(CNN) Hillary Clinton on Saturday questioned FBI Director James Comey's decision to write to congressional leaders about emails uncovered in the bureau's probe into Anthony Weiner, saying the timing of such a move was "unprecedented" and "deeply troubling." 
 
 "It's pretty strange to put something like that out with such little information right before an election," Clinton told supporters in Daytona Beach, Florida, where the crowd booed at the mention of Comey's letter. "In fact, it's not just strange, it's unprecedented and it's deeply troubling because voters deserve to get full and complete facts." 
 
 Clinton called on Comey to swiftly release more information, saying he must "explain everything right away, put it all right on the table." 
 
 Clinton also swiped at Republican rival Donald Trump, saying he's "doing his best to confuse, mislead and discourage the American people" over the issue. 
 
 "Of course, Donald Trump is already making up lies about this," Clinton said. 
 
 The Democratic nominee's comments here marked an escalation in the Clinton campaign's full-out war against Comey in the final 10 days of the election. 
 
 Earlier in the day, just hours after Comey made the stunning announcement on Friday that the FBI is examining newly unveiled emails that appear to be "pertinent" to the now-closed investigation into Clinton's private server, top campaign officials unleashed a blistering attack on the FBI director, accusing him of being irresponsibly "light on facts" and "heavy on innuendo." 
 
 On a conference call with reporters, Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta accused Comey of failing to be "forthcoming with the facts." Podesta blasted both the timing and contents of the letter Comey sent to congressional leaders on Friday, summing the director's actions as "providing selective information." 
 
 Campaign manager Robby Mook echoed Podesta's call for more information from Comey and suggested that the FBI has now waded into political territory. 
 
 "The Justice Department's longstanding practice is: Don't do anything seen as trying to influence an election," Mook said. "It's completely unfair to Secretary Clinton and it's really unfair to the voters." 
 
 'Hillary's not going to be distracted' 
 
 The sharp criticism marked an extraordinary rebuke of the head of an agency historically known for its political independence. And it guarantees that Comey -- already a polarizing presence for his role in probing Clinton's email use as secretary of state -- will be a central political figure in the election's final days. 
 
 As Clinton prepared to fly to Florida for a two-day swing through the battleground state, Podesta was defiant: "We're not going to be distracted and Hillary's not going to be distracted in the final days of this election over nothing." 
 
 Both Podesta and Mook emphasized the possibility that the emails that the FBI is now examining -- uncovered as part of the bureau's investigation into Clinton aide Huma Abedin's estranged husband, Anthony Weiner -- may not reveal new information. 
 
 "Reports indicate that many of these emails are likely to be duplicates," Podesta said. "It's in fact entirely possible all the emails in question are just that -- duplicates." 
 
 Donald Trump continued to trumpet the news at a campaign stop in Golden, Colorado, Saturday afternoon, wondering if Clinton would keep Abedin as an adviser. 
 
 "Huma's been a problem," Trump said. "I wonder if Huma's going to stay there. I hope they haven't given Huma immunity because it seemed that everybody that walked down the sidewalk got immunity. She knows the real story. She knows what's going on." 
 
 Abedin, one of Clinton's closest confidantes, regularly travels with Clinton and was with the candidate on Friday when the FBI news broke. However, Abedin was notably absent on Saturday as Clinton traveled to Florida. 
 
 Comey was sworn in as FBI director in 2013 for a 10-year term. That means if Clinton were to win in November, Comey would serve under her administration unless she chose to remove him. 
 
 A Clinton aide later said Saturday that Clinton took the FBI news "like a champ." The aide added that Clinton and her top aides were well aware that the last two weeks of the campaign would not be entirely smooth and that Clinton's reaction reflected that. 
 
 "She is in a good state of mind," the aide added. 
 
 Sudden turn 
 
 The new attacks on Comey are a sudden turn for Clinton's campaign, which sang the FBI director's praises for his initial findings in the Clinton email case. 
 
 Clinton aides, in conversations with reporters and in statements, highlighted the fact that Comey was a Republican known for his fierce independence, touting him -- and his investigators -- as career professionals. Surrogates were told to highlight Comey's testimony to Congress and note his political affiliation and track record. 
 
 In an interview on CNN's "Situation Room" in July, Clinton press secretary Brian Fallon went after Republicans for criticizing Comey after the FBI concluded it would not press criminal charges against Clinton. 
 
 "It seems they were disappointed with the outcome of the FBI investigation so they decided to put the director in a hot seat and second-guess his decision," Fallon said at the time. "I think it is a bad look for House Republicans to be second-guessing a career prosecutor who is a registered Republican, No. 2 official at the Justice Department under George Bush and was even deputy council on the committee investigating the Clintons in the 1990s." 
 
 On Sunday, Fallon said the issues that the Clinton campaign is now raising are different from attempts by Republicans to smear the bureau as "corrupt" and "engaging in a nonexistent conspiracy." 
 
