Federal law enforcement officials said Friday that the new emails uncovered in the closed investigation into Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server were discovered after the F.B.I.seized electronic devices belonging to Huma Abedin, a top aide to Mrs. Clinton, and her husband, Anthony Weiner.

The F.B.I. is investigating illicit text messages that Mr. Weiner sent to a 15-year-old girl in North Carolina. The bureau told Congress on Friday that it had uncovered new emails related to the Clinton case — one federal official said they numbered in the thousands — potentially reigniting an issue that has weighed on the presidential campaign and offering a lifeline to Donald J. Trump less than two weeks before the election.

In a letter to Congress, the F.B.I. director, James B. Comey, said that emails had surfaced in an unrelated case, and that they “appear to be pertinent to the investigation.”

MikeW says:

October 28, 2016 at 4:13 pm

If she’s elected, I wouldn’t be surprised if is impeached at worst or spends the next four years dealing one a drip. . .drip. . .drip of never-ending scandal a best. But then again, I imagine if Trump is elected he’ll be impeached. And who knows what kinds of info foreign intelligence agencies might be able to hold over them. As my favorite philosopher, Charlie Brown would say, “Oh, good grief.”




MJR says:

October 28, 2016 at 4:13 pm

I’m just sitting here laughing. You can’t make this stuff up. Anthony Weiner can’t be a real person. He’s someone only a screenwriter could conjur up.




Public Defender says:

October 28, 2016 at 4:16 pm

Blah, blah, blah, email, blah, blah, Hillary, blah, blah, hated-her-already, blah, blah, blah, blah.




JonF says:

October 28, 2016 at 4:19 pm

The FBI has already walked some of this back due to the hasty misreporting on it by the major news services.
They are NOT investigating Mrs. Clinton. They are investigating Anthony Weiner and some material from her server is relevant to that investigation. (Weiner’s wife worked for Hillary at the time).




Anne says:

October 28, 2016 at 4:40 pm

This is the worst possible way Comey could have handled this. How can this not look like an attempt to sway the election, coming less than two weeks before the final vote? If he’d found something seriously incriminating, that would be different. But he hasn’t. He’s simply found a whole bunch (thousands? really? among Huma Abedin’s replies?) he thinks may be pertinent to a closed case. But why? Because they’re there, not because they have yet been seen to be incrimnating! What can Clinton do, ask that he get his agents to read the darn things in one day so that she can be exonerated and go on? Or what? This puts her in a very unfair position with the Trump people demanding all the emails be released. AS IF. People should, but don’t, think about the fact that the FBI can’t do that, since the whole point they’re investigating is on the possibility they could contain high security information that should not be made public.

Comey should have done whatever was required to read through those emails immediately in order to determine if there was anything at all incriminating before ever bringing this up at this point in the election….when many people have already voted and only days before all will. That’s not fair to either Clinton or the voters in general. The only person benefiting is, of course, Donald Trump.




The Other Sands says:

October 28, 2016 at 4:40 pm

The fact is that none of the this email investigation which has now gone on for years, having transmogrified from the Benghazi investigation that went on for years before that, has amounted to anything.

The only question is whether the setting up of the private email server itself is an unforgivable offense. To some it is. To some it isn’t.

But the fact is that despite the insinuations, no emails from this, or from Podesta have really revealed a damn thing besides standard politician business.

The constant insinuation that the very existence of emails from Hillary, or Podesta, or other staff is itself an indicator of corruption is ridiculous. I’ve sent many emails just today. Does that make me corrupt? Is there something wrong with using emails?

The only question here is if setting up the private email server itself was somehow disqualifying. The contents of the email have revealed nothing at all except normal emails among politicos.




MH - Secular Misanthropist says:

October 28, 2016 at 4:41 pm

I just learned about the worst October surprise. Jack Chick died five days ago at the age of 92. That means no more crazy pants Chick tracts.




