The United States Federal Bureau of Investigation on Sunday declared that Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton was not guilty of any criminal wrongdoing with respect to her private email server. FBI director James Comey told congressional leader that they “have not changed our conclusion” on Clinton, referring to their giving her a clean chit in July as well.
Comey had faced severe criticism for announcing on October 29 that it had reopened the probe into Clinton’s private server on suspicion that she had been remiss in handling classified information related to national security. Clinton’s campaign had suffered a major blow when Comey had announced the investigation, allowing her rival Donald Trump to close the gap between them in pre-election polls. It is unclear whether Sunday’s exoneration will help Clinton with just two days left to go for the elections.
Trump remained sceptical of the FBI’s new probe, telling supporters at a rally in Sterling Heights, Michigan: “You can't review 650,000 new emails in eight days. You can't do it, folks”. He added, “Hillary Clinton is guilty. She knows it, the FBI knows it, the people know it.”
Trump and Clinton have been locked in a bitter battle, with the email server issue dogging Clinton even as Trump has faced allegations of misogyny, racism, Islamophobia and threatening to commit war crimes. Despite Trump’s controversial record, however, he remains close to Clinton in the polls. The US elections will be held on November 8.
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