 "We are taking issue with a decision to publicly surface FBI activities on the eve of an election, which is an undisputed violation of protocol that both the current Attorney General and Republicans like George Terwilliger have acknowledged," Fallon said. 
 
 Nevertheless, the Clinton campaign now finds itself voicing similar concerns as some Republicans when it comes to the FBI's handling of emails uncovered in its Weiner investigation. 
 
 Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, an outspoken Trump supporter, wrote on Twitter Saturday: "If there are really more than 10,000 emails in the weiner-Abedin computer the FBI should release all Monday. Americans have a right to know," he wrote. 
 
 Gingrich added: "We should not be forced to vote with ten thousand or more emails still hidden by the FBI. John Podesta and Hillary Clinton are right." ||||| Please share and comment. Right after the news that FBI director James Comey was reopening the case into Hillary Clinton's email server, Rush Limbaugh speculated that it was all a distraction to take away focus from the Wikileaks and that Comey would clear Hillary Clinton. After today's revelation that theory seemed to have proven true Mediate.com reported: Responding to the news Friday that the FBI was rekindling its investigation into Clinton’s emails, Rush Limbaugh speculated that the bureau was simply trying to redirect voters’ attention away from Wikileaks’ ongoing release of emails hacked from Clinton campaign manager John Podesta. FBI Director James Comey “is going to make everybody think for the next three or four days that there’s really something to be forthcoming here,” Limbaugh said. Limbaugh said that the revelations in the Wikileaks material were “starting to hurt” the Clintons and that the renewed interest in an FBI investigation into her private email server would be a fruitless distraction. The radio host likened Comey to the “Lone Ranger,” riding to the Clinton campaign’s rescue. He added that Comey was “still carrying water for Clinton and is trying to get everybody to stop paying attentions to the Wikileaks dump.” Read more @ (Link: www.mediaite.com) After today's revelation it would appear that Rush may have been correct. Please Share and Comment ||||| poster="http://v.politico.com/images/1155968404/201610/1159/1155968404_5189096571001_5189095094001-vs.jpg?pubId=1155968404" true Trump: FBI's new Clinton email inquiry rights 'horrible mistake' 'It might not be as rigged as I thought, right?' 
 
 Donald Trump praised the FBI for reviewing new materials related to its investigation into Hillary Clinton’s use of a personal email as secretary of state, telling a raucous New Hampshire crowd that the bureau has shown “the courage to right the horrible mistake that they made.” 
 
 “I need to open with a very critical, breaking news announcement,” Trump said at the start of his New Hampshire remarks, triggering a deafening roar from the crowd as he informed them that the investigation had been reopened. “Hillary Clinton's corruption is on a scale that we have never seen before. We must not let her take her criminal scheme into the Oval Office. I have great respect for the fact that the FBI and the Department of Justice are now willing to have the courage to right the horrible mistake that they made.” 
 
 Story Continued Below 
 
 “This was a grave miscarriage of justice that the American people fully understood,” he continued. “And it is everybody's hope that it is about to be corrected.” 
 
 In a stunning, late-stage development in the presidential race, FBI Director James Comey said Friday that his department had learned of new emails that “appear to be pertinent to the investigation” into Clinton’s private server. It had closed that investigation in July, concluding that Clinton had been “careless” in her handling of sensitive information but was guilty of no criminal wrongdoing. 
 
 Comey offered few specifics in his letter to House chairmen Friday, saying the FBI does not yet know if the new material in question is “significant.” 
 
 "I am writing to inform you that the investigative team briefed me on this yesterday, and I agreed that the FBI should take appropriate investigative steps designed to allow investigators to review these emails to determine whether they contain classified information, as well as to assess their importance to our investigation," Comey wrote. 
 
 After delivering the crowd-pleasing news at the top of his remarks, Trump joked that "with that being said, the rest of my speech is going to be so boring," egging the crowd on even further. 
 
 From there, he dove into his regular stump speech but punctuated it regularly with asides about the reopened investigation, much to the audience's delight. Trump told the crowd that his advisers had suggested he skip the New Hampshire rally because of the FBI news, to which he said he replied, "I don't have the courage to skip the speech in New Hampshire." 
 
 "Job-killing Obamacare is one more way the system is rigged. But with what I just announced, previously, it might not be as rigged as I thought, right? Right?" he said a few minutes into his speech. "The FBI, I think they are going to right the ship, folks. I think they are going to right the ship and they’re going to save their great reputation by doing so." ||||| Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik) 
 
 One reason — perhaps the reason — that WikiLeaks's stolen Clinton campaign emails have been so damaging is that people in a running email conversation don't talk the way they do in public. A mention of whether to “use” Eric Garner in an ad — i.e., whether to mention him — is interpreted by Garner's daughter as proof Clinton wanted to “use” him — i.e., exploit his death. WikiLeaks itself, which has never pretended to be clued in to American domestic politics, has tweeted several stories that seemed nefarious to anyone who didn't know; for example, that “first draft” was the title of a newsletter and not a pre-publication column offered to Clinton for her approval. 
 
