FBI to conduct new investigation of emails from Clinton’s private server

[MikeWB]

Hah! FBI and Comey blinked.


The FBI will investigate whether additional classified material is contained in emails sent using Hillary Clinton's private email server while she was secretary of state, FBI Director James Comey informed congressional leaders Friday.

The announcement appears to restart the FBI's probe of Clinton's server, less than two weeks before the presidential election, an explosive development that could shape the campaign's final days.

In a letter to congressional leaders, Comey said that the FBI had, in connection with an "unrelated case," recently "learned of the existence of emails that appear to be pertinent to the Clinton investigation."

Comey indicated that he had been briefed on the new material yesterday. "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," he wrote.

The FBI had previously closed its investigation in July with no charges, though Comey had concluded there had been classified content exchanged on the server and that Clinton had been "extremely careless."

A Clinton campaign spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

[MikeWB]

Bernstein: FBI Would Not Reopen Case Unless New Evidence Was "A Real Bombshell"
Posted By Tim Hains
On Date October 28, 2016

Watergate journalist Carl Bernstein comments on the FBI's shocking Friday afternoon announcement that they are reopening the investigation into Hilary Clinton's email server because new evidence has come to light.

CARL BERNSTEIN: Well, there's no question that the e-mails have always been the greatest threat to her candidacy for president, that her conduct in regard to the e-mails is really indefensible and if there was going to be more information that came out, it was the one thing, as I said on the air last night, actually that could really perhaps affect this election.

We don't know what this means yet except that it's a real bombshell. And it is unthinkable that the Director of the FBI would take this action lightly, that he would put this letter forth to the Congress of the United States saying there is more information out there about classified e-mails and call it to the attention of congress unless it was something requiring serious investigation. So that's where we are...

Is it a certainty that we won't learn before the election? I'm not sure it's a certainty we won't learn before the election.

One thing is, it's possible that Hillary Clinton might want to on her own initiative talk to the FBI and find out what she can, and if she chooses to let the American people know what she thinks or knows is going on. People need to hear from her...

I think if she has information available to her from the FBI or any other source as to her knowledge of what these e-mails might be, hopefully she will let us know what they are and what is under discussion here.

Right now we're all talking in a vacuum but I want to adhere that in the last, oh, 36, 48 hours, there has been an undercurrent of kind of speculative discussion among some national security people that something might surface in the next few days about e-mails, and I think the expectation in this chatter -- and I took it as just chatter but informed chatter, to some extent -- was that it would relate to another round of WikiLeaks e-mails, which our Justice Department people seem to be saying is not the case, but there has been some noise in the national security community the last day or two of this kind of possibility of some kind of revelation.

But this is her achilles heel and we have to remember that it also comes on the -- back to the word heel -- of the revelations about the Clinton Foundation. So the confluence of all of this is bad for her as it stands now but with some knowledge she might be able to stop, turn things around, and give us some idea of what's going on in a way we might not otherwise know, and also it's very possible that some members of congress very quickly are going to get an idea of what these e-mails are, and what this is all about, and for whatever purpose put some information out there.

[rmstock]

Hillary Clinton on the campaign trail
The Democratic presidential nominee hits the road as Election Day nears.
Politics
Computer seized in Weiner probe prompts FBI to take new steps in Clinton email inquiry
By Rosalind S. Helderman, Matt Zapotosky and Sari Horwitz October 28 at 4:14 PM
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/fbi-to-conduct-new-investigation-of-emails-from-clintons-private-server/2016/10/28/0b1e9468-9d31-11e6-9980-50913d68eacb_story.html

  "Newly discovered emails found on a computer seized during an
   investigation of disgraced former Rep. Anthony Weiner have prompted the
   FBI to make new inquiries related to Hillary Clinton's private email
   server, according to three people familiar with the deliberations.
   
   FBI Director James B. Comey informed congressional leaders Friday that
   the agency would take "appropriate investigative steps" to determine
   whether the newly discovered emails contain classified information and
   to assess their importance to the Clinton server probe.
   
   The emails were found on a computer used jointly by both Weiner and his
   wife, top Clinton aide Huma Abedin, according to a person with
   knowledge of the inquiry. Federal officials have been examining
   Weiner's alleged sexually suggestive online messages with a teenage
   girl. The link to the Weiner probe was first reported by the New York
   Times.
   
   Comey's announcement appears to restart the FBI's probe of Clinton's
   server, which previously ended in July with no charges. The explosive
   announcement, coming less than two weeks before the presidential
   election, could reshape a campaign that Clinton, the Democratic
   nominee, has been leading in public polls.
   
   In a brief letter to congressional leaders, Comey said that the FBI, in
   connection with an "unrelated case," had recently "learned of the
   existence of emails that appear to be pertinent to the Clinton
   investigation."

   

   [Video : Trump praises FBI for Clinton private server investigation
      Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump opened a rally in
       Manchester, N.H., Oct. 28, discussing news about the FBI investigation
       into Hillary Clinton's time as secretary of state. (The Washington
       Post) ]
   
   Comey wrote that he had been briefed on the new material Thursday. "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," he wrote.
   
