New York [United States], Nov.7 : The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Director James Comey informed lawmakers that the agency has not changed its opinion that Hillary Clinton should not face criminal charges after a review of new emails.
"Based on our review, we have not changed our conclusions that we expressed in July," the CNN quoted Comey as saying in the new letter written by him to congressional committee chairmen.
Last month, a bombshell was dropped by Comey on the presidential race as he had sent a letter to Congress saying that the FBI had discovered emails in a separate investigation that could be connected to the now closed probe of whether the classified information was mishandled by Clinton.
The news could help Clinton put to rest a controversy that has dogged her in the 2016 race's closing days, helping Trump narrow a polling gap nationally and in key battleground states.
The FBI's handling of the matter was assailed by Trump, However he did not directly address Comey's statement at a rally in Sterling Heights, Michigan.
"You can't review 650,000 new emails in eight days. You can't do it, folks," Trump said, adding, "Hillary Clinton is guilty. She knows it, the FBI knows it, the people know it, and now it's up to the American people to deliver justice at the ballot box on November 8." Comey's handling of the review was blasted by Dianne Feinstein, the top Democrat on the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence.
Feinstein in a statement said, "Today's letter makes Director Comey's actions nine days ago even more troubling.
There's no doubt that it created a false impression about the nature of the agency's inquiry." The new emails were found by the FBI as part of its separate investigation into a sexting incident by Anthony Weiner, the estranged husband of top Clinton aide Huma Abedin.
While explaining how the conclusion was reached so quickly Law enforcement officials said that the thousands of new emails were mostly personal and duplicates of what had already been seen.
The probe is considered to be over with regard to Clinton. However, with not all the deleted emails recovered and not all the devices in FBI's possession, it is always possible that something else could turn up that would need more review.
The Justice Department said in a brief statement released Sunday afternoon, "The Department of Justice and the FBI dedicated all necessary resources to conduct this review expeditiously.".
Source: ANI
