The US election takes a new turn as the FBI says it will not charge Hillary Clinton over emails.
THE FBI has given Hillary Clinton a huge boost with just hours to go in the US presidential campaign by clearing her of wrongdoing following a new trawl of email material.
FBI director James Comey told Congress on Sunday that Mrs Clinton should not face charges over messages found on the computer of disgraced politician Anthony Weiner – the estranged husband of the Democratic candidate’s close aide Huma Abedin.
He said the bureau had come to the sameconclusion it reached in July, when it ruled that Mrs Clinton was “extremely careless” in handling classified information while Secretary of State, but that her conduct did not amount to criminality.
Mr Comey said that the FBI had worked “around the clock to process and review a large number of emails”.
He did not say how many emails were looked at – some reportssaid there were 650,000 – nor did he reveal any details about what was found.
A spokesman for Mrs Clinton’s campaign team said they were “glad” that the issue had been “resolved”.
The US stock market reacted positively to the news.
Futures on the S&P 500 increased by 1.4% to 2,108.25, while futures based on the 30-stock Dow Jones Industrial Average were also up – by 1.1%, at 17,999.
Donald Trump – who had praised the FBI for launching the review – responded by returning to his claim that Mrs Clinton is being protected by a “rigged system”.
The property tycoon insisted at a rally in the Detroit suburbs that it would have been impossible for the FBI to review the huge tranche of emails in so short a time.
He said: “Hillary Clinton is guilty. She knows it, The FBI knows it. The people know it.”
Mr Comey’s announcement that agents would be reviewing more emails shook up the race for the White House with just 11 days to go – when Mrs Clinton appeared to be building an unassailable lead.
Some commentators described the development as an “almost nightmare scenario” for Mrs Clinton’s campaign, while the FBI director faced criticism from Democrats and Republicans forturning the investigation “into a political football” .
The letter from James Comey confirming no criminal case against Clinton
The revelation helped deflect attention away from allegations of sexual assault by 12 women against Mr Trump and coincided with the race tightening in key battleground states.
On Sunday night, Mrs Clinton told suporters in Manchester, New Hampshire, that the US was facing a “moment of reckoning” on election day – when voters must choose between “division and unity”.
She was introduced by Khizr Khan, the Muslim-American father of a slain Gold Star soldier who came under attack by Mr Trump in one of the most damaging episodes of the Republican candidate’s rollercoaster campaign.
In a powerful address, Mr Khan said: “Mr Trump, would my son, Captain Humayun Khan, have a place in your America?
“Would Muslims have a place in your America? Would Latinos have a place in your America? Would African-Americans have a place in your America, Donald Trump?
“Would anyone who isn’t like you have a place in your America, Donald Trump?
“Well thankfully, Mr Trump, this isn’t your America. And on Tuesday, we’re going to prove America belongs to all of us.”
Reports from Florida suggest a surge in turnout among African-American and Hispanic voters – which could be bad news for Mr Trump.
On Sunday, the last day of voting before election day on Tuesday – hundreds of people attended “souls to the polls” events, aimed at encouraging churchgoers to vote in the key swing state.
aniel Smith, a University of Florida professor who tracks voter turnout, said: “Over the past few days, we’ve seen black turnout explode, with more African-Americans voting early in-person than in 2012, and we still have ‘Souls to the Polls’ numbers from today to add to the running total,”
As of Saturday, 565,000 Hispanics had voted in person in Florida, a 100% increase over the close of early voting in 2012, according to Mr Smith.
In another sign of voter enthusiasm, of the 911,000 Hispanics who have already voted this year – whether in person or by mail – 36% did not vote in the last presidential election. news.sky.com
