The FBI is starting a new investigation into the Clinton emails with less than two weeks before the election
In a bombshell Friday afternoon announcement according to the Associated Press and multiple media sources. The FBI informed Congress they were opening a brand new investigation on whether there is classified information in new emails that have emerged in its probe of Hillary Clinton’s private server.
According to the FBI their first investigation into the emails was closed after their findings were made official this past July.
The impact of yet another investigation by the FBI calls into question the possibility of the possibility of the department reopening the criminal investigation involving the Democratic presidential nominee just days before the election.
However, as of this time just how extensive the investigation will be is not yet clear.
As you might expect without complete information about the scope of the FBI investigation the Clinton campaign has declined all media requests for comment.
Earlier today congressional leaders received a letter from FBI Director James Comey. The just of the correspondence was that new emails have come to light recently that have prompted the FBI investigators to take yet another look at the sensitive government information that flowed through the private email sever Clinton used while serving as secretary of state.
According to the A.P. and other news outlets at the moment it is not clear from Comey’s letter where the new emails came from or who sent or received them.
In a statement to the press,the Republican chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) said the FBI’s decision reinforces the committee’s view that the more that is learned about the server, “the clearer it becomes that she and her associates committed wrongdoing and jeopardized national security.”
The latest investigation comes on the heels of a nearly yearlong probe by the FBI that was aimed on finding out if Clinton sent or received classified information using the private server located in the basement of her New York home, which was not authorized to handle such messages.
It was a press conference in July that FBI Director Comey said in July that his agents didn’t find evidence to support any criminal charges or direct evidence that Clinton’s private server was hacked.
At that time Comey made the suggestion that hackers working for a foreign government may have been so sophisticated they wouldn’t have left behind any evidence of a break-in.
After Comey said in that now famous July press conference that he did not see a reason to suggest that Clinton needed to be prosecuted, that she did indeed make mistakes, was careless and should not have had her own server. The Justice Department as a result of the Comey investigation did not seek an indictment of Clinton.
Republicans were quick to summon Comey to a Capitol Hill to testified at an oversight hearing of the FBI’s operations. Members focused their questions primarily on the FBI’s handling of the investigation of Clinton’s use of private email servers while serving as secretary of state, and Mr. Comey’s ultimate decision not to recommend charges against her. He defended the quality of the investigation, the integrity of the people involved, and the commitment of bureau agents and employees in the pursuit of justice.
Now the new investigation brought quick response from Republicans led by House Speaker Paul Ryan who called the FBI’s move “long overdue.”
“Yes again, Hillary Clinton has nobody but herself to blame,” he said in a statement. “She was entrusted with some of our nation’s most important secrets, and she betrayed that trust by carelessly mishandling highly classified information.”
From the campaign trail the Republican presidential nominee sent this response via email to News Talk Florida.
“I need to open with a very critical breaking news announcement. The FBI has just sent a letter to Congress informing them that they have discovered new emails pertaining to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s investigation, and they are reopening the case into her criminal and illegal conduct that threatens the security of the United States of America.
“Hillary Clinton’s corruption is on a scale we have never seen before. We must not let her take her criminal scheme into the Oval Office.
“I have great respect for the fact that the FBI and the DOJ 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 understand. It is everybody’s hope that it is about to be corrected.” – Donald J. Trump
Now with less than two weeks left before election day we will see if this latest investigation is a game changer.
All quotes in this story came from Associated Press or the Trump campaign.