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Hillary Clinton in the clear as FBI announces it has not changed mind on charges

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FBI Director James Comey told Congress on Sunday a recent review of newly discovered emails did not change the agency's conclusion reached in July that no charges were warranted in the case of Hillary Clinton's use of a private email server.

Hillary Clinton was in the clear last night after James Comey, the FBI director, sensationally released a second letter stating the agency had not changed its conclusions on her use of a private email and found no evidence of criminal wrongdoing.

The announcement, with just a day to go before the US election, was a huge boost to Mrs Clinton. Her campaign said last night they were "glad" the email issue had been "resolved".

"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," Mr Comey said in the letter. 

"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. I am very grateful to the professionals at the FBI for doing an extraordinary amount of high-quality work in a short period of time."

Mr Comey had announced nine days ago that new emails were being investigated. They had been found on the laptop of Anthony Weiner, the disgraced estranged husband of Huma Abedin, a top Clinton aide. He is under a separate investigation for allegedly sexting an underage girl.

The Clinton campaign immediately responded, welcoming the move.

"We are glad to see that he has found, as we were confident that he would, that he's confirmed the conclusions that he reached in July," said Jennifer Palmieri, the campaign's communication manager.

"And we're glad that this matter is resolved."

Another senior member of the Clinton campaign wrote on Twitter that they had always been confident that the Democrat would be cleared of any wrongdoing.

“We were always confident nothing would cause the July decision to be revisited,” Brian Fallon, Mrs Clinton's spokesman said. “Now Director Comey has confirmed it.”

Less than half an hour after Mr Comey's announcement, Mr Trump showed no signs of changing his approach.

Speaking to a rally in Minnesota, he said: "She's the most corrupt person ever to seek the Presidency of the US. Clinton will be under investigation for a long time for the many crimes against her. It's a rigged system and she's protected."

The FBI was already under huge pressure from Democrats to explain why it took the unprecedented decision to make public so close to an election that it was investigating a new batch of emails related to Mrs Clinton.

Democrats accused the agency of being politically motivated and suggested elements within the FBI were supporting Mr Trump.

Mr Comey had faced allegations from Democrats that he could have violated the Hatch Act, which bars FBI officials from using their official authority to influence an election."

Mr Comey's latest revelation once again put the FBI at the centre of the controversy.

But his latest thunderbolt was likely to be seized on by supporters of Mr Trump who claim that the election is being "rigged" by the Washington establishment.

In July, Mr Comey infuriated Republicans and seemed to vindicate Mrs Clinton when he announced that there were no grounds on which to prosecute her for endangering America's secrets by using an unsecured private server to conduct government business.

His statement that Mrs Clinton had been "extremely careless" echoed throughout the ensuing weeks of the campaign, however, helping Mr Trump to draw even in the polls.

But the determination that "no reasonably prosecutor" would take up a case against her neutralised one of the Republican nominee's primary lines of attack - that Mrs Clinton could face criminal charges in the White House.

She steadily built a lead, and placed roadblocks in Mr Trump's path to the White House by taking control of nearly all of the key swing states.

On October 28, with a letter that seemed to materialise out of thin air, Mr Comey turned the race on its head.

The FBI director announced that emails "pertinent" to the investigation had been found, and would be reviewed to determine whether they altered his decision from July.

The wording was vague but the implications were clear- Mrs Clinton was once again under federal investigation.

The drama further intensified with the link to Mr Weiner.

The renewed investigation was expected to take weeks, dragging on long past election day.

Prior to Mr Comey's letter the race had appeared to be effectively over. Mrs Clinton led by an average of five per cent in the polls, and Mr Trump had begun to alternate between dejection and outrage.

After the letter, though, swing voters abandoned Mrs Clinton in droves and one major poll showed Mr Trump leading for the first time since May.

States like New Hampshire and Michigan that had looked certain to fall into Mrs Clinton's column on election day were suddenly in jeopardy.

Rather than going on offence in states like Georgia and even Texas, Mrs Clinton began deploying personnel and cash to Democratic-leaning states.

It took the better part of a week, but Mrs Clinton was eventually able to stop the bleeding. Polls began to plateau with her holding a one or two point advantage.

The lead that she had spent months building had nearly evaporated, and she would enter election day as only a slim favourite.

Mr Comey's announcement last night, equally as sudden and unexpected as the first, will only amplify the claims that he had acted improperly by inserting himself into the election with just days left in the race.

It will also enrage Mr Trump, who had already signaled that if the FBI did not issue an indication he would consider it another sign that the race was "rigged" in favour of Mrs Clinton.inning 51 per cent to 43 per cent in the early vote.