Grassley: New FBI questions ‘real problem’ for Clinton

WEST DES MOINES - Sen. Chuck Grassley thinks the FBI's decision to examine newly discovered emails that may pertain to its previously closed investigation into then-U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's use of a private email server will become 'a real problem for the Clintons.”

Grassley, speaking to reporters during a campaign event Friday with the Iowa Farm Bureau, said he did not want to offer much beyond that until he learns more about the news, which broke just minutes before his campaign event.

The FBI opted against filing criminal charges against Clinton, the Democratic candidate for president, for her use of a private email server while she was Secretary of State. FBI director James Comey said the practice was careless, but not criminal.

On Friday morning, Comey sent some Congressional committee leaders - including Grassley, who is chairman of the Senate's Judiciary Committee - a letter saying a separate investigation revealed emails that may be pertinent to the FBI's investigation into Clinton's emails. Comey said the FBI plans to review the newly discovered emails to determine their importance to the FBI investigation and whether they contained classified information.

Grassley said Friday he did not request the letter that was sent by the FBI to him and other Congressional leaders.

'I think it's going to be a real problem for the Clintons, and it says something about what the FBI had done in the past (by not charging Clinton),” Grassley said. 'But beyond that, I can't say much. ... I need to wait for more information.”

Grassley is running for a seventh term representing Iowa in the U.S. Senate. Most polls on the race have showed a double-digit lead for the Republican over his Democratic challenger, former Iowa ag secretary and lieutenant governor Patty Judge.

Grassley said, if re-elected, the Senate Judiciary Committee he heads up would not have an active role in any further investigation of Clinton's emails, other than to provide oversight.

'All I can say is that in our oversight capacity the answer is yes (the committee will be involved), but I would not expect us to be involved in anything specifically with what happened (Friday), just that it's part of the ongoing oversight that we've done,” Grassley said.

Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta released a statement criticizing Republicans for taking the FBI's letter out of context, and called on Comey to clarify what the FBI has discovered.

A federal official confirmed Friday afternoon that the new emails were discovered during the investigation into former U.S. Rep. Anthony Wiener, of New York, who is being investigated for sending sexually charged text messages to a minor and recently was separated from top Clinton aide Huma Abedin.

'Director Comey's letter refers to emails that have come to light in an unrelated case, but we have no idea what those emails are and the director himself notes they may not even be significant,” Podesta said. 'The director owes it to the American people to immediately provide the full details of what he is now examining. We are confident this will not produce any conclusions different from the one the FBI reached in July.”

Clinton and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump are deadlocked in Iowa, according to a poll published this week by Quinnipiac University.

Nationally, Clinton leads in polling in many swing states, suggesting she is at the moment the favorite to win the Nov. 8 election.