'Let's get it out': Clinton calls on FBI to release info on email investigation
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Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton called on the FBI to release "all the information that it has" about the ongoing probe into her use of a private email server after the bureau's director confirmed it was investigating whether there is classified information in new emails uncovered during a probe of disgraced former congressman Anthony Weiner.
"We’ve heard these rumors, we don’t know what to believe," Clinton told reporters during a brief news conference in Iowa Friday evening. "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."
FBI Director James Comey's letter informing Congress that investigators were taking another look at whether classified information had been mishandled constituted a political earthquake just 11 days before Election Day.
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"Even Director Comey noted that this new information may not be significant," Clinton said, "so let’s get it out."
At a rally in Iowa, Trump said Clinton "tried to politicize" the investigation by incorrectly claiming that Comey only sent his letter to congressional Republicans. In fact, the letter was sent to congressional leaders from both parties.
"Another Clinton lie," said Trump, who added, "the FBI would have never reopened his case at this time unless it were an egregious criminal offense."
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Earlier, in New Hampshire, the real estate mogul said Clinton was guilty of corruption "on a scale we have never seen before."
Democrats joined the criticism of Comey, suggesting the FBI director was putting a thumb on the scale ahead of the Nov. 8 election.
Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said she was "shocked" by Comey's letter.
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"Without knowing how many emails are involved, who wrote them, when they were written or their subject matter, it's impossible to make any informed judgment on this development," said Feinstein. "The FBI has a history of extreme caution near Election Day so as not to influence the results. Today's break from that tradition is appalling."
Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., and Rep. John Conyers, D-Mich., said in a note to Comey and Attorney General Loretta Lynch that Comey's letter "provided such limited and vague information that it allowed rampant speculation, numerous leaks, and wild accusations" and called on the FBI and Justice Department to "issue a more complete accounting of the details behind this letter."
Republicans renewed their criticism of Clinton, who appeared to have been cleared by Comey in July when he said his agents didn't find evidence to support a criminal prosecution or direct evidence that Clinton's private server was hacked.
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House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., said Clinton had "nobody but herself to blame" and renewed his call for intelligence officials to suspend classified briefings for her.
"[Clinton] was trusted with some of our nation's most important secrets, and she betrayed that trust by mishandling highly classified information," Ryan said.
Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, sounded a similar note in a statement of his own, saying the FBI's "previous half-hearted investigation of Hillary Clinton did serious damage to [its] reputation, and this latest revelation affords the FBI the opportunity to begin to repair that damage."
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Rep. Trey Gowdy, R-S.C., told Fox News' Megyn Kelly on "The Kelly File" that Comey's new letter was "pretty extraordinary because Secretary Clinton had an extraordinary email arrangement with herself and she is the author of her own destiny.
"Everything that’s happened since then is the natural probable consequence of deciding you’re going to have a rogue email system," Gowdy added. "So I understand she’s upset and I understand she doesn’t like the timing, but she need look no further than herself."
Gowdy also criticized Clinton's call for the FBI to release more information about the emails, saying that she "knows [Comey] cannot produce the information in the middle of an investigation."
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"The same person who went to great lengths to make sure that these emails were private now wants it all made public," he said. "It’s just too rich."
Federal authorities in New York and North Carolina are investigating online communications between Weiner, the estranged husband of top Clinton aide Huma Abedin, and a 15-year-old girl. Abedin was interviewed by the FBI as part of its investigation into Clinton's private server.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.