Observer says:

October 28, 2016 at 4:44 pm

Is this an okay place to state my appreciation for the fact that you connected this election to Godfather, Part II?

Now if HRC takes Weiner fishing on a lake…




Adamant says:

October 28, 2016 at 4:45 pm

Already missing No Drama Obama.




ARM says:

October 28, 2016 at 4:45 pm

Look on the bright side: maybe she’ll keep Trump out of the White House, then make history as the second Clinton to get impeached. Not that it did much good last time. . .




Jon S. says:

October 28, 2016 at 4:46 pm

This is from the Wikipedia entry for the “travelgate” controversy: ” In 2000, Independent Counsel Robert Ray issued his final report on Travelgate. He sought no charges against her, saying that while some of Clinton’s statements were factually false, there was insufficient evidence that these statements were either knowingly false or that she understood that her statements led to the firings.”

Sound familiar?




Jen says:

October 28, 2016 at 4:48 pm

That deck deserves an award.




Wes says:

October 28, 2016 at 4:49 pm

JonF, who is your source?




Ken Zaretzke says:

October 28, 2016 at 4:54 pm

“Blah, blah, blah, email, blah, blah, Hillary, blah, blah, hated-her-already, blah, blah, blah, blah.”

Deny, deny, deny, what email, deny, deny, Hillary, deny, deny, love-her-to-death, deny, deny, deny, deny.




Pepi says:

October 28, 2016 at 5:01 pm

The emails were not from Clinton, were not from her server and were not withheld by her. The White House was not notified and learned about it from news reports.




midtown says:

October 28, 2016 at 5:02 pm

How the worm turns!




Wes says:

October 28, 2016 at 5:02 pm

Clinton’s recent twitter response rehashing an old kissing-Trump quote is just great.




Nick Stuart says:

October 28, 2016 at 5:03 pm

Realistic preview of what to expect in a Clinton adminstration.

Every.Single.Day.




jrm says:

October 28, 2016 at 5:04 pm

You just can’t trust anything reported about an FBI Weiner probe.




Viriato says:

October 28, 2016 at 5:05 pm

What Public Defender said.

I’m not a Hillary Clinton fan by any stretch of the imagination, but this e-mail business is much ado about nothing.

I agree with Paul Craig Roberts’s take on Hillary’s e-mails… well, with what *was* his take on it before he decided to shill for Trump 24/7:

“I do not think that Hillary was a good US senator and Secretary of State, and I do not think she
is qualified to be President of the US. Nevertheless, I do wonder how important are the secrets about which she is accused of negligance. […]

“Many things with secret classifications are not secrets. In my career I had many security clearances. As staff associate, Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, House Committee on Appropriations, I had top secret clearances because secret weapon systems were at stake. It was a joke among the staff that many of the “secrets” were available in the public defense literature.

“As Assistant Secretary of the Treasury I received the CIA’s daily briefing of the President. It was boring reading. I came to the conclusion that the CIA was not going to report anything of consequence that possibly could turn out to be wrong.

“Later, as a member of a secret Presidential committee to investigate the CIA’s view of the Soviet Union’s ability to withstand an arms race, I had very high clearances as the committee had subpoena power over the CIA. If the Kremlin had had access to the top secret documents, all the Kremlin would have learned is that the CIA had a much higher opinion of the capability of the Soviet economy than did the Kremlin. […]

“In Anglo-American legal history, one foundation of liberty is the requirement that crime requires intent. I do not believe that Hillary intentionally revealed secrets. If she was negligent, that should be made public and should be sufficient to disqualify her from occupying the White House. What is clear to me is that the legal principle that crime requires intent is far more important than “getting Hillary.” This foundational principle of liberty should be protected even if it means letting Hillary go.”

http://www.paulcraigroberts.org/2016/01/16/the-fbis-two-pronged-investigation-of-hillary-clinton-paul-craig-roberts/




pitchfork says:

October 28, 2016 at 5:06 pm

Like a mongoose!




