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FBI to Reopen Investigation of Clinton Emails

by VOA News

   The head of the FBI said Friday that the agency is reopening its
   investigation into Hillary Clinton's use of a private email server.

   In a letter sent to key Republican congressional leaders, FBI Director
   James Comey said the agency has learned of the existence of emails that
   appear to be pertinent to the investigation. He said investigators will
   examine the material to determine if it contains classified information
   and to assess their importance to the FBI's inquiry.

   The director said he could not predict how long it will take to
   complete the investigation.

   A State Department official told VOA, "Nobody was aware this was
   coming."

   Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives and former presidential
   candidate Paul Ryan called the development "long overdue." He said in a
   statement Friday that the investigation is "the result of her reckless
   use of a private email server, and her refusal to be forthcoming with
   federal investigators."

   Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump responded to the news
   during a speech in New Hampshire, saying he is glad the FBI will "right
   the horrible mistake" it made in not prosecuting Clinton.

   Trump also said the scandal is "bigger than Watergate," the espionage
   scandal that brought down the presidency of Richard Nixon in 1974.

   Clinton, who is the Democratic nominee for president, has been hounded
   by questions regarding her use of private email instead of a government
   account. The FBI launched an investigation into the emails in 2015, but
   concluded in July that there was no basis to charge Clinton.

   At the time, Comey said Clinton was "extremely careless in their
   handling of very sensitive, highly classified information."

   Clinton has said she used the private server rather than a more secure
   government server because it was more convenient for her. Critics say
   she was trying to shield her communications from the Freedom of
   Information Act.

   Although classified information turned up in email stored on her
   personal server, which authorities say was vulnerable to hacking, there
   was no evidence that she shared it with unauthorized parties on purpose
   and tried to cover that up.

   House Judiciary Committee chairman Congressman Bob Goodlatte issued a
   statement on Friday, saying the FBI decision echoes what his panel has
   been asking for months.

   "The more we learn about Secretary Clinton's use of a private email
   server, the clearer it becomes that she and her associates committed
   wrongdoing and jeopardized national security," Goodlatte's statement
   said.

   The FBI's disclosure that it is looking at additional Clinton emails
   comes less than two weeks before the U.S. election.