, and he did not respond to phone calls.
Hank Sheinkopf, a Democratic strategist who had previously advised
former President Bill Clinton but has no role with Hillary Clinton's
campaign, said the linking of Clinton's email woes with Weiner's sex
scandals made it harder for her campaign to distinguish itself from
Trump's sex scandals.
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![](../images/102916pics/news_m21.jpg)
Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton talks to staff
members, including aide Huma Abedin (L), onboard her campaign plane
in White Plains, New York, U.S. October 28, 2016. REUTERS/Brian
Snyder
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"The whole campaign is now smeared with sex, corruption and
scandal," he said. "Nobody remembers the beginning of something,
they only remember the end. What are they going to remember? They're
all the same: sex, scandal, corruption, emails. People are going to
have trouble sorting out all this information."
"EXTRAORDINARY"
Clinton's campaign chairman, John Podesta, said it was
"extraordinary" for the FBI to release the letter so close to the
end of a hotly contested election.
"The Director owes it to the American people to immediately provide
the full details of what he is now examining," Podesta said in a
statement. "We are confident this will not produce any conclusions
different from the one the FBI reached in July."
Clinton has repeatedly apologized for using the private email server
in her home instead of a government email account for her work as
secretary of state from 2009 to 2013. She has said she did not
knowingly send or receive classified information.
While the FBI probe of new emails will likely prove a distraction to
Clinton in the coming days, it was unclear what impact it would have
when Americans go to the polls. Election experts say about 20
percent of ballots have already been cast, as more Americans vote by
mail or go to the polls early.
"A lot of concern about the emails has already been baked into this
electoral cake I think," said Linda Fowler, a professor of
government at Dartmouth College. "They know she did it, they know it
was inappropriate and, failing some sensational revelation on Nov.
6, it's hard to see that it's going to make that big a difference."
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Still, Republican lawmakers, who are facing a difficult fight to
keep their majorities in both the U.S. Senate and the House of
Representatives, leaped to condemn Clinton.
House Speaker Paul Ryan reiterated his call that the Democratic
nominee be barred from briefings involving classified information
until the investigation is over. Reince Priebus, the head of the
Republican National Committee, said the FBI's decision to look into
the emails shows "how serious this discovery must be."
Clinton did not respond to reporters' shouted questions about the
news when she left her plane for a campaign stop in Cedar Rapids,
Iowa.
U.S. stocks declined in a volatile session on Friday but partially
recovered from the sharp drop spurred by the FBI announcement. The
Dow Jones Industrial Average closed the day down about 9 points, or
.05 percent, while the benchmark 10-year Treasury note was unchanged
on the day. The dollar also fell against major currencies.
(Additional reporting by Susan Heavey, Julia Harte and Andy Sullivan
in Washington, Steve Holland in Manchester, New Hampshire, Jeff
Mason in Des Moines, Iowa, and Sam Forgione and Nate Raymond in New
York; Writing by Jonathan Allen, Patricia Zengerle and Emily
Flitter; Editing by Jonathan Oatis, Alistair Bell and Lisa Shumaker)
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