Clinton probe: FBI obtains warrant to examine emails
Jamie Roberton
Former Health and Science Producer
Investigators have obtained a warrant to examine new emails potentially linked to Hillary Clinton.
It came as pressure intensified on FBI Director James Comey over the new investigation - with one senior Democrat senator claiming he may have broken the law.
Comey threw the presidential race into turmoil on Friday when he revealed that the agency was again reviewing Clinton's email use.
The decision - less than two weeks before election day - followed the discovery of a string of emails belonging to one of her top aides, Huma Abedin.
The emails were found on a laptop seized from her estranged husband, ex-congressman Anthony Weiner, as part of an investigation into sexually explicit messages he sent to an underage girl.
Abedin used the same laptop to send thousands of emails to Clinton, sources told NBC News.
The FBI already had a warrant to search Weiner's device but the new order allows investigators to broaden the search to see if any of the emails exchanged between Abedin and Clinton contained classified information.
The Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday that there could be as many as 650,000 emails to analyse.
Clinton had enjoyed a comfortable lead over Trump in key polls but the race had tightened even before the email scandal resurfaced.
The Democratic nominee has described the action as “strange” and “deeply troubling”, while a jubilant Donald Trump said it proved his claim that Clinton is corrupt and unsuitable for the presidency.
Addressing a rally in Las Vegas, the Republican nominee joked: "We never thought we were going to say thank you to Anthony Weiner."
Clinton's campaign team, fearful that the new review could sway the election, have been fiercely critical of Comey for announcing the review with so few details so close to November 8.
Vice-presidential nominee Tim Kaine said the action was "completely unprecedented" and called on Comey to release more information.
John Podesta, Clinton's campaign chair, said Comey's letter to Congressional leaders detailing the new probe was "long on innuendo, short on facts".
Senate minority leader Harry Reid went as far as accusing Comey of breaking the law and trying to influence the election.
“My office has determined that these actions may violate the Hatch Act, which bars FBI officials from using their official authority to influence an election," he wrote in a scathing letter released on Sunday evening.
"Through your partisan action, you may have broken the law.”
He also claimed Comey was hiding "explosive information about close ties between Donald Trump, his top advisers, and the Russian government".
Eric Holder, the former attorney general, has joined dozens of other former federal prosecutors in signing a letter criticising Comey's handling of the issue.
He went on to accuse Comey of violating long-standing Justice Department policies and traditions in an op-ed published in The Washington Post.
"I fear he has unintentionally and negatively affected public trust in both the Justice Department and the FBI," Holder wrote.
"And he has allowed - again without improper motive - misinformation to be spread by partisans with less pure intentions."