In a major relief for Hillary Clinton, the FBI on Monday said she should not face criminal charges after a review of new emails, a development that could be a game changer for the Democratic presidential candidate in her tight White House race against Donald Trump.
“Based on our review, we have not changed our conclusions that we expressed in July with respect to Secretary Clinton,” FBI Director James B Comey told Congress leaders in a letter after a renewed probe into her use of private email server as secretary of state following a cache of recently discovered emails.
The move, just ahead of the general elections tomorrow, came as a last-minute relief to the 69-year-old former secretary of state following the agency’s announcement of the fresh probe that triggered a backlash from the Democratic camp and dented Clinton’s popularity. Republican rival Donald Trump, who had seized on to the reignited controversy following the FBI’s decision of the renewed probe, criticised the latest development, saying Clinton is being protected by a “rigged system” and that it is “unbelievable, what she gets away with”.
A similar letter was sent to the Congress on October 28 in which Comey had said the FBI has reopened the investigation following discovery of some pertinent emails on the laptop of former Congressman Anthony Weiner, the estranged husband of Clinton’s close aide Huma Abedin. “Since my letter (of October 28), the FBI investigation team has been working around the clock to process and review a large volume of emails from a device obtained in connection with an unrelated criminal investigation,” Comey said.