No criminality in Clinton emails - FBI

                                

The FBI has found no evidence of criminality in the new batch of Hillary Clinton emails.

In a letter to members of Congress, FBI director James Comey said the agency had finished its review and found nothing to change its position.

In July, he said Mrs Clinton had been careless but not criminal in handling sensitive material on her private email server while secretary of state.

The issue flared up again with the discovery of new "pertinent" emails.

They were reportedly found on the laptop of Anthony Weiner, the estranged husband of one of the Democratic presidential candidate's closest advisers.

Mr Comey's original letter late last month to lawmakers, revealing the bureau's inquiry into Mrs Clinton's emails had been revived, shook up the White House race and reinvigorated the campaign of Republican nominee Donald Trump.

The FBI director had announced that the agency would investigate if the newly discovered messages contained classified information.

But in Sunday's follow-up letter, Mr Comey wrote: "Since my letter, the FBI investigative team has been working around the clock to process and review a large volume of emails from a device obtained in connection with an unrelated criminal investigation.

"During that process, we reviewed all of the communications that were to or from Hillary Clinton while she was Secretary of State.

"Based on our review, we have not changed our conclusions that we expressed in July with respect to Secretary Clinton."

On board the candidate's campaign airplane, the Clinton team welcomed the news.

Communications director Jennifer Palmieri told media:"We've seen Director Comey's latest letter.

"We were glad to see, as we were confident he would, he's confirmed the conclusions he reached in July.

"We're glad this matter has been resolved."

The FBI has already established that Mrs Clinton had classified information on a private email server.

Mr Comey said in July that the White House hopeful's handling of sensitive material during her 2009-13 tenure as secretary of state was "extremely careless", but cleared her of criminal wrongdoing.

The revelation that she handled sensitive information while breaking federal rules by running her own email server out of her upstate New York home has dogged her campaign since last year.

A new NBC/Wall St Journal opinion poll on Sunday before news of the FBI letter broke suggested a four-point lead for Mrs Clinton.

The latest Washington Post/ABC tracking poll put her lead at five points.