Attorney General Loretta Lynch advised and objected against FBI Director James Comey's move to send a letter to Congress to inform them about the reopening of the investigation into Hillary Clinton's private email server.

Lynch argued to Comey that he should follow the Justice Department's practice of not taking actions that could influence the outcome of a presidential election, The New Yorker reported on Saturday.

Comey broke from Lynch, who objected to the move along with the Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates, and independently sent the letter to Congress on Friday, dropping the bombshell about the restarted investigation based on newly discovered emails, rocking Clinton's campaign.

Comey's supporters argue that he had to break away from Lynch and act independently on the issue due to her compromising herself when she had an impromptu visit with former president Bill Clinton late into the investigation earlier this year.

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Attorney General Loretta Lynch (above) advised FBI Director James Comey against sending a letter to Congress to inform them about the reopening of the investigation into Hillary Clinton's private email server

Comey broke away from Lynch and notified Congress about its reopened investigation into Hillary Clinton's private email server because of its political sensitivity, it has been revealed

The FBI director, who is an employee of the Justice Department and is 'covered under its policies,' gave top officials at the Justice Department advance notice prior to sending the letter to lawmakers, an official close to the matter said.

Four years ago, former Attorney General Eric Holder formalized a policy not comment publicly about politically sensitive investigations within 60 days of an election in a memo to all Justice Department employees.

In his memo, he warned that when handling political cases, officials 'must be particularly sensitive to safeguarding the Department's reputation for fairness, neutrality, and nonpartisanship.'

Holder wrote that in order to guard against unfair conduct, employees who face questions about 'the timing of charges or overt investigative steps near the time of a primary or general election' should confer with the Public Integrity Section of the Criminal Division.

JUSTICE DEPARTMENT POLICY ON RELEASING INFORMATION The Justice Department and the FBI has had a long-standing policy not comment publicly about politically sensitive investigations within 60 days of an election. A former senior Justice Department official told The New Yorker that the policy is in place 'because it impugns the integrity and reputation of the candidate, even though there's no finding by a court, or in this instance even an indictment.' The Justice Department has traditionally advised its prosecutors and law enforcement officials to avoid any possible appearance of interfering in the outcome of elections – including holding off on pressing cases. Former Attorney General Eric Holder formalized the practice in a memo to all Justice Department employees for years ago. In his memo, he warned that when handling political cases, officials 'must be particularly sensitive to safeguarding the Department's reputation for fairness, neutrality, and nonpartisanship.' Holder wrote that in order to guard against unfair conduct, employees who face questions about 'the timing of charges or overt investigative steps near the time of a primary or general election' should confer with the Public Integrity Section of the Criminal Division. Source: The New Yorker Advertisement

When Comey was asked if he followed those guidelines put in place and conferred with the Public Integrity Section, Kevin Lewis, a deputy director of public affairs for the Justice Department, said, 'We have no comment on the matter,' the New Yorker reported.

Lynch asked Comey to follow the policies put in place at the Justice Department, but Comey reportedly said he had promised to let members of Congress know if there were further developments in the case of Clinton's emails.

The massive amount of new emails were discovered on a laptop shared by Abedin and her estranged husband, disgraced former Congressman Anthony Weiner.

The laptop is said to have contained 'tens-of-thousands of emails,' a senior law enforcement official told Fox News on Saturday, and the FBI restarted the Clinton investigation because the new emails were 'pertinent.'

Comey also sent a separate memo to staffers explaining his decision, noting the bureau would not ordinarily inform Congress about its ongoing investigations, but said he felt he needed to do so amid the looming election.

In the internal memo obtained by Fox News, notes he felt an 'obligation' to inform lawmakers about the investigation given he had testified repeatedly in recent months that the investigation was completed.

'Of course 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 wrote in the memo.

'I also think it would be misleading to the American people were we not to supplement the record.'

'At the same time, however, given that we do not know the significance of this newly discovered collection of emails, I don't want to create a misleading impression, he continues.

'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.'

The memo sent to staffers was in addition to the letter Comey, who is a Republican appointee of President Obama, had sent to eight Republican lawmakers.

INTERNAL MEMO FBI DIRECTOR JAMES COMEY SENT TO BUREAU STAFFERS EXPLAINING HIS DECISION ON REOPENING THE CLINTON EMAIL INVESTIGATION To all: This morning I sent a letter to Congress in connection with the Secretary Clinton email investigation. Yesterday, the investigative team briefed me on their recommendation with respect to seeking access to emails that have recently been found in an unrelated case. Because those emails appear to be pertinent to our investigation, I agreed that we should take appropriate steps to obtain and review them. Of course, 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. I also think it would be misleading to the American people were we not to supplement the record. At the same time, however, given that we don't know the significance of this newly discovered collection of emails, 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. Advertisement

Bombshell: On Friday he sent a letter to eight Republican lawmakers regarding the reopened investigation

In that letter, he said he had launched an investigation into the 'pertinent' exchanges to determine if any of the emails - which allegedly number more than 1,000 in total - contain classified information and whether any of them are 'significant.'

Comey said that after learning about the emails he advised the bureau to take 'appropriate investigative steps' to review them.

Comey sent the letter to heads of the of the House and Senate Intelligence Committees, Judiciary Committees and two Appropriations subcommittees that deal with justice issues, as well as the House's Oversight Committee and the Senate's Homeland Security Committee.

