After combing through thousands of emails of Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton from the time when she was the secretary of state, the FBI, on Sunday, said that they were not going to charge her. The announcement came two days before the US presidential elections, which will be held on November 8.
The FBI had restarted an investigation after finding more emails sent using a private email server on Anthony Weiner's computer. However, they came up with the same conclusion as the one in July, that nothing new has been found and they were not going to charge her. The FBI had been criticised severely for politicising their investigation, whereas their image had been neutral until now.
The FBI "have not changed our conclusion" that she committed no criminal wrongdoing, FBI director James Comey told congressional leaders in a letter.
After the announcement, Republican candidate Donald Trump said, "You can't review 650,000 emails in eight days," at a campaign rally in Sterling Heights, Michigan on Sunday evening. "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 had written to congressional leaders 11 days before the elections that new emails that were discovered "appear pertinent" to a prior investigation and they will be re-opening the investigation.
"In the days that come," said Rep. John Conyers Jr. (D-Mich). "We will have many questions about the handling of this investigation."
While Republicans have questioned if the FBI was thorough with their investigation, the Democrats criticised the FBI for revealing too much information about the details of the investigation and hurting her chances.
"Today's letter makes Director Comey's actions nine days ago even more troubling," Dianne Feinstein, the top Democrat on the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, said in a statement. "There's no doubt that it created a false impression about the nature of the agency's inquiry."
She added: "The Justice Department needs to take a look at its procedures to prevent similar actions that could influence future elections."