 The 41,841st hacked email might be our best example of the problem. On the evening of March 2, 2015, incoming Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta jumped into a thread about legal hiring to float a suggestion about what to do with the revelation that the future Democratic nominee had used a private server at the State Department. 
 
 “On another matter....and not to sound like Lanny, but we are going to have to dump all those emails so better to do so sooner than later,” Podesta wrote. 
 
 “Think you just got your new nick name :)" replied Cheryl Mills. 
 
 At 10:46 a.m. today, the finance news site ZeroHedge, which has gone to town on the hacked emails, spun this into a story of how Podesta might have revealed “intent” to obstruct any probe into the emails. 
 
 “If the exchange is shown to disclose intent to mislead,” writes Tyler Durden (the “Fight Club"-inspired byline for all ZeroHedge stories, “it will negate the entire narrative prepared by Clinton that she merely deleted 'personal' emails and will reveal a strategic plan to hinder the State Department and FBI 'investigation.'” 
 
 In short order, the Drudge Report linked to ZeroHedge's story, and it's circled around the Internet at the usual megaviral rate. When CNN anchor Jake Tapper tweeted the "dump" quote, with no endorsement whatsoever of ZeroHedge's read, the first comments on his tweet speculated on whether Podesta had just revealed criminal behavior. 
 
 But from context, it's clear that Podesta was talking about whether to make the emails public — not to delete them. His usage of “dump” resembled the typical D.C. usage of “Friday news dump,” a release of troves of documents that dares reporters to spend precious weekend hedonism time hunting through them. 
 
 ZeroHedge's own analysis actually builds the case for this. As the site notes, Podesta was emailing on the day that the New York Times released its blockbuster story on Clinton's use of a private email server and address while serving as secretary of state: 
 
 “It was only two months ago, in response to a new State Department effort to comply with federal record-keeping practices, that Mrs. Clinton’s advisers reviewed tens of thousands of pages of her personal emails and decided which ones to turn over to the State Department,” Michael S. Schmidt reported in the Times. “All told, 55,000 pages of emails were given to the department. Mrs. Clinton stepped down from the secretary’s post in early 2013.” 
 
 On that day, Podesta was reacting to the news that 55,000 pages were turned over. According to the FBI, 31,830 emails that Clinton had deemed to be personal were deleted “sometime between March 25-31, 2015.” If every problem looks like a smoking hole, you're going to see smoking guns everywhere, including here. 
 
 But read Podesta again. He did not want to “sound like Lanny,” yet he was suggesting that the emails needed to be “dumped.” While ZeroHedge considers this an open question, context suggests that Podesta was referring to Lanny Davis, a freelance Clinton defender whom Clintonworld had barely-concealed contempt for. A self-styled crisis management specialist, Davis's first advice for anyone ensnared by scandal is to “get the facts out.” 
 
 That was his advice in this scandal, too. On TV, Davis quickly advised that the Clinton campaign turn over everything it had. On March 8, Davis went further and told Fox News that Clinton should hand over the server. 
 
 “We gotta zap Lanny out of our universe,” incoming Clinton campaign manager Robby Mook wrote to Podesta. “Can't believe he committed her to a private review of her hard drive on TV.” 
 
 Clinton's campaign has opted to answer no questions about the substance of WikiLeaks emails, but people familiar with the March 2 exchange say that Podesta was debating whether the campaign should release everything or grit its teeth. At the time he wrote the email, the Select Committee on Benghazi had not yet issued a subpoena for Clinton's email; that would come two days later. There was no FBI investigation into the server; that would not be recommended for months. 
 
 In the meantime, Clinton herself — or, more accurately, the village of staffers who man her Twitter account — basically called for a document dump. 
 
 I want the public to see my email. I asked State to release them. They said they will review them for release as soon as possible. — Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) March 5, 2015 
 
 Podesta, having lived through umpteen fishing expeditions through subpoena'd documents, was asking whether the email trove revealed by the Times could be released, and it turned out that classification issues — ones that continue to dog Clinton — prevented that. 
 
 For the alternate theory to work, the theory that Podesta advocated a mass email deletion, you have to overlook all of this and more. First: Podesta knew that 55,000 pages of emails had been turned over months earlier. Second: Podesta made no distinction between those emails and the personal ones that Clinton had already thought she'd deleted. (Not to slog through the weeds, but Clinton had asked for personal emails to be deleted every 60 days, and the FBI found that a staffer only got around to deleting those emails on her server in late March 2015.) Third: How many “Lannys” does Clintonworld have strong opinions about? 
 
