Clinton blames FBI for loss
Hillary Clinton on Saturday blamed FBI director James Comey for her loss in the US presidential race, claiming that re-opening the probe into her email use broke the momentum towards victory.
Clinton told fundraisers and donors in a conference call that Comey's two letters to Congress on the probe had tilted crucial states towards Republican Donald Trump, US media including Quartz and CNN reported.
"There are lots of reasons why an election like this is not successful," Democrat Clinton told her national finance committee, a person on the call told online magazine Quartz.
"But our analysis is that Jim Comey's letter raising doubts that were groundless (and) baseless -- and proven to be -- stopped our momentum."
On October 28 -- less than two weeks before Election Day -- Comey dropped a bombshell by informing Congress the FBI was looking once more into Clinton's controversial email practices as secretary of state after new messages were uncovered.
His second letter, on November 6, just three days before the election, stated that the FBI's review of the new emails had uncovered no wrongdoing, and that the bureau had not changed its July recommendation not to charge Clinton.
While the first letter reopened old wounds and reminded voters of the controversy, the second letter, according to Clinton, had the perverse effect of energizing rival Donald Trump's base, Quartz reported.
Meanwhile, EU foreign ministers were to hold special talks yesterday on Donald Trump's stunning US election win as Nato chief Jens Stoltenberg warned bluntly of the dangers of American isolationism.
But the talks were to take place without the foreign ministers of Britain and France, apparently reflecting their concerns about over-dramatising European fears.
The meeting takes place amid a surge of anxiety sparked by Trump's campaign-trail rhetoric, which questioned the seven-decade-old US commitment to Europe.
In an article in Britain's Observer newspaper on Sunday, Nato Secretary General Stoltenberg warned: "We face the greatest challenges to our security in a generation."
"This is no time to question the partnership between Europe and the United States," he said. "(...) Going it alone is not an option."
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