--- title: The Final Twist in the FBI Story description: Just before Election Day, FBI Director James Comey issued a letter saying the re-opened email investigation was closed with no charges. canonical: https://time.com/4560434/the-final-twist-in-the-fbi-story/ author: Zeke Miller article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-11-07T15:24:10.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-06-24T06:57:00.995Z article:section: Politics og:title: The Final Twist in the FBI Story og:description: Just before Election Day, FBI Director James Comey issued a letter saying the re-opened email investigation was closed with no charges. og:url: https://time.com/4560434/the-final-twist-in-the-fbi-story/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb24c27fcf0ec0da8/6986837dcd6848a30809364f/morning-must-reads1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3000 og:image:height: 1688 og:image:alt: Morning Must Reads og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: The Final Twist in the FBI Story twitter:description: Just before Election Day, FBI Director James Comey issued a letter saying the re-opened email investigation was closed with no charges. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb24c27fcf0ec0da8/6986837dcd6848a30809364f/morning-must-reads1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # The Final Twist in the FBI Story > Sponsored content. 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Brief is TIME's Washington newsletter, written by senior correspondent Philip Elliott. It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. It reaches 85,000 subscribers with a 37.0% open rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ## Video: This Video Is No Longer Available [Watch (HLS stream): This Video Is No Longer Available](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/fKodeUO6.m3u8) (0:10)  _Published 2026-06-23. Morning Must Reads: November 7_ by [Zeke Miller](https://time.com/author/zeke-j-miller/) ## Zeke Miller Nov 7, 2016 3:24 PM UTC by [Zeke Miller](https://time.com/author/zeke-j-miller/) ## Zeke Miller Nov 7, 2016 3:24 PM UTC **_If you only read one thing:_** _Barely 48 hours before polls close, FBI Director James Comey offered another bombshell Sunday in the form of a letter revealing that the bureau’s 9-day re-opening of its investigation into Hillary Clinton’s private email server had been closed with no change to its recommendation against criminal charges. It marked the latest wild turn in this unconventional campaign as Republicans cried foul at Comey once again. Just days after praising the FBI Director, Trump, who doesn’t use a computer, was back to accusing him of rigging the system for Clinton, questioning how the bureau could review 650,000 emails in such a short time. (Control+F?) Democrats just hoped the issue would just go away. But the damage to Clinton may have already been done, with more than 20 million votes cast over the time of the FBI review._ In the final hours, Clinton and her team of surrogates are deploying to drive up turnout among African-American voters, who are less enthusiastic this cycle with President Obama off the ballot, while focusing on states that have fewer early voters. “We’re going where the votes are,” one Clinton aide said. Trump, meanwhile, is adopting a more scattershot approach to a flurry of swing- and Democratic-leaning states as he looks to find an elusive path to 270 Electoral Votes. Both campaigns have released their closing arguments in the form of two-minute television ads, and the flurry of advertising spending in the final week is set to enter the nine-figures. Clinton’s team is growing confident that they have this thing locked up, while Trump’s campaign is touting intangible “momentum” as a sign in his favor. But the Comey letter let some of the air out of that balloon, and early vote numbers from over the weekend show weakness for his campaign in must-win states like Florida. The future of the religious right. The Granite State’s moment. And Trump and Clinton nerves. _Here are your must reads:_ **Must Reads** [The FBI Just Absolved Hillary Clinton. But That Doesn’t Undo the Damage ](http://time.com/4560091/hillary-clinton-fbi-no-change/)Many have already voted, and Trump’s supporters are unlikely to be swayed \[TIME\] [Why New Hampshire Could Decide This Election ](http://time.com/4560184/donald-trump-new-hampshire-270/)Without the state, it’s almost impossible for Trump to reach 270 electoral votes \[TIME\] [The Religious Right Starts to Look Past Election Day ](http://time.com/4560074/religious-right-donald-trump-election/)Rallying behind