KevinS says:

October 28, 2016 at 5:08 pm

You do understand that old emails can still be on other people’s devices but not on hers, right? Many people have emails I sent to them long after I deleted them from my account. There is no contradiction between me saying that I no longer have those emails because they were deleted and then someone else finding them in their email account.




Jon says:

October 28, 2016 at 5:17 pm

MJR — Remember Anthony Weiner is Carlos Danger




KD says:

October 28, 2016 at 5:21 pm

Rod it is all false.

First, everyone know that the FBI is really a front for Putin:

http://www.breitbart.com/video/2016/10/28/dem-rep-ryan-is-russia-involved-in-fbi-taking-new-look-at-clinton-emails/

Second, everyone knows that Comey, who let HRC walk on evidence that would have lead to the indictment of a mere mortal, is actually a secret Republican operative:

http://hotair.com/archives/2016/10/28/paul-krugman-goes-full-conspiracy-theory-fbi-director-comeys-letter-congress/

You know that if the Democrats response to this news is to invoke the Kremlin/GOP/FBI octopus, the actual facts on the ground cannot be good.

In fact, assuming that Comey is an honest public servant, why would Comey raise this issue 11 days before the election unless something was really rotten in the state of Denmark.

I smell blood. Hillary needs to resign before she brings down her whole party. I don’t agree with Kaine, but in all fairness, the Democrats deserve a candidate not being investigated for “high crimes” on the brink of the election. Trump should win for being Trump, not because his opponent is being indicted.




Rich says:

October 28, 2016 at 5:21 pm

Everybody waiting for the Clintons’ downfall can keep on waiting. 25 years of relentless witch-hunting has earned America’s right nothing more than the eternal distrust of every person in America that doesn’t share their lurid hatred for the Clintons.

A wild-eyed mob hungry to burn a witch is not a difficult thing to spot and diagnose… if you’re not part of it. When you are, you can see only the monsters of your imagination.

And it is a frightening thing for the rest of us to behold. It appears that many of you really would burn her at the stake when you get each other all riled up.

Relax and put away your torches. After 25 years of buying into fake scandals and coming away with nothing but egg on your sadly unashamed faces, have you people really learned nothing?




Myron Hudson says:

October 28, 2016 at 5:24 pm

JonF, it’s all about the headlines. Lather, rinse, repeat. But MikeW is right. It’s going to be like this for at least four more years.Bombshell! darn. Bombshell! darn.




It Came From Chicagoland! says:

October 28, 2016 at 5:26 pm

Always just that little bit more with the Clintons, that little bit of sleaze. They can’t help themselves.

A lot of GOP hopefuls are gonna make their spurs shutting down her Presidency. What a waste, and what complete narcissism on the part of the Clintons, knowing these things were bound to surface but grabbing the nomination for themselves anyway.

Between this and the Doug Band corruption revelations, the Sanders people must be kneeling over the toilet gagging right about now.




Loudon is a Fool says:

October 28, 2016 at 5:26 pm

Ha, ha. Keep spinning JonF. Comey said he is supplementing his testimony to Congress. He previously said the FBI “had completed its investigation of former Secretary Clinton’s personal email server.” Weiner’s personal device yielded “emails that appear to be pertinent to the investigation.” “The investigation” referred to is not the investigation into Weiner and his felonious interstate activities with minors, but the investigation into Mrs. Clinton’s felonious server.

Maybe Weiner’s personal device will provide significant information, maybe it won’t. But the reason Comey wrote a letter to Congress was not to say that he wants to look at Mrs. Clinton’s felonious server emails to see if Weiner has engaged in other felonies. Comey wrote to Congress because he was concerned that his prior testimony regarding the completion of the FBI’s investigation of Mrs. Clinton’s felonious server has been shown, via Weiner’s personal device, to be inaccurate. In other words, the investigation in to her felonious server is still underway.

It would be hilarious if Weiner’s personal device takes down the Democratic party. This is the greatest election ever.