 Tuesday was hyped as a (nother) day that WikiLeaks would release information that could put Clinton in jail. This email definitely has grist for a headline that could hurt Clinton. Read beyond the headline, though, and you've got another case of a shorthand conversation being blown up into a phony scandal. ||||| CLOSE FBI Direcor James Comey told lawmakers the emails appeared to be related to the previously closed probe of Hillary Clinton's handling of classified information. USA TODAY NETWORK 
 
 Huma Abedin and Hillary Clinton. (Photo: Andrew Theodorakis, Getty Images) 
 
 Federal authorities have obtained a warrant to review a tranche of newly-discovered emails that could be related to the previously-closed investigation of Hillary Clinton’ handling of classified information, an official familiar with the matter said Sunday. 
 
 The official who is not authorized to comment publicly said the process had begun to seek an expeditious review of emails linked to longtime Clinton aide Huma Abedin. Though the volume of emails is substantial — perhaps in the thousands — authorities have not completely ruled out the possibility of completing the review by Election Day. 
 
 It is possible that many of the emails, discovered during a separate investigation of Abedin’s estranged husband former New York Congressman Anthony Weiner, are duplicates of those already reviewed by the FBI, the official said. Weiner is suspected of having sexually charged communications with a 15-year-old girl. 
 
 Meanwhile, a Justice Department official said that although Attorney General Loretta Lynch objected to FBI Director James Comey’s decision to notify Congress of the new email discovery, Justice officials would be supporting the FBI action to resolve the matter as quickly as possible. 
 
 The Clinton campaign said Sunday that neither Abedin nor her lawyer had been contacted by the FBI. 
 
 The Wall Street Journal reported Sunday that there may be as many as 650,000 emails on the laptop, but it is unclear how many may be relevant to the Clinton email server investigation. 
 
 FBI Director James Comey announced Friday that the bureau had uncovered emails that may be related to the FBI probe of Clinton's use of a private email server while she was secretary of state. Comey had announced in July that while Clinton had mishandled classified information on her private email, he would not recommend criminal charges against her. 
 
 Democrats were outraged by Comey's announcement Friday that the bureau was reviewing more emails, saying that he provided so little detail as to open the door to an array of conspiracy theories. Attorney General Loretta Lynch had urged Comey not to announce the new review, saying it violated the Justice Department's policy of not interfering in elections. 
 
 The Trump campaign has praised Comey for disclosing the latest review of emails, saying Americans deserved to know before they vote. 
 
 Read or Share this story: http://usat.ly/2eJz2vx ||||| (CNN) Attorney General Loretta Lynch and Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates disagreed with FBI Director James Comey's decision to notify Congress about his bureau's review of emails potentially related to Hillary Clinton's personal server, law enforcement officials familiar with the discussion said. 
 
 There was no direct confrontation between Lynch or Yates and Comey. Instead, the disagreements were conveyed to Comey by Justice Department staff, who advised the FBI chief his letter would be against department policy to not comment on investigations close to an election, the officials said. 
 
 They added it was contrary to department policies and procedures, one law enforcement source said. 
 
 Comey decided to disregard their concerns and sent the letter Friday anyway, shaking the presidential race 11 days before the election and nearly four months after the FBI chief said he wouldn't recommend criminal charges over the Democratic nominee's use of the server. 
 
 The officials acknowledged there was little Lynch and Yates could do given the fallout over Lynch's controversial meeting over the summer with former President Bill Clinton. 
 
 Lynch and Yates objected after Comey gave advance notice to top officials at the Justice Department before sending the letter to lawmakers, law enforcement officials briefed on the matter said. Justice officials didn't sign off on Comey's decision and he didn't seek their approval, one official said. 
 
 Instead, he made an independent decision to go against longstanding Justice Department and FBI practice to not comment publicly about politically sensitive investigations within 60 days of an election, the official said. 
 
 Comey later explained his decision to provide Congress with the information in a letter to FBI employees. 
 
 "We don't ordinarily tell Congress about ongoing investigations, but here I feel an obligation to do so given that I testified repeatedly in recent months that our investigation was completed," Comey said. "I also think it would be misleading to the American people were we not to supplement the record." 
 
 FBI Director James Comey's letter to employees. 
 
 Clinton's campaign and allies quickly decried the decision's timing, and the candidate herself on Friday forcefully called on the FBI to release the "full and complete facts" about its review. 
 
 "Voting is underway, so the American people deserve to get the full and complete facts immediately," Clinton said at a brief news conference in Des Moines, Iowa, adding it was "imperative that the bureau explain this issue in question, whatever it is, without any delay." 
 
 Clinton said she was "confident whatever (the emails) are will not change the conclusion reached in July," when Comey said he wouldn't recommend criminal charges in the matter. 
 
 Republican nominee Donald Trump, who has spent the past several weeks on defense, seized on the issue. 
 
 "Hillary Clinton's corruption is on a scale we've never seen before," Trump said at a rally in Manchester, New Hampshire. "We must not let her take her criminal scheme into the Oval Office." 
 
