Erin Kelly

USAToday

WASHINGTON — Top Clinton campaign officials urged FBI Director James Comey on Sunday to provide more details about the bureau's review of newly-discovered emails related to the investigation of Hillary Clinton's use of a private server, charging that his "inappropriate" letter announcing the review Friday is fueling conspiracy theories that could hurt the Democratic nominee just days before the election.

Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta, appearing on CNN's State of the Union with Jake Tapper, called the letter released by Comey on Friday "long on innuendo, short on facts," noting that Comey could not even say if the emails contained significant information. Comey appeared to be breaking with precedent by disclosing information about an ongoing investigation before determining if the newly-discovered emails provide any new insights, Podesta said.

"If they're not significant, they're not significant," said Podesta, who called Comey's action "inappropriate." He added that Comey "should have read them first" before making a bombshell announcement about the emails just 11 days before the election.

"This is something that has been tossed into the middle of the campaign," Podesta said. We would have preferred that that not happen, but now that it has happened, we would prefer that Mr. Comey come forward and explain why he took that unprecedented step."

Attorney General Loretta Lynch objected to Comey's decision to announce the probe, according to Justice Department sources, because she felt it violated department policy to not takes step that may interfere with an election.

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Clinton campaign manager Robby Mook said he doesn't believe Comey's action will cost Clinton the election.

"I don't think so," Mook said on NBC's Meet the Press, adding that Clinton is gaining an "insurmountable lead" in the swing state of Nevada.

But Mook urged Comey to put more information about the emails "out there on the table." If Comey doesn't do that, Mook said, the FBI director will end up fueling conspiracy theories.

"Let's just get all the information out there so that rumors and hypotheticals can be put to rest," Mook said.

Donald Trump tweeted Sunday that Democratic criticism of Comey is hypocritical.

Trump running mate Mike Pence praised the FBI's decision to review the emails, but sent an ambiguous message about how it might affect the election.

“I don’t think it alters the campaign at all,” Pence told Fox News Sunday. “What we already know here is troubling to the American people, and it’s convincing millions of Americans that Hillary Clinton is just a risky choice in this election.”

Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Kaine called Comey's letter "extremely puzzling" and a "distraction" in an interview with ABC News' This Week.

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Comey sent a letter to congressional leaders on Friday announcing that newly discovered emails were being reviewed in connection with the investigation of Clinton's use of a private email server while secretary of state. The emails were found during a separate investigation of former Congressman Anthony Weiner, the estranged husband of Huma Abedin, a longtime Clinton aide and adviser. Weiner is suspected of having sexually explicit communications with a 15-year-old girl.

"It is just extremely puzzling,” Kaine said. “Why would you release information that is so incomplete when you haven’t even seen the material yourself? Eleven days before an election, why would you talk about an ongoing investigation? I just have no way of understanding these actions. They’re completely unprecedented. And that’s why I think (Comey) owes the American public more information."

Kaine added that, "As far as we know now, Director Comey knows nothing about the content of these emails. We don’t know whether they’re to or from Hillary at all."

Podesta said Abedin has been fully cooperating with the FBI. He also said she remains on the campaign staff.

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Trump campaign manager Kellyanne Conway praised Comey's decision to announce the review of the newly found emails.

"Hillary Clinton flouted the law and set up a private server so she could hide stuff from the public," Conway said.

Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, said, "I'm not praising James Comey."

"I think this investigation has been bungled from the start," the senator said on Fox News.

Rep. Adam Schiff of California, the senior Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, called it "a terrible error in judgement by (Comey) to release this kind of ambiguous letter."

"If the director can't clean up this mess, and I hope he will try, I think he ought to acknowledge that he made a serious mistake, and underscore once again that there's nothing that alters that core conclusion he reached in July," Schiff said on ABC's This Week. He was referring to Comey's previous announcement that Clinton had been "extremely careless" in using a private server but had committed no crime.

Contributing: David M. Jackson