The Senate’s Democratic leader Harry Reid has accused the director of the FBI of “a disturbing double standard” over his decision to reopen the probe into Hillary Clinton’s emails.
James Comey wrote to Congress alerting its members that there had been a new discovery of emails, potentially connected to the original investigation into the Democratic presidential nominee’s email practices.
The original investigation found Clinton’s use of a private email server was “extremely careless” but dismissed the possibility of charges against her.
But with the election just days away, and hundreds of thousands of new emails, Democrats fear a new probe will not be resolved before the vote.
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Writing to Comey, Reid questioned the FBI director’s judgement in “tarring Senator Clinton with thin innuendo” while refusing to release what he called “explosive information” about Donald Trump, the Republican candidate, and his relationship with Russia.
Meanwhile, the Democratic congressman Steve Cohen has called on Comey to resign.
However, other reports point to pressure on Comey from FBI agents unhappy at his original decision to drop the charges.
Trump tweeted: “Hillary and the Dems loved and praised FBI Director Comey just a few days ago. Original evidence was overwhelming, should not have delayed!”
The latest investigation will certainly add more suspense to the Presidential race. An ABC/Washington Post poll put Clinton at just one point ahead of Trump, but FiveThirtyEight, the blog of pollster Nate Silver, warned against reading too much into “October surprises” – as most voters have already made up their minds.