FBI obtains warrant to examine Clinton emails: Source

WASHINGTON – Reuters

AFP Photo

Federal investigators have secured a warrant to examine newly discovered emails related to Hillary Clinton’s private server, a source familiar with the matter said on Oct. 30, as a prominent Democrat accused FBI Director James Comey of breaking the law by trying to influence the election.

The warrant will allow the Federal Bureau of Investigation to examine the emails to see if they are relevant to its probe of the private email server used for government work by Clinton, the Democratic presidential nominee, while she was secretary of state from 2009 to 2013.

Comey came under heavy pressure from Democrats on Oct. 30 to quickly provide details of the emails, as Clinton allies worried the prolonged controversy could extend beyond the Nov. 8 election and cast a shadow over a Clinton transition if she wins the White House.

Comey’s disclosure of the email discovery in a letter to Congress on Oct. 28 plunged the final days of the White House race between Clinton and Republican Donald Trump into turmoil. Clinton had opened a recent lead over Trump in national polls, but it had been narrowing even before the email controversy resurfaced.
U.S. Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid sent a letter to Comey on Oct. 30 suggesting he violated the Hatch Act, which bars the use of a federal government position to influence an election.

“Through your partisan actions, you may have broken the law,” Reid, a senator from Nevada, said in the letter to Comey.

Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta and campaign manager Robby Mook questioned Comey’s decision to send a letter notifying Congress of the email review before he even knew whether they were significant or relevant.

“We are calling on Mr. Comey to come forward and explain what’s at issue here,” Podesta said, adding the significance of the emails was unclear.

Clinton’s response has been to hit out at Comey’s move as “deeply troubling” and to rally supporters to get out and vote, turning the tables on Trump by branding him as unfit to lead the nation.

“When you’re knocked down, what matters is whether you get up again,” she told a packed LGBT rally at a gay nightclub in Wilton Manors, just outside Fort Lauderdale.

“With Donald, it’s always Donald Trump first and everyone else last. He abuses his power, he games the system and doesn’t care who is left holding the bag,” she added.

The Republican campaigned hard Oct. 30, attending church in Las Vegas, before leading three rallies in Nevada, Colorado and Albuquerque, New Mexico, whipping up his support base against Clinton.

“We all know about Hillary’s mounting legal troubles, that she has brought onto herself with her serial, willful, purposeful and deliberate criminal conduct,” he told the crowd in New Mexico.

“Hillary Clinton is not the victim, you the American people are the victims of this corrupt system in every single way and folks this is your last chance to save it,” he said to chants of “lock her up.”