FBI Reviews Case Of Hillary Clinton's Email Server
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WASHINGTON (CBSDFW.COM/AP) —The FBI is investigating whether there is classified information in new emails uncovered during the sexting investigation of disgraced former congressman Anthony Weiner, the estranged husband of one of Hillary Clinton's closest aides.
FBI Director James Comey told Congress in a letter that the emails prompted investigators to take another look at whether classified information had been mishandled, which had been the focus of its recently closed, criminal probe into Clinton's use of a private email server. Comey couldn't guarantee that the latest investigation would be finished before Election Day.
Comey did not provide details about the emails, but a U.S. official told The Associated Press that the emails emerged through the FBI's separate sexting probe of Weiner, who is separated from Clinton confidant Huma Abedin. She served as deputy chief of staff at the State Department and is still a key player in Clinton's presidential campaign.
Federal authorities in New York and North Carolina are investigating online communications between Weiner and a 15-year-old girl. The U.S. official was familiar with the investigation but was not authorized to discuss the matter by name and spoke on condition of anonymity.
The disclosure came less than two weeks before the presidential election and thrust a political liability for Clinton back into the headlines that her campaign thought had been resolved and had begun to recede from the minds of voters. The FBI said in July its investigation of Hillary Clinton's private email server was finished.
John Podesta, the chairman of Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign, said Comey should immediately provide more information to voters.
"It is extraordinary that we would see something like this just 11 days out from a presidential election," Podesta said in a statement. "The director owes it to the American people to immediately provide the full details of what he is now examining."
Comey stressed in his letter that the FBI could not yet assess "whether or not this material may be significant," or how long it might take to run down the new investigative leads.
"In connection with an unrelated case, the FBI has learned of the existence of emails that appear to be pertinent to the investigation," Comey wrote. "I agreed that the FBI should take appropriate investigative steps designed to allow investigators to review these emails to determine whether they contain classified information, as well as to assess their importance to our investigation."
It was unclear what the emails contained, who sent them, or what connection they might have to the yearlong investigation the FBI closed in July without recommending criminal charges. The FBI probe focused on whether Clinton sent or received classified information using a server in the basement of her New York home, which was not authorized to handle such messages. Abedin was interviewed by the FBI as part of its investigation.
Comey said in July that his agents didn't find evidence to support a criminal prosecution or direct evidence thatClinton's private server was hacked.
Podesta said he was confident the new information will not produce any conclusions different from the one the FBI reached in July.
Comey, who has talked often about the FBI's need to be accountable to the public, promised extraordinary transparency about the investigation and during intervening months has authorized the release of investigative files from the case, which are normally kept confidential.
That stance also left Comey, a career federal prosecutor who has served under both Republican and Democratic administrations, open to criticism from leaders in both parties that he was trying to influence the outcome of the presidential race.
Clinton campaign supporters were already suggesting the FBI director was putting a thumb on the scale. Had he waited until after Nov. 8 to announce the discovery of the new emails, however, Comey would surely have faced criticism for sitting on major news until after the new president had been selected.
State Department spokesman Mark Toner said the department learned about the FBI letter from news reports and did not get any notification from the FBI. Toner pledged the department would "cooperate to the full extent that we can."
White House spokesman Eric Schultz declined comment beyond reiterating President Barack Obama's support for Clinton.
Republicans immediately pounced on the news, hoping to shake up a presidential race where most polls appear to show Republican nominee Donald Trump lagging well behind Clinton.
House Speaker Paul Ryan said Clinton has "nobody but herself to blame."
"She was entrusted with some of our nation's most important secrets, and she betrayed that trust by carelessly mishandling highly classified information," Ryan, R-Wis., said in a statement. "This decision, long overdue, is the result of her reckless use of a private email server, and her refusal to be forthcoming with federal investigators. I renew my call for the Director of National Intelligence to suspend all classified briefings for Secretary Clinton until this matter is fully resolved."
Rep. Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, 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."
House Oversight Committee chair Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, tweeted Friday morning. "FBI Dir just informed me, 'The FBI has learned of the existence of emails that appear to be pertinent to the investigation.' Case reopened," tweeted Chaffetz.
This is the letter FBI Director James B. Comey sent to Congress Friday:
"In previous congressional testimony, I referred to the fact that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) had completed its investigation of former Secretary Clinton's personal email server. Due to recent developments, I am writing to supplement my previous testimony.
In connection with an unrelated case, the FBI has learned of the existence of emails that appear to be pertinent to the investigation. I am writing to inform you that the investigative team briefed me on this yesterday, and I agreed that the FBI should take appropriate investigative steps designed to allow investigators to review these emails to determine whether they contain classified information, as well as assess their importance to our investigation.
Although the FBI cannot yet assess whether or not this material may be significant, and I cannot predict how long it will take us to complete this additional work, I believe it is important to update your Committees about our efforts in light of my previous testimony."
Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump responded to the case being reopened at a rally Friday in Manchester, New Hampshire.
The GOP nominee told cheering supporters at his first campaign rally of the day that he has "great respect" for the fact that the FBI and the Department of Justice are now "wiling to have the courage to right the horrible mistake that they made" in concluding the investigation earlier.
Trump said of Clinton, "We must not let her take her criminal scheme into the Oval Office. ... This is bigger than Watergate."
"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," said Trump.
Clinton's email use has been one of the biggest vulnerabilities in her campaign for the White House. Even if she wins, Republicans have vowed the issue will follow her, promising continuing investigations.
Clinton's campaign didn't immediately respond to the news. She ignored shouted questions from reporters as she walked off her plane in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
But her campaign was fending off other political problems as well, still trying to dismiss revelations found in thousands of messages stolen from the private account of a top Clinton aide, part of a hack the Democratic campaign has blamed on the Russians.
Correspondence made public on Wednesday showed longtime Bill Clinton aide Doug Band describing overlapping relationships of the Clintons' global philanthropy and the family's private enrichment.
Mike Pence is applauding the FBI's decision to investigate the new emails.
The Republican vice presidential candidate told a rally at a building materials manufacturer in Bensalem, Pennsylvania, that he and Donald Trump "commend the FBI for having the courage to reopen the case."
He also called on the FBI "to immediately release all the emails pertinent to the investigation" adding, "The American people have a right to know."
Chants of "Lock her up!" came even before Pence referenced the FBI investigation. When he mentioned it being reopened, that drew a roar from the crowd.
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