   An FBI spokesman on Friday declined to elaborate, and a spokesman for
   Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch declined to comment.
   
   Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta called it "extraordinary that we
   would see something like this just 11 days out from a presidential
   election" and called on Comey to provide a fuller explanation.
   
    He noted that Comey, in July, had said that "no reasonable prosecutor"
   would bring such a case. And he said the campaign was "confident this
   will not produce any conclusions different from the one the FBI reached
   in July."
   
   Comey provided no details about the unrelated case that resulted in the
   finding of the new emails. A law enforcement official, speaking on
   condition of anonymity, said the emails were "numerous."
   
   The official said once informed of the find, Comey felt an obligation
   to inform Congress, since he had previously told lawmakers the
   investigation had been completed. As a technical matter, however, the
   Clinton investigation was never formally closed, the official said.
   
   Abedin, who has worked for Clinton since the 1990s, is vice-chairman of
   Clinton's presidential campaign. She exchanged thousands of emails with
   Clinton while serving as her deputy chief of staff at the State
   Department. She, like Clinton, used an email address routed through the
   private server. She announced in August that she was separating from
   Weiner following a report in the New York Post about a Weiner sexting
   incident.

   

  [Video : What you need to know about the FBI report on Clinton's emails
      The FBI Sept. 2 published a detailed report on its investigation into
       Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton's use of a private
       email server while she was secretary of state. On Oct. 28, FBI director
       James Comey announced it would conduct a new investigation. (Sarah
       Parnass/The Washington Post) ]
   
   When he announced the FBI's findings in July, Comey said that Clinton
   had been "extremely careless" in her handling of classified material,
   which had been found among the emails exchanged on her private server.
   
   He had said that his investigators found evidence of potential
   violation of laws governing the handling of classified information.
   
   In particular, he said investigators did not find evidence that there
   had been intentional mishandling of classified material or indications
   of disloyalty to the U.S. or efforts to obstruct justice.
   
   Comey had come under enormous pressure from Republicans for his
   recommendation to bring no case against Clinton. Republican
   presidential candidate Donald Trump has repeatedly cited the decision
   as a sign of corruption endemic to Washington institutions and promised
   that, if elected, he would reopen the investigation.
   
   Podesta on Friday cited the political pressure on Comey in questioning
   the director's actions, saying that Republicans had been "browbeating"
   career FBI officials "to revisit their conclusion in a desperate
   attempt to harm Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign."
   
   Trump, addressing supporters in New Hampshire Friday, hailed the FBI's
   announcement - saying he had "great respect" for the agency's decision
   to "right the horrible mistake that they made."
   
   "Perhaps, finally, justice will be done," he said, as the crowd pumped
   fists and cheered, "Lock her up! Lock her up!"
   
   As the news broke, the Dow Jones industrial average dropped more than
   150 points.
   
   Word also began to spread quickly on Capitol Hill, where lawmakers saw
   the announcement as a potential game-changer for the election.
   
   "A total bombshell," said Rep. Peter T. King (R-N.Y.), member of the
   House Homeland Security Committee. King predicted the FBI would not
   close its inquiry prior to the election, and said he believed Comey
   wanted the public to know of his move regardless of the outcome.
   
   "He wants it all out there," King said.
   
   WikiLeaks has been releasing emails hacked from the account of campaign
   chairman John Podesta in recent days, including material in which some
   of Clinton's closest advisors expressed surprise over her use of the
   server.
   
   "[D]id you have any idea of the depth of this story?" Podesta asked
   campaign manager Robby Mook late on March 2, 2015, the day the New York
   Times revealed Clinton had exclusively used a private account as
   secretary.
   
   "Nope," Mook replied early the next day. "We brought up the existence
   of emails in [research] this summer but were told that everything was
   taken care of."
   
   The State Department's deputy spokesman, Mark Toner, said the FBI has
   not notified them of the new emails and referred all questions to the
   FBI.
   
   "We stand ready to cooperate if we're asked to do so," he told
   reporters. "But I don't have any additional details at this point."
   
   -Jenna Johnson, Tom Hamburger, Carol Morello and Adam Entous
   contributed to this report.
   
   Earlier today: Clinton lead shrinks, even as nearly 6 in 10 expect her
   to win
   
   More on the Clinton email scandal:
   
   How Clinton's email scandal took root
   
   Local Politics Alerts
   
   Breaking news about local government in D.C., Md., Va.
   
   Fact checking the Hillary Clinton email controversy
   
   10.0K  Comments

   Rosalind Helderman is a political enterprise and investigations
   reporter for the Washington Post. Follow @PostRoz
   Matt Zapotosky covers the Justice Department for the Washington Post's
   National Security team. Follow @mattzap
   Sari Horwitz covers the Justice Department and criminal justice issues
   nationwide for The Washington Post, where she has been a reporter for
   30 years. Follow @sarihorwitz "