 He later responded to Clinton's statement, saying she "tried to politicize the investigation by attacking and falsely accusing the FBI director of only sending the letter to Republicans." 
 
 In a letter to eight congressional committee chairmen Friday, Comey said investigators are examining newly discovered emails that "appear to be pertinent" to the email probe. 
 
 "In connection with an unrelated case, the FBI has learned of the existence of emails that appear pertinent to the investigation," Comey wrote the chairmen. "I am writing to inform you that the investigative team briefed me on this yesterday, and I agreed that the FBI should take appropriate investigative steps designed to allow investigators to review these emails to determine whether they contain classified information, as well as to assess their importance to our investigation." 
 
 Anthony Weiner 
 
 The newly discovered emails are part of an investigation into Anthony Weiner, according to law enforcement sources. Weiner, the disgraced former congressman, recently separated from top Clinton aide Huma Abedin after a sexting incident. 
 
 The FBI and the New York Police Department have opened preliminary investigations of allegations that Weiner, a former New York Democratic congressman, exchanged sexually explicit text messages with a purportedly underage girl. 
 
 Photos: Huma Abedin's life and career Photos: Huma Abedin's life and career Huma Abedin, longtime aide to former U.S. Secretary of State and Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, arrives to speak to the House Select Committee on Benghazi on Capitol Hill in Washington on Friday, October 16. Hide Caption 1 of 15 Photos: Huma Abedin's life and career Abedin watches as Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton speaks during the David N. Dinkins Leadership and Public Policy Forum at Columbia University on April 29 in New York City. Hide Caption 2 of 15 Photos: Huma Abedin's life and career Abedin (right) looks on during a news conference following Clinton's keynote speech at a Women's Empowerment Event at the United Nations on March 10. Hide Caption 3 of 15 Photos: Huma Abedin's life and career (Left to right) Former U.S. President Bill Clinton, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, their daughter Chelsea Clinton and Abedin leave the official memorial service for former South African President Nelson Mandela at FNB Stadium December 10, 2013 in Johannesburg, South Africa. Hide Caption 4 of 15 Photos: Huma Abedin's life and career Abedin stands with her husband, Anthony Weiner, during a news conference on July 23, 2013 as he addressed new allegations that he engaged in lewd online conversations with a woman after he resigned from Congress for similar previous incidents. Weiner was running for mayor of New York City at the time. Hide Caption 5 of 15 Photos: Huma Abedin's life and career In this photo illustration, Weiner (left) appears with Abedin in a YouTube video announcing he will enter the New York City mayoral race on May 22, 2013. Weiner resigned from Congress in 2011 after admitting to tweeting lewd photos of himself and engaging in inappropriate online relationships with other women. Hide Caption 6 of 15 Photos: Huma Abedin's life and career U.S. President Barack Obama acknowledges Abedin at an Iftar dinner celebrating Ramadan in the State Dining Room of the White House August 10, 2012 in Washington. Hide Caption 7 of 15 Photos: Huma Abedin's life and career Abedin talks with a guest during an Iftar dinner at the White House August 10, 2011. Hide Caption 8 of 15 Photos: Huma Abedin's life and career Clinton (right) and Abedin arrive for a NATO Foreign Minister family photo in front of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin April 14, 2011. Hide Caption 9 of 15 Photos: Huma Abedin's life and career Clinton (right) receives a note from Abedin as she testifies about the State Department's 2012 budget during a House Appropriations subcommittee hearing on March 10, 2011 in Washington. Hide Caption 10 of 15 Photos: Huma Abedin's life and career Clinton (left), accompanied by Abedin (center), greets people before a meeting on the Flood Emergency in Pakistan September 19, 2010 at United Nations headquarters in New York. Hide Caption 11 of 15 Photos: Huma Abedin's life and career Abedin (right) accompanies then-Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-New York) after Clinton voted in the Democratic primary election on February 5, 2008 in Chappaqua, New York. Hide Caption 12 of 15 Photos: Huma Abedin's life and career Clinton greets people during a campaign stop at The McConnell Center January 7, 2008 in Dover, New Hampshire, as Abedin stands behind her. Hide Caption 13 of 15 Photos: Huma Abedin's life and career Clinton (right) greets people during a campaign stop at Aeroservices, Inc. on January 4, 2008 in Nashua, New Hampshire, accompanied by Abedin. Hide Caption 14 of 15 Photos: Huma Abedin's life and career Abedin walks with Clinton at Andrews Air Force Base in 2000 as the Clintons prepared to leave for a wedding in Arkansas. Hide Caption 15 of 15 
 
 The emails in question were sent or received by Abedin, according to a law enforcement official. There were a "considerable number" of emails being reviewed from at least one device shared by Abedin and Weiner, the official said. A separate official described it as thousands of messages. 
 