'Although the FBI cannot yet access whether or not this material may be significant, and I cannot predict how long it will take us to complete this additional work, I believe it is important to update your Committees about our efforts,' he wrote.

Trump gleefully seized on news that FBI agents are investigating the newly discovered emails.

The probe had been thought finished in July, when the FBI had recommended that no charges be filed against Clinton, though it found her to have been 'extremely careless' in her use of a private server.

Clinton was pictured leaving her campaign plane after it landed in New York on Friday night after her campaign was rocked by the news of the FBI probe

A downcast Abedin was also pictured leaving Hillary's campaign plane dressed in an orange winter coat and laden with luggage

Clinton's campaign was outraged and implied that Comey's intervention could be politically-tinged because, in Clinton's words, the letter was only sent to 'Republican members of the House'

HILLARY CLINTON GOES TO WAR WITH FBI IN BRIEF PRESS CONFERENCE DEMANDING IT EXPLAINS NEW EMAIL PROBE 'WITHOUT DELAY' In a dramatic turn in the presidential race Hillary Clinton called on the FBI to release whatever information it has about its re-started investigation of her email scandal 'without delay' in a press conference on Friday. She said she didn't know 'what to believe' regard what she called 'rumors' that the new information that came from trusted Aide Huma Abedin's laptop – a device she reportedly shared with disgraced ex-Rep. Anthony Weiner. 'We are 11 days out from perhaps the most important election of our lifetimes,' Clinton told reporters in the surprise press conference inside the choral room of Roosevelt High School in Des Moines. 'The American people deserve to get the full and complete facts immediately.' At the end, she was asked about the reports, in the New York Times and other outlets, that her aide Huma Abedin and Weiner had been the source of the new emails. 'We've heard these rumors,' said Clinton – who sat near Abedin on her campaign on the flight to Des Moines. 'We don't know what to believe and I'm sure there will be even more rumors. That's why it is incumbent upon the FBI to tell us what they're talking about,' she said. 'Because right now your guess is as good as mine and I don't think that's good enough.' Asked if she had been contacted by the FBI or whether she was concerned that the new emails would reveal any classified information, Clinton responded to the first part of the question. 'No – we have not been contacted by anyone. First we knew about it is I assume when you knew about it, when this letter sent to Republican members of the House was released. 'So we don't know the facts, which is why we are calling on the FBI to release all the information that it has. 'Lets get it out,' she said. She observed that FBI director Comey had said that the new information may not be significant. Asked about trust issues leading up to election day, she responed: 'I think people a long time ago made up their minds about the emails. I think that's factored into what people think, and now they're choosing a president.' Advertisement

Following Friday's revelation, Clinton's campaign was outraged and implied that Comey's intervention could be politically-tinged because, in Clinton's words, the letter was only sent to 'Republican members of the House.'

'We have not been contacted by anyone,' she complained.

In a brief press conference on Friday, Clinton cried foul and demanded that Comey reveal more information about the probe.

She also declared herself 'confident' that voters, and the FBI, would conclude that she had done nothing wrong.

'The American people deserve to get the full and complete facts immediately,' she said.

'We don't know the facts, which is why we are calling on the FBI to release all the information that it has.'

Her defiant words came after Trump - himself dogged by scandal over his alleged sexual misconduct - made hay, declaring Clinton unfit for office as a jubilant crowd of supporters in New Hampshire chanted: 'Lock her up!'

ANTHONY WEINER SEXTING SCANDAL The FBI, the New York Police Department, and US attorneys in New York and North Carolina opened investigations into Weiner's conduct in late September, after DailyMail.com exclusively reported on Sept. 21 that the former politician carried on a months-long online relationship with a 15-year-old high school girl. Weiner exchanged flirtatious and sexually-charged messages with the teen for months after the girl struck up a conversation with him on Twitter in January. Weiner told the girl he woke up 'hard' after thinking about her, sent her shirtless photos, and complimented her body. He also encouraged her to talk to him on the video-chat application Skype. The girl alleged that during these Skype conversations, Weiner asked her to get undressed and touch herself. She claimed he also asked her to dress up in school girl outfits and pretend he was her teacher and brought up 'rape fantasies.' Weiner issued a statement to the Dailymail.com apologizing for 'repeatedly demonstrate[ing] terrible judgment about the people I have communicated with online and the things I have sent.' In one particularly lewd message, he told the teen: 'I would bust that tight p***y so hard and so often that you would leak and limp for a week.' Advertisement

Concern that the renewed probe would damage Clinton's formerly impressive momentum spooked the markets, with US stocks, the dollar and oil prices tumbling lower on the prospect of a close vote.

Clinton noted that Comey had said he himself does not know whether the emails are significant or not.

'I'm confident, whatever they are, they will not change the conclusion reached in July,' she added.

According to the New York Times, the newly discovered mails emerged after agents seized electronic devices used by Clinton's closest aide, Huma Abedin, and her husband, Anthony Weiner.

The FBI swooped in on Weiner in September after DailyMail.com revealed he had sent explicit messages and graphic pictures to the 15-year-old, fully aware she was under-age.

Weiner is a Democratic former congressman who resigned in 2011 after he was exposed for sending explicit online messages.

The newly discovered emails were sent reportedly by Abedin to Clinton from a laptop used by Weiner, who also saw a bid to become mayor of New York founder over similar claims in 2013.