Hillary Clinton email saga: A guide to what it's all about

It only felt like yesterday that Donald Trump was being grilled over supposed lewd comments and actions towards women, before attention swiftly turned towards Hillary Clinton's email saga.

But as another investigation into the email scandal is closed by the FBI, ITV News looks at the scandal's history, resurrection and potential implications for the presidential hopeful.

  • What's it all about?

The reason you often hear Donald Trump supporters chanting "lock her up" during his rallies is because of this so-called email scandal.

People accuse Hillary Clinton of lying to the FBI over the scandal Credit: Reuters

From 2009 to 2013, Clinton, 68, used a private email server and the email address hdr22@clintonemail.com in her New York home to access sensitive and classified information - allegedly a breach of national security - whilst Secretary of State.

She has already admitted this was a mistake.

The FBI investigated and concluded that Clinton and her staff had been "extremely careless" in their actions - but ruled that no criminal charges should be brought.

This hasn't Clinton's opponents, particularly Trump, who has pledged to try his best to put Clinton in prison if he becomes president.

He has even claimed that thousands of emails pertinent to the investigation have gone missing and laid the blame firmly at Clinton's door.

  • Why was the matter brought up again?

Last week, FBI Director James Comey announced the official investigation into the scandal was being re-opened - having come across relevant emails whilst carrying out a separate probe.

FBI Director James Comey has re-opened the investigation into Clinton Credit: Reuters

The find - said to involve approximately 650,000 emails - was stumbled upon while agents scoured information related to Clinton's campaign aide Huma Abedin in a separate case about sexting-disgraced former congressman Anthony Weiner (her estranged husband).

Weiner was said to have been involved in inappropriate online communications with a 15-year-old girl, something the FBI were investigating.

In light of the new emails, Mr Comey made public that the case was to be re-opened.

However, the timing of the announcement was criticised in many quarters, with some people accusing him of interfering with the impending presidential election.

Clinton herself said she was "outraged" by the decision to re-open the case and remains confident the FBI will find no new evidence against her.

  • But this investigation has now closed? That was quick!

Trump hopes the emails will dent Clinton's chance of winning the election Credit: Reuters

Yes.

Even when the FBI launched their investigation, Mr Comey appeared unsure of a successful conviction.

He said: "The FBI cannot yet assess whether or not this material may be significant".

In a letter to Congress on Sunday, a review of the newly discovered emails found that no criminal charges was needed to be sought.

  • What kind of implications could the email saga have?

It is not clear if the latest the turn of events will affect the election result.

More than 23 million people have already voted and there is less than 24 hours before Election Day.

Many postal votes have already been sent off. Credit: Reuters

Most of the polls suggest that Clinton still has a lead over Trump, but they have been known to be wrong in the past.

Trump himself has described the scandal as the biggest since Watergate - where Republican president Richard Nixon was impeached - and at a rally on Sunday said Mrs Clinton was being protected by a "rigged system".

He added: "The investigations into her crimes will go on for a long long time".