Trouble brews for Clinton

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton's campaign was hit yesterday by the FBI's reopening of its investigation into her use of a private email server while secretary of state, eroding a political boost from a strong US economic report.

With just 11 days to go before the Nov 8 election, FBI Director James Comey said in a letter to several congressional Republicans that the agency had learned of the existence of emails that appeared to be pertinent to its investigation.

However, he said the FBI did not know if the emails were significant and did not provide a time frame for the probe.

Republican Donald Trump's campaign reacted with glee. His campaign manager, Kellyanne Conway, said on Twitter that "a great day in our campaign just got even better."

Trump triumphantly welcomed the FBI's decision saying "perhaps finally, justice will be done."

"Hillary Clinton's corruption is on a scale that we have never seen before," he told cheering supporters in Manchester, New Hampshire, who chanted "Lock her up!"

"I have great respect for the fact that the FBI and the Department of Justice are now willing to have the courage to right the horrible mistake that they made" in closing their initial investigation without filing any charges against the Democrat, he said.

The resurrection of the email issue, which has dogged Clinton's campaign from the start, dimmed a day that had featured good news for her effort to win the White House.

The Commerce Department reported that the economy grew at a 2.9 percent annual rate in the third quarter, its fastest pace in two years and higher than the expected 2.6 percent, thanks to a surge in exports and a rebound in investment.

The report had bolstered Clinton, who has positioned herself as the best candidate to continue years of economic expansion under Democratic President Barack Obama.

More Americans say jobs and the economy are their No. 1 priority when they decide who to vote for than any other issue.

The latest rolling poll average compiled by tracker RealClearPolitics showed Clinton, who turned 69 on Wednesday, with a 5.4 point lead in a national race against Trump and two outsiders -- pointing to a likely electoral college victory for the Democrat.

Meanwhile, the race suffered a scare when Donald Trump's running mate's plane skidded off the runway.

No one was reported hurt in the incident, in which the plane carrying Indiana Governor and Republican vice presidential candidate Mike Pence came to rest in grass next to the runway after landing at New York's rain-soaked LaGuardia airport.

Besides the FBI decision, new WikiLeaks disclosures threatened her campaign, notably an email in which aide Douglas Band detailed his own money-making efforts both on behalf of Bill Clinton personally and the foundation.

In the 2011 memo, Band said he personally provided the former president with more than 50 million dollars in "for profit" activities while he was leader of the foundation.

The latest disclosures have added to a drip-drip of WikiLeaks revelations plaguing Hillary Clinton in the final stretch of her run for the White House as the Democratic nominee.

Band wrote of helping the former president "secure and engage in for-profit activities -- including speeches, books, and advisory service engagements."