Trump, but looking for what’s next \[TIME\] [The Election Will Still Go on, Even if Hackers Attack ](http://time.com/4559968/election-hackers-security-infrastructure/)No matter what, the final vote will be legitimate, officials stress \[TIME\] [Inside Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump’s Final Dash ](http://time.com/4559784/hillary-clinton-donald-trump-final-days/)Two different strategies for the last days \[TIME\] [Nervous Clouds Hang Over Last Days of Hillary Clinton Rallies ](http://time.com/4560323/hillary-clinton-final-days-rallies/)Clinton supporters worried at the close \[TIME\] [Inside Donald Trump’s Last Stand ](http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/07/us/politics/donald-trump-presidential-race.html?%5Fr=0)An Anxious Nominee Seeks Assurance \[New York Times\] **Sound Off** “You can’t review 650,000 new emails in eight days. You can’t do it, folks.” — Donald Trump said Sunday night in Sterling Heights, Mich. “We’re glad this issue is resolved but for the record, this could easily have been learned before 1st letter was sent.” — Clinton spokesman Brian Fallon in a tweet **Bits and Bites** [Donald Trump Doubts the FBI Reviewed all of Hillary Clinton’s Emails](http://time.com/4560143/donald-trump-hillary-clinton-fbi-email-investigation/) \[TIME\] [Hillary Clinton’s Coattails Don’t Stretch Far in New Hampshire](http://time.com/4560115/hillary-clinton-new-hampshire-maggie-hassan-kelly-ayotte/) \[TIME\] [Donald Trump: Minnesota Has ‘Suffered Enough’ Accepting Refugees](http://time.com/4560078/donald-trump-minnesota-somali-refugees/) \[TIME\] [Donald Trump Rushed Off Stage by Secret Service at Rally](http://time.com/4559774/donlad-trump-secret-service-rushed-offstage/) \[TIME\] [Donald Trump Makes Closing Argument to Voters in New Ad](http://time.com/4559597/donald-trump-closing-argument-campaign-ad/) \[TIME\] [Hillary Clinton Features Katy Perry’s ‘Roar’ in Battleground Campaign Ad](http://time.com/4559589/hillary-clinton-katy-perry-roar-campaign-ad/) \[TIME\] [Beyoncé and Jay Z Headline Rally for Hillary Clinton in Ohio](http://time.com/4559543/hillary-clinton-rally-beyonce-jay-z/) \[TIME\] [Melania Trump Modeled in U.S. Prior to Getting Work Visa](http://time.com/4559559/melania-trump-model-us-work-visa/) \[Associated Press\] [Watch President Obama Defend a Protester at His North Carolina Rally](http://time.com/4559072/barack-obama-north-carolina-rally-heckler-video/) \[TIME\] [Election 2016: States Where Marijuana Is on the Ballot](http://time.com/4557417/election-2016-marijuana-pot-legal-ballot/) \[TIME\] [Chelsea’s husband allegedly used foundation ties to boost hedge fund](http://www.politico.com/story/2016/11/chelsea-clinton-foundation-marc-husband-230859) \[Politico\] [How the Harry Reid Machine May Have Killed Trump’s Chances](http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2016/11/election-2016-nevada-harry-reid-clinton-trump-early-vote-latinos-214426) \[Politico\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4560434/the-final-twist-in-the-fbi-story/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4560434/the-final-twist-in-the-fbi-story/"},"headline":"The Final Twist in the FBI Story","datePublished":"2016-11-07T15:24:10.000Z","dateModified":"2026-06-24T06:57:00.995Z","description":"Morning Must Reads: November 7","url":"https://time.com/4560434/the-final-twist-in-the-fbi-story/","keywords":["Morning Must Reads"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb24c27fcf0ec0da8/6986837dcd6848a30809364f/morning-must-reads1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Zeke Miller","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/zeke-j-miller/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb24c27fcf0ec0da8/6986837dcd6848a30809364f/morning-must-reads1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Morning Must Reads","caption":"Capitol","creditText":"Mark Wilson—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4560434/the-final-twist-in-the-fbi-story/","name":"The Final Twist in the FBI Story"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"This Video Is No Longer Available","description":"Morning Must Reads: November 7","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/fKodeUO6/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2026-06-23T15:00:44.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/fKodeUO6.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4560434/the-final-twist-in-the-fbi-story/","duration":"PT10S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4560434/the-final-twist-in-the-fbi-story/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```