 The FBI is looking at whether any of the newly discovered emails will have an impact on the now-closed investigation into Clinton's server. In his letter, Comey said he was not sure how long the additional review would take and said the FBI "cannot yet assess whether or not this material may be significant." 
 
 The big question is whether the return of the email storm, which has overshadowed her entire campaign, will have an impact on any remaining undecided voters. Before the latest controversy erupted, Clinton had the advantage in the race for the 270 electoral votes needed to capture the presidency. She is leading Trump by six points in CNN's Poll of Polls. 
 
 Comey under criticism 
 
 Comey is under withering criticism from the Clinton campaign and congressional Democrats for releasing the letter so close to the election. Earlier Friday, Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta said "it's extraordinary that we would see something like this just 11 days out from a presidential election." 
 
 He followed up on that criticism in a heated conference call with reporters Saturday, saying Comey's letter was "light on facts, heavy on innuendo, knowing full what Republicans would do with it. It is not up to him who owes the public answers to questions that are now on the table." 
 
 Dianne Feinstein, the California Democrat who is the vice chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, said she was "shocked" to read Comey's letter. 
 
 "Director Comey's announcement played right into the political campaign of Donald Trump," she said in a statement. 
 
 Even Republican Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin urged Comey to provide more information: "In line with your commitment to be transparent with Congress and the public, I respectfully request that the FBI provide as much information as possible about these new developments without harming the integrity of its ongoing investigation," Johnson wrote in a letter to Comey. 
 
 The FBI chief felt he had no choice but to tell Congress now or risk being accused of hiding relevant information before the election, law enforcement officials said in explaining the timing. The letter was "carefully worded," one of the officials said. 
 
