James Comey defends timing of FBI investigation into Hillary Clinton's emails

The FBI has defended its handling of the Hillary Clinton email investigation, details of which were announced a week ahead of the presidential election.

Director James Comey argued keeping Congress in the dark about new developments in the investigation would have been "catastrophic" - despite the sensitive timing of the disclosure.

However Mr Comey, speaking to the Senate Judiciary Committee, said the idea his actions influenced the outcome of the November 8 election made him "mildly nauseous".

Democrat Clinton described herself as "outraged" when the FBI announced it had discovered a new batch of emails it intended to look into at the end of last October.

One Senator even accused Mr Comey of breaking the law, while former President Barack Obama jumped to the defence of the FBI.

Little more than a week later on November 6, the security agency confirmed it would not be pressing charges against Clinton - who went on to lose the election.

Speaking to the committee on Wednesday, Mr Comey argued the FBI cannot take into account how its actions might benefit or harm politicians.

"I can't consider for a second whose political futures will be affected and in what way," he said.

"We have to ask ourselves what is the right thing to do and then do it."

Mr Comey said he faced two difficult decisions when agents told him they found emails potentially connected to the Clinton case on a laptop belonging to former Rep Anthony Weiner, who was married to close Clinton aide Huma Abedin.

He said he knew it was unorthodox to alert Congress to that discovery 11 days before Americans picked a new president.

But Mr Comey maintained it would have been "catastrophic" to keep silent, especially when he had testified under oath that the investigation had been concluded.

"I sat there that morning and could not see a door labelled, 'No action here'," Mr Comey said.

The scandal surrounding Clinton's emails plagued her entire presidential campaign, with opponents claiming she used a private email server to access confidential information.

It was alleged she used the portal while serving as US Secretary of State from 2009 to 2013.

Political opponent and future President Donald Trump often made reference to the claims on his campaign trail, as well as during live TV debates.

He and his supporters frequently urged Clinton to be "locked up".