The FBI says it's found no new evidence of any criminal wrongdoing after reviewing more of Hillary Clinton's emails.
Director James Comey told Congressional leaders that the bureau has finished its review of additional correspondence that recently came to light ,and saw nothing to change its original conclusion, announced back in July.
Lorna Shaddick reports.
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Director James Comey told Congressional leaders that the bureau has finished its review of additional correspondence that recently came to light ,and saw nothing to change its original conclusion, announced back in July.
Lorna Shaddick reports.
IN: It was a...
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DUR: 2.39
GENERIC: http://www.fsnradionews.com/feeds/1106clintonemails-ls-generic.mp3
Script:
It was a true October surprise - that rocked the already wild US Presidential race. Just 11 days before Americans went to the polls, FBI Director James Comey announced in a letter to lawmakers that he was reviving the original investigation to look into more of Hillary Clinton's emails - found on a computer belonging to the disgraced husband of a top aide.
And the Trump campaign made hay with it - here's Donald Trump even this Sunday morning:
SOT - Donald Trump
The Clinton camp said there was something 'troubling' about the release of such information so close to election day - and many experts said there was no way the FBI would be able to finish combing through the correspondence before the election, leaving a cloud of suspicion hovering over the Democratic nominee as early voters went to the polls.
But with two days to go - a conclusion. And it seems, this was a fuss about nothing. Mr. Comey said his team had been working 'around the clock' to process and review all the emails to or from Hillary Clinton while she was Secretary of State and found nothing new.
On board the candidate's plane, communications director Jennifer Palmieri merely told reporters 'we're glad this matter has been resolved'.
SOT - Jennifer Palmieri
But the Trump team says some aspects of the controversy haven't changed, and their opponent is still corrupt - this is Trump campaign manager Kellyanne Conway
SOT - Kellyanne Conway
And some, like former House speaker Newt Gingrich, have even implied Mr. Comey was strong armed into this decision - he tweeted that the FBI director 'must be under enormous political pressure to cave like this'.
Certainly, there will be serious questions for the FBI to answer about the timescale and management of this process - not to mention leaks to the press.
And in some ways, the damage has already been done for Mrs. Clinton. The original news came just as she was looking comfortably ahead in the polls, with her campaign even talking about expanding into more Republican states. But that lead evaporated.
Now, she's just focusing on trying to clinch the deal and - and for the more than 40 million Americans who have already cast their ballots in early voting, it's already too late. If she doesn't win the White House, Mrs. Clinton's likely to blame the FBI as much as Donald Trump for her loss.
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