KD says:

October 28, 2016 at 5:28 pm

Further, notice the Democratic response is “let us know what you know”. . . meaning, show your cards, let us know what you know so Team Hillary can concoct some consistent and plausibly deniable story with our lawyers before you drag us before a grand jury.




Ben H says:

October 28, 2016 at 5:29 pm

We may be going down but as usual it ain’t gonna be with dignity. What a time to be alive! (No one in the future will believe that this spit actually happened)!




EngineerScotty says:

October 28, 2016 at 5:30 pm

Looks like you may have jumped the gun.

The emails in question are do NOT appear to be anything that was from Clinton’s server, or anything allegedly missing from the server; your suggestion that these represent something that Hillary had a duty to disclose (and failed to do so) appears, at this time, to be unwarranted. What their nexus is to the Clinton email issue is unclear–it might be simply a matter of “anything Huma Abedin sends or receives is potentially relevant, given that she was Clinton’s close adviser at the time”, and I’m not surprised to learn that a device owned by Abedin’s estranged husband contained emails to/from Abedin.

Adding some fuel to the fire, Comey’s office since has suggested that it felt compelled to make this disclosure, given that the House has been investigating the investigation. If it turns out that Comey has served the throng a big juicy nothingburger, causing said throng to go wild like a cat chasing a laser pointer, that would be delicious.

(Comey seems to be one of the more hated people in DC at this point–Republicans are outraged that Clinton hasn’t been perp-walked already; Democrats are outraged that he persists in talking about the case out of school, a rather flagrant departure from standard DoJ practice, which is “no comment”–especially if commenting might be seen as affecting an impending election).

Or, there could actually be some meat involved–though I expect if they had actually found something, the released statement would contain more detail.

But at this point, there’s no new evidence that points to Clinton at all. It could be nothing more than “we got hold of a new gadget with emails, so we’re going to go see if anything there is relevant”.




Laka says:

October 28, 2016 at 5:32 pm

Nice try a JonF. Unfortunately, you and everyone r,she can read the short Comey letter, clearly reopening the investigation into Mrs. Clinton’s activities.




Disgusted says:

October 28, 2016 at 5:32 pm

Weiner isn’t Fredo–he’s Carlo Rizzi, the tool who married into the Corleone family and almost wrecked the whole thing.




JackV says:

October 28, 2016 at 5:36 pm

You clearly did not read the letter that Comey sent out on this. No one is walking anything back.




EngineerScotty says:

October 28, 2016 at 5:37 pm

Though I do like the Fredo Corleone reference. That said, I’d rather have the Dem’s Fredo be a disgraced ex-Congressman than the party’s presidential nominee…




sta says:

October 28, 2016 at 5:39 pm

Warren Ellis’s Transmetropolitan becomes truer each election cycle.

Where’s my Monkeyburger? Or, if I can’t get that, can someone at least administer the Chair Leg of Truth to these jokers?




KD says:

October 28, 2016 at 5:39 pm

Here is the letter:

http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/i/MSNBC/Sections/NEWS/Letter.pdf

Although Comey said the investigation of Clinton was complete, he is saying the FBI is now re-investigating Clinton in light of the emails.

He is also not tipping his hand about whether there is classified information in the emails, or saying if there is evidence that Clinton or her operatives lied or obstructed justice.

Remember Hillary’s people destroyed 30,000 emails after they got a Congressional subpoena.




Elijah says:

October 28, 2016 at 5:42 pm

Un-bygod-believable.

Though I think at this point Team Hillary will let loose EVERYTHING they have on Trump to try to change the subject.

And, JonF, the FBI has re-opened the probe into Sec. Clinton. Read Comey’s letter.




JohnE_o says:

October 28, 2016 at 5:45 pm

I look forward to your full and nuanced report on what these e-mails actually contain and whether or not Hillary was responsible for turning over these e-mails.




Sands. says:

October 28, 2016 at 5:47 pm

I recall it being one damn thing after another when she was First Lady.




