US Republicans are seizing on the FBI's revived scrutiny of Hillary Clinton's handling of government emails, hoping it will hurt not just her presidential hopes but Democrats' chances of regaining one or both chambers of Congress in next week's election.
Republican lawmakers are threatening to investigate Mrs Clinton from her first day in office if the Democrat is elected president on 8 November, following the FBI's move to review newly discovered emails that might pertain to a previously completed investigation into Clinton's use of a private server while she was secretary of state.
After FBI Director James Comey's announcement last Friday of the latest review, which indicated no wrongdoing on Mrs Clinton's part, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump and other Republicans have hammered Mrs Clinton as scandal-prone, seeking to renew questions about her integrity.
A Clinton presidency would bog down in "scandal baggage", US House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan said today, adding he was focused on defending Republican majorities in Congress in the election.
"This is what life with the Clintons looks like. It's always a scandal one after another, then there's an investigation," Mr Ryan, the most senior elected Republican, told Fox News in an interview. "You never know what's coming next."
Saying that Mrs Clinton would take office "with her scandal baggage," Mr Ryan added: "I don't think that's what the American people want to see."
Mrs Clinton has said she is confident the FBI will not find anything problematic and will reach the same conclusion it did in July when it found no grounds for charges from her use of a private email server.
Opinion polls show Mrs Clinton maintaining her lead over Mr Trump,although her advantage has narrowed slightly since early last week. The effect of Mr Comey's news on voters' support is not yet clear.
The University of Virginia's Center for Politics said this week that several key states, including Arizona, Florida and Ohio, were now considered "toss up," having earlier been classified as leaning Democratic, saying the races had been tightening regardless of any "Comey Effect."
"If Comey's decision results in Republicans holding onto the Senate and losing fewer House seats because he has invigorated their 'checks and balances' argument, we will also attribute this to the Comey Effect," the center's Larry Sabato and his colleagues wrote.
However, Mr Trump edged ahead of Mrs Clinton by a point for the first time since May, according to an ABC News/Washington Post tracking poll.
The poll also registered a seven point decline for Mrs Clinton in the share of likely voters who are strongly enthusiastic about her.
Pollster Gary Langer said it is a possible reflection of the renewed controversy over her use of a private server while secretary of state.
Mr Trump's 46-45% lead in the four-way race for the White House, while well within the margin of error, is the first time he has polled ahead of Mrs Clinton in the survey since May.
The new poll was taken from 27-30 October, a period that includes FBI director James Comey's announcement on 28 October that his agents had found a new trove of emails that may be pertinent to an earlier probe into Mrs Clinton's handling of classified information.
The results flip 46-45% in the Democrat's favour when combining the last seven days, Mr Langer said.
"Either way the results are exceedingly close," he said.
Mr Ryan maintained the arms-length posture toward Mr Trump that he adopted after a 2005 video emerged last month in which the New York businessman was heard boasting about groping women.
The Wisconsin Republican said he voted for Mr Trump in early voting last week, but that his position had not changed and thathe had no plans to campaign with his party's nominee, instead focusing on maintaining Republicans' control of the House.
"My focus personally right now is saving our House majority.I'm going to Indiana, Michigan, New York and Virginia today to fight for House Republicans," Mr Ryan told Fox.
While Republicans appear poised to keep control of the House, the race for the Senate remains evenly matched, according to an average of polls by Real Clear Politics.
Some conservative members of the Republican caucus in the House, unhappy with Ryan's treatment of Trump and his handling of other issues on Capitol Hill, have questioned whether he should continue as speaker after the election.
"We're all focused on beating Democrats on November 8. All the rest of this stuff will sort itself out," Mr Ryan told Fox News."I'm very confident where I stand with our members."
Republican US Senator John Cornyn called for Attorney General Loretta Lynch, a Barack Obama appointee, to intervene over the Clinton email probe.
"AG Lynch has authority to unravel Clinton email mess by appointing a special counsel who can convene an impartial grand jury," Mr Cornyn wrote on Twitter.
Such a move would all but guarantee that controversy over Mrs Clinton's emails would simmer into 2017 and perhaps beyond, potentially tying up her agenda if she were elected to the White House.
Some Republican senators have already also vowed to block any hearing on Clinton's potential Supreme Court justice nominees to fill the court's current vacancy.
Republican House Oversight Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz told the Washington Post last week he had years' worth of potential material that could be used to investigate Mrs Clinton.
California Republican Darrell Issa, a House Judiciary Committee member, told Fox Business Network late yesterday: "I suspect there will be more hearings" following the latest email probe.
We need your consent to load this rte-player contentWe use rte-player to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content.Manage Preferences
