Clinton campaign wants ads claiming she's 'under investigation by the FBI' off the air

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published 7 November 2016

Hillary Clinton responded to FBI Director James Comey's surprise email declarations with some words of her own — in the form of cease-and-desist letters to broadcasters airing ads claiming she was "under investigation by the FBI." In letters dated Sunday, the day Comey announced that the new emails discovered last month had in fact not swayed his July recommendation that Clinton should not face criminal charges for her private email server, Clinton campaign general counsel Marc Elias advised broadcasters to stop airing the ads made by pro-Donald Trump super PACs.

"These ads falsely claim Secretary Clinton is under investigation by the FBI," Elias wrote in the letter, per CNN. He emphasized that "at no point" did the FBI "reopen" its investigation into Clinton's emails and that the ongoing investigation was centered on Anthony Weiner, the estranged husband of top Clinton aide Huma Abedin. The new emails were discovered on Weiner's laptop amid a separate investigation into the disgraced congressman's alleged inappropriate relationship with an underage girl.

On her final day on the campaign trail Monday, Clinton has been focused on emitting a positive message, encouraging the nation to embrace "strong and steady leadership" instead of a "loose cannon." "Our core values are being tested in this election, and I know that people are frustrated. A lot of people feel left out and left behind," Clinton said at a rally Monday in Pittsburgh. "But I've got to say: Anger is not a plan, my friends."