 Photos: Hillary Clinton's life in the spotlight Photos: Hillary Clinton's life in the spotlight Hillary Clinton accepts the Democratic Party's nomination for president at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia on July 28. The former first lady, U.S. senator and secretary of state was the first woman to lead the presidential ticket of a major political party. Hide Caption 1 of 43 Photos: Hillary Clinton's life in the spotlight Before marrying Bill Clinton, she was Hillary Rodham. Here she attends Wellesley College in Massachusetts. Her commencement speech at Wellesley's graduation ceremony in 1969 attracted national attention. After graduating, she attended Yale Law School. Hide Caption 2 of 43 Photos: Hillary Clinton's life in the spotlight Rodham was a lawyer on the House Judiciary Committee, whose work led to impeachment charges against President Richard Nixon in 1974. Hide Caption 3 of 43 Photos: Hillary Clinton's life in the spotlight In 1975, Rodham married Bill Clinton, whom she met at Yale Law School. He became the governor of Arkansas in 1978. In 1980, the couple had a daughter, Chelsea. Hide Caption 4 of 43 Photos: Hillary Clinton's life in the spotlight Arkansas' first lady, now using the name Hillary Rodham Clinton, wears her inaugural ball gown in 1985. Hide Caption 5 of 43 Photos: Hillary Clinton's life in the spotlight The Clintons celebrate Bill's inauguration in Little Rock, Arkansas, in 1991. He was governor from 1983 to 1992, when he was elected President. Hide Caption 6 of 43 Photos: Hillary Clinton's life in the spotlight Bill Clinton comforts his wife on the set of "60 Minutes" after a stage light broke loose from the ceiling and knocked her down in January 1992. Hide Caption 7 of 43 Photos: Hillary Clinton's life in the spotlight In June 1992, Clinton uses a sewing machine designed to eliminate back and wrist strain. She had just given a speech at a convention of the International Ladies' Garment Workers Union. Hide Caption 8 of 43 Photos: Hillary Clinton's life in the spotlight During the 1992 presidential campaign, Clinton jokes with her husband's running mate, Al Gore, and Gore's wife, Tipper, aboard a campaign bus. Hide Caption 9 of 43 Photos: Hillary Clinton's life in the spotlight Clinton accompanies her husband as he takes the oath of office in January 1993. Hide Caption 10 of 43 Photos: Hillary Clinton's life in the spotlight The Clintons share a laugh on Capitol Hill in 1993. Hide Caption 11 of 43 Photos: Hillary Clinton's life in the spotlight Clinton unveils the renovated Blue Room of the White House in 1995. Hide Caption 12 of 43 Photos: Hillary Clinton's life in the spotlight Clinton waves to the media in January 1996 as she arrives for an appearance before a grand jury in Washington. The first lady was subpoenaed to testify as a witness in the investigation of the Whitewater land deal in Arkansas. The Clintons' business investment was investigated, but ultimately they were cleared of any wrongdoing. Hide Caption 13 of 43 Photos: Hillary Clinton's life in the spotlight The Clintons hug as Bill is sworn in for a second term as President. Hide Caption 14 of 43 Photos: Hillary Clinton's life in the spotlight The first lady holds up a Grammy Award, which she won for her audiobook "It Takes a Village" in 1997. Hide Caption 15 of 43 Photos: Hillary Clinton's life in the spotlight The Clintons dance on a beach in the U.S. Virgin Islands in January 1998. Later that month, Bill Clinton was accused of having a sexual relationship with former White House intern Monica Lewinsky. Hide Caption 16 of 43 Photos: Hillary Clinton's life in the spotlight Clinton looks on as her husband discusses the Monica Lewinsky scandal in the Roosevelt Room of the White House on January 26, 1998. Clinton declared, "I did not have sexual relations with that woman." In August of that year, Clinton testified before a grand jury and admitted to having "inappropriate intimate contact" with Lewinsky, but he said it did not constitute sexual relations because they had not had intercourse. He was impeached in December on charges of perjury and obstruction of justice. Hide Caption 17 of 43 Photos: Hillary Clinton's life in the spotlight The first family walks with their dog, Buddy, as they leave the White House for a vacation in August 1998. Hide Caption 18 of 43 Photos: Hillary Clinton's life in the spotlight President Clinton makes a statement at the White House in December 1998, thanking members of Congress who voted against his impeachment. The Senate trial ended with an acquittal in February 1999. Hide Caption 19 of 43 Photos: Hillary Clinton's life in the spotlight Clinton announces in February 2000 that she will seek the U.S. Senate seat in New York. She was elected later that year. Hide Caption 20 of 43 Photos: Hillary Clinton's life in the spotlight Clinton makes her first appearance on the Senate Environment and Natural Resources Committee. Hide Caption 21 of 43 Photos: Hillary Clinton's life in the spotlight Sen. Clinton comforts Maren Sarkarat, a woman who lost her husband in the September 11 terrorist attacks, during a ground-zero memorial in October 2001. Hide Caption 22 of 43 Photos: Hillary Clinton's life in the spotlight Clinton holds up her book "Living History" before a signing in Auburn Hills, Michigan, in 2003. Hide Caption 23 of 43 Photos: Hillary Clinton's life in the spotlight Clinton and another presidential hopeful, U.S. Sen. Barack Obama, applaud at the start of a Democratic debate in 2007. Hide Caption 24 of 43 Photos: Hillary Clinton's life in the spotlight Obama and Clinton talk on the plane on their way to a rally in Unity, New Hampshire, in June 2008. She had recently ended her presidential campaign and endorsed Obama. Hide Caption 25 of 43 Photos: Hillary Clinton's life in the spotlight Obama is flanked by Clinton and Vice President-elect Joe Biden at a news conference in Chicago in December 2008. He had designated Clinton to be his secretary of state. Hide Caption 26 of 43 Photos: Hillary Clinton's life in the spotlight Clinton, as secretary of state, greets Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin during a meeting just outside Moscow in March 2010. Hide Caption 27 of 43 Photos: Hillary Clinton's life in the spotlight The Clintons pose on the day of Chelsea's wedding to Marc Mezvinsky in July 2010. Hide Caption 28 of 43 Photos: Hillary Clinton's life in the spotlight In this photo provided by the White House, Obama, Clinton, Biden and other members of the national security team receive an update on the mission against Osama bin Laden in May 2011. Hide Caption 29 of 43 Photos: Hillary Clinton's life in the spotlight Clinton checks her Blackberry inside a military plane after leaving Malta in October 2011. In 2015, The New York Times reported that Clinton exclusively used a personal email account during her time as secretary of state. The account, fed through its own server, raises security and preservation concerns. Clinton later said she used a private domain out of "convenience," but admits in retrospect "it would have been better" to use multiple emails. Hide Caption 30 of 43 Photos: Hillary Clinton's life in the spotlight Clinton arrives for a group photo before a forum with the Gulf Cooperation Council in March 2012. The forum was held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Hide Caption 31 of 43 Photos: Hillary Clinton's life in the spotlight Obama and Clinton bow during the transfer-of-remains ceremony marking the return of four Americans, including U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens, who were killed in Benghazi, Libya, in September 2012. Hide Caption 32 of 43 Photos: Hillary Clinton's life in the spotlight Clinton ducks after a woman threw a shoe at her while she was delivering remarks at a recycling trade conference in Las Vegas in 2014. Hide Caption 33 of 43 Photos: Hillary Clinton's life in the spotlight Clinton, now running for President again, performs with Jimmy Fallon during a "Tonight Show" skit in September 2015. Hide Caption 34 of 43 Photos: Hillary Clinton's life in the spotlight Clinton testifies about the Benghazi attack during a House committee meeting in October 2015. "I would imagine I have thought more about what happened than all of you put together," she said during the 11-hour hearing. "I have lost more sleep than all of you put together. I have been wracking my brain about what more could have been done or should have been done." Months earlier, Clinton had acknowledged a "systemic breakdown" as cited by an Accountability Review Board, and she said that her department was taking additional steps to increase security at U.S. diplomatic facilities. Hide Caption 35 of 43 Photos: Hillary Clinton's life in the spotlight U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders shares a lighthearted moment with Clinton during a Democratic presidential debate in October 2015. It came after Sanders gave his take on the Clinton email scandal. "The American people are sick and tired of hearing about the damn emails," Sanders said. "Enough of the emails. Let's talk about the real issues facing the United States of America." Hide Caption 36 of 43 Photos: Hillary Clinton's life in the spotlight Clinton is reflected in a teleprompter during a campaign rally in Alexandria, Virginia, in October 2015. Hide Caption 37 of 43 Photos: Hillary Clinton's life in the spotlight Clinton walks on her stage with her family after winning the New York primary in April. Hide Caption 38 of 43 Photos: Hillary Clinton's life in the spotlight After Clinton became the Democratic Party's presumptive nominee, this photo was posted to her official Twitter account. "To every little girl who dreams big: Yes, you can be anything you want -- even president," Clinton said. "Tonight is for you." Hide Caption 39 of 43 Photos: Hillary Clinton's life in the spotlight Obama hugs Clinton after he gave a speech at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia. The president said Clinton was ready to be commander in chief. "For four years, I had a front-row seat to her intelligence, her judgment and her discipline," he said, referring to her stint as his secretary of state. Hide Caption 40 of 43 Photos: Hillary Clinton's life in the spotlight Clinton arrives at a 9/11 commemoration ceremony in New York on September 11. Clinton, who was diagnosed with pneumonia two days before, left early after feeling ill. A video appeared to show her stumble as Secret Service agents helped her into a van. Hide Caption 41 of 43 Photos: Hillary Clinton's life in the spotlight Clinton addresses a campaign rally in Cleveland on November 6, two days before Election Day. She went on to lose Ohio -- and the election -- to her Republican opponent, Donald Trump. Hide Caption 42 of 43 Photos: Hillary Clinton's life in the spotlight After conceding the presidency to Trump in a phone call earlier, Clinton addresses supporters and campaign workers in New York on Wednesday, November 9. Her defeat marked a stunning end to a campaign that appeared poised to make her the first woman elected US president. Hide Caption 43 of 43 
 
