James Comey's October Surprise on Emails Possibly Pertinent to Clinton Probe: 5 Latest Developments

FBI director James Comey's October surprise sent shockwaves through Hillary Clinton's campaign when it was revealed that the agency learned of the existence of emails through an unrelated probe that appear to be pertinent to the investigation into her private email use as secretary of state. That unrelated probe was later revealed to be an investigation into disgraced former congressman Anthony Weiner's sexting scandal.

Since the news came out, the Clinton campaign has demanded that the FBI release the full facts behind the emails that have come to light. Meanwhile, Comey has found himself at the intersection of an intense debate about whether it was appropriate for him to release the information so close to an election. Department of Justice officials reportedly warned the director he was going against the department's policy, while some have said he was left with no choice considering the extreme circumstances and also because he had testified in front of Congress regarding the probe.

Details about what the emails may contain or whether they are in fact new or simply duplicates remain unclear. Since Friday's news, here are five recent developments that have been reported that provide more insight into the FBI's announcement:

The FBI does not know what is in the emails

When Comey wrote the letter to Congress on Friday, none of the material had been reviewed since agents did not have a search warrant to read them, Yahoo News reported, citing government officials that had been briefed on the situation. As of Saturday night, agents were still working on obtaining a warrant. The report notes that it is significant that Comey did not know the content of the emails because Republicans and Donald Trump have said the director would not have informed Congress had he not known that the emails contained information of significance. However, on Sunday, ABC News was the first to report that federal officials had obtained a search warrant to search the computer apparently used by Anthony Weiner and his estranged wife Huma Abedin.

Huma Abedin does not know how her emails ended up on her estranged husband's computer

Abedin, perhaps Clinton's closest aide and the estranged wife of Weiner, whose serial sexting habits have come back to haunt the campaign, has apparently told people she is unsure of how the emails ended up on Weiner's computer, The Washington Post reported. Abedin apparently did not regularly use the computer, and her lawyers did not search the computer when she turned over emails to the State Department for federal records purposes.

There are apparently 650,000 emails on Weiner's computer

The Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday that federal agents are attempting to go through roughly 650,000 emails contained on Weiner's laptop, citing people familiar with the matter. An initial review of the laptop revealed metadata that showed messages in the thousands that were apparently sent to or from Clinton's private email server. The review is expected to take weeks to complete to determine how many of those emails are work-related, how many are duplicates of emails that have previously been reviewed and whether there is any new evidence.

The development into the new emails began in early October

FBI officials in New York notified the bureau’s second-in-command, Andrew McCabe, of the emails they had found while investigating Weiner for possibly sending sexually explicit messages to a minor. The emails apparently stretched back years, according to the Wall Street Journal report.

Reactions Among Voters is Mixed

An ABC/Washington Post poll released Sunday found that about one third of likely voters say Friday's news would make them less likely to support Clinton, while a majority say it does not affect their vote at all. Overall, the poll has Trump trailing Clinton by just one percentage point.

SEE ALSO:

• FBI's Investigation of Hillary Clinton Emails Turns Focus To Anthony Weiner Sexting Scandal
• DOJ Officials to James Comey: Telling Congress About New Evidence Against Policy; Hillary Clinton Calls it 'Deeply Troubling'

Image Credit: Alexander Nguyen/Patch