Fear of Leaks Pushed FBI Decision on Emails Connected to Clinton

Law enforcement sources said on Thursday FBI Director James Comey was compelled in part by a fear of leaks from within his agency when he decided to inform Congress the FBI was investigating newly found emails related to Hillary Clinton,.

The analysis of the email traffic is now being done under the tightest secrecy by a team at the FBI headquarters in Washington, the sources said, requesting anonymity due to the inquiry’s sensitivity.

Several sources said it was not clear whether the FBI would make any further public releases about its latest evaluation prior to Tuesday’s presidential and congressional elections. A couple of sources said such releases were unlikely.

Another source said that it would depend on how the investigation goes and what the FBI finds. The source added that, as of Thursday, nobody really knows whether the FBI will have anything more to say before the election.

Last Friday, Comey sent a letter to senior lawmakers regarding the newly discovered emails. His disclosure just days before the elections elicited questions about his intentions and drew criticism from some over his timing.

Comey revealed that the FBI was looking at emails as part of an investigation into Clinton’s use of an unauthorized server while secretary of state. The FBI director did not describe the emails’ content or how long the probe might take. The FBI normally does not comment on ongoing investigations.

The new emails came to light as FBI investigators were inspecting electronic devices used by former congressman Anthony Weiner in connection with an apparent “sexting” scandal. Weiner’s estranged wife, Huma Abedin, is a Clinton confidante.

According to law enforcement sources, the FBI has made initial inquiries into Clinton Foundation activities and supposed contacts between Trump and accomplices with factions in Russia. However, these inquests were swung into low gear weeks ago because the FBI wanted to avoid any effect on the election.

Clinton had used unauthorized server at her residence in Chappaqua, New York, instead of the secure State Department system. The FBI beforehand had spent close to a year probing Clinton’s use of the private server after classified government secrets were discovered in some of her emails.

Comey had stated in July that while there was “evidence of potential violations of the statutes regarding the handling of classified information, our judgment is that no reasonable prosecutor would bring such a case.”

 

 

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Huge blow for Clinton as FBI dramatically reopens ‘secret server’ email probe

Hillary Clinton was dealt a potentially devastating blow to her presidential campaign today when the FBI dramatically re-opened their ‘secret server’ email probe.

With just 11 days to go before America votes for its next president, the news could hardly have come at a worse time.

The Clinton campaign said the decision to revisit the case so close to the election was “extraordinary,” and urged the FBI to provide more details.

This shock development has come after devices belonging to Clinton’s chief aide Huma Abedin and her estranged husband Anthony Weiner were seized.

FBI

The devices in question formed part of an FBI investigation into sex texts that Weiner allegedly sent to a 15-year-old girl.

FBI director James Comey told Congress that new emails “that appear to be pertinent to the [Clinton] investigation” have been discovered.

He said that an investigative team is seeking to determine whether classified information was contained in the emails and whether any of them were ‘significant’.

Clinton was apparently totally unaware of this breaking news story as she traveled by air to a rally in Cedar Rapids, Iowa this morning.

The plane she was traveling in had no Internet coverage and she remained silent when reporters, waiting on the tarmac as her plane landed, shouted questions about the re-opened email investigation.

She simply smiled and waved to reporters as she disembarked from the aircraft and got into her Secret Service SUV.

Clinton’s running mate Tim Kaine, campaigning in Tallahassee, Tennessee, today would only say when asked to comment: “I’ve got to read a little more.”

“Bigger than Watergate” – Trump

President Obama also ignored reporters’ questions about the story as he left the White House to board Marine Force One today.

Republican rival Donald Trump was quick to seize on the news saying it was “bigger than Watergate.”

As he spoke in Manchester, New Hampshire, supporters would be heard chanting “lock her up!”

Trump told the rally: “The FBI has just sent a letter to Congress informing them that they have discovered new emails pertaining to the former secretary of state Hillary Clinton’s investigation

Criminal

“And they are reopening the case into her criminal and illegal conduct that threatens the security of the United States of America.

“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. This is bigger than Watergate.”

FBI chief Comey sent the letter to a number of people including  the heads of the of the House and Senate Intelligence Committees, Judiciary Committees, the House’s Oversight Committee and the Senate’s Homeland Security Committee.

He wrote: “In connection with an unrelated case the FBI has learned of the existence of emails that appear to be pertinent to the investigation.

Classified

“[T]he 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 access their importance to our investigation.”

In Bensalem, Pennsylvania, Trump’s running mate Mike Pence was cheered as he told a rally: ‘We commend the FBI for having the courage to re-open this case because no-one is above the law.’

Pence later tweeted: ‘We call on the FBI to immediately release all emails pertinent to their investigation. Americans have the right to know before Election Day.’

BREAKING NEWS → The FBI is reopening its investigation into Secretary Hillary Clinton.

My full statement ⇩ http://pic.twitter.com/LHfyg46dWk

— Paul Ryan (@SpeakerRyan) October 28, 2016

House Speaker Paul Ryan said Clinton had “nobody but herself to blame” and added: “She was entrusted with some of our nation’s most important secrets, and she betrayed that trust by carelessly mishandling highly classified information.

Reckless

“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.”

House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy accused Clinton of a “fundamental lack of judgment and disregard for protecting and handling our nation’s highly classified secrets.”

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