Mitchell says:

October 28, 2016 at 5:48 pm

Wow, it would be wild if she won the election, she resigns, and Tim Kaine pardons her.




Steve McQueen says:

October 28, 2016 at 5:49 pm

Comey’s latest letter to Congress is vague, probably intentionally.

For example, it is not clear if he is saying that new Clinton emails have been discovered or that it has been recently determined that previously uncovered emails may be relevant to a new (the Weiner) investigation.

Thus, it is not clear if this constitutes a reopening of the Clinton investigation or simply the reexamination of Clinton emails in connection with another investigation.




Del Varner says:

October 28, 2016 at 5:51 pm

She might be impeached, but she’ll never be convicted–too many Dems in the tank. If Obama gives her a pardon, her administration will have no legitimacy.




ReneeH says:

October 28, 2016 at 5:52 pm

She couldn’t have turned them over – they’re not hers. They’re emails between Huma Abedin and Anthony Weiner that have content that is relevant to the email server issue.

Not taking a side here, just adding more facts.

However – why announce this within two weeks of a Presidential election, after millions have already cast early ballots? Could this not have waited? Maybe Comey was obligated to.

I hear you on “if she’s elected it will be one damn thing after another” – but that will also be true of Trump. Just DIFFERENT damn things. And this election has been one damn thing after another.

I’m a Democrat, but I’m sitting this one out. My state (RI) will go to Hillary whether I vote or not. The down ballot races will go Democrat too – there’s not even a Republican running in most of them. And I don’t care about the ballot measures. I’m moving out of this high-tax/low-services state at the end of the year. $500+ annual excise tax on a 2012 Subaru Impreza – seriously?

[NFR: I’m wondering if what was on the Weiner device are the deleted emails the FBI was looking for earlier. — RD]




BW says:

October 28, 2016 at 6:03 pm

This should close the book on the corrupt clinton saga.
Lock her up!
Trump-Pence ’16
Trump-Pence-’20




curmudgeoninchief says:

October 28, 2016 at 6:10 pm

The Fredo Corleone of the Dhimmicrat Party”. Scorch! That’s going to leave a nasty burn, that will.




Chris 1 says:

October 28, 2016 at 6:11 pm

Maybe these e-mails are innocent. Fact is, she was supposed to have turned them over, right?

Actually, that’s incorrect.

From the FBI: Mr. Comey said the F.B.I. was taking steps to “determine whether they contain classified information, as well as to assess their importance to our investigation.” He said he did not know how long it would take to review the emails, or whether the new information was significant.

Make of that what you will…




Anne says:

October 28, 2016 at 6:22 pm

Thevemails under investigation aren’t from Clinton’s personal server;they’re emails found on the devices of either Abedin or Wiener… “thousands” referring apparently to how many emails there were on the two devices when turned over. And nobody’s saying they’re incriminating, only that some *appear to be pertinent* to the Clinton investigation.

Comey said he’s informing the public of their existence “out of an abundance of caution” — apparently just in case they should ever prove to be pertinent after the election. The way I read that is he wants to neutralize any potential critics i.e., Republicans who might claim, as they did last summer, that he protected Hillary Clinton during the election — should anything come of them after the FBI finishes up that part of the Wiener investigation weeks from now.

Unfortunately for America’s voters, a great many of whom have already cast their ballots — Comey covering himself does nothing to clarify matters;in fact, it just confuses whatever they hear — mostly loud noises from zombies suddenly coming to life in the Trump camp — that much more.




Pastor Brian says:

October 28, 2016 at 6:27 pm

Well, now both Bill and Hillary have been politically damaged by weiner probes.




Caroline walker says:

October 28, 2016 at 6:28 pm

It’s just delicious that the media cannot avoid rehashing the misadventures of Mr and Mrs Anthony Danger after weeks of holier than thou outrage over trumps sexual boorishness. Just once, could truth trump politics?