 The news united Republicans who have spent the past several weeks grappling with Trump's controversies. Speaker Paul Ryan jumped on Comey's announcement to blast Clinton. 
 
 Trump's campaign manager, Kellyanne Conway, tweeted after the news broke, "A great day in our campaign just got even better." 
 
 Ryan said Clinton betrayed Americans' trust for handling "the nation's most important secrets." 
 
 "This decision, long overdue, is the result of her reckless use of a private email server, and her refusal to be forthcoming with federal investigators," Ryan said in a statement. "I renew my call for the Director of National Intelligence to suspend all classified briefings for Secretary Clinton until this matter is fully resolved." ||||| Editor’s note: This post has been republished from 10/28/16. 
 
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 Responding to the news Friday that the FBI was rekindling its investigation into Clinton’s emails, Rush Limbaugh speculated that the bureau was simply trying to redirect voters’ attention away from Wikileaks’ ongoing release of emails hacked from Clinton campaign manager John Podesta. 
 
 FBI Director James Comey “is going to make everybody think for the next three or four days that there’s really something to be forthcoming here,” Limbaugh said. 
 
 Limbaugh said that the revelations in the Wikileaks material were “starting to hurt” the Clintons and that the renewed interest in an FBI investigation into her private email server would be a fruitless distraction. 
 
 The radio host likened Comey to the “Lone Ranger,” riding to the Clinton campaign’s rescue. He added that Comey was “still carrying water for Clinton and is trying to get everybody to stop paying attentions to the Wikileaks dump.” 
 
 Limbaugh qualified that this was the “cynical” interpretation of recent events. 
 
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– Just as quickly as the bombshell was dropped, it disappeared: FBI Director James Comey said in a letter Sunday to the top Republicans on the House Oversight Committee that after reviewing newly discovered Hillary Clinton emails, the bureau still believes there's no reason for Clinton to be criminally charged. "Based on our review, we have not changed our conclusions that we expressed in July," the letter reads, per CNN. Clinton spokesperson Brian Fallon tweeted in response: "We were always confident nothing would cause the July decision to be revisited. Now Director Comey has confirmed it." Twitter went nuts after the news broke; Mediaite and the Raw Story have a sampling of the reaction, much of it backlash against Comey and the FBI. Newt Gingrich tweeted, "Comey must be under enormous political pressure to cave like this and announce something he cant possibly know." Mediaite notes that when news of the review of the new emails was first announced, Rush Limbaugh had speculated the announcement was just a stunt to distract everyone from the WikiLeaks release of John Podesta's emails. "[Comey] is going to make everybody think for the next three or four days that there’s really something to be forthcoming here," Limbaugh said, only for nothing to ultimately come of it. At least one blog says Sunday's letter proves Limbaugh correct.