Heidi M. Przybyla

USA TODAY





Hillary Clinton late Friday called on the FBI to "immediately" release more information regarding a letter to Congress stating that the bureau is reviewing more emails “pertinent” to an investigation into Clinton’s use of a private email server.

The letter, sent to a number of congressional committee chairmen, is becoming a political lightning rod just 11 days before the Nov. 8 election, as Republicans suggest that it could change the outcome of FBI Director James Comey’s previous recommendation that Clinton should not face criminal charges.

“The American people deserve to get the full and complete facts immediately," the Democratic nominee said at a brief press conference in Iowa.

“I’m confident, whatever they are, will not change the conclusion reached in July," she said, referring to Comey's decision earlier this year on the Clinton email case.

Earlier, her campaign chairman, John Podesta, sought to tamp down reports that the bureau was reopening an investigation into Clinton.

“Already, we have seen characterizations that the FBI is 'reopening' an investigation but Comey's words do not match that characterization,” Podesta said in a statement.

“Director Comey's letter refers to emails that have come to light in an unrelated case, but we have no idea what those emails are and the Director himself notes they may not even be significant,” he said. "It is extraordinary that we would see something like this just 11 days out from a presidential election,” said Podesta.

In a Friday letter to FBI employees obtained by the Washington Post, Comey tried to explain his decision to alert Congress. While he felt obligated to "supplement the record" in light of the new emails, said Comey, "I don't want to create a misleading impression."

"In trying to strike that balance, in a brief letter and in the middle of an election season, there is significant risk of being misunderstood, but I wanted you to hear directly from me about it," said Comey, according to the note to employees.

Republicans pounced on the development. “Hillary Clinton’s corruption is on a scale we have not seen before,” Donald Trump said at a Friday rally in New Hampshire. On the FBI, he said: “I think they’re gonna right the ship.”

Previously, Comey testified that no reasonable prosecutor would have brought charges against Clinton, even as he said she had been “extremely careless” in handling classified information. "The Director owes it to the American people to immediately provide the full details of what he is now examining. We are confident this will not produce any conclusions different from the one the FBI reached in July,” said Podesta.

Clinton, at her press conference, said she and her team had not been contacted by the bureau in advance and said she believed voters had already made up their minds about the importance of her email server.

"I think that's factored into what people think, and now they're choosing a president," she said.

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