(CNN) FBI Director James Comey told lawmakers Sunday the agency hasn't changed its opinion that Hillary Clinton should not face criminal charges after a review of new emails. 
 
 "Based on our review, we have not changed our conclusions that we expressed in July," Comey wrote in the new letter to congressional committee chairmen. 
 
 Comey dropped a bombshell on the presidential race last month when he sent a letter to Congress saying the FBI had discovered emails in a separate investigation that could be connected to the now-closed probe of whether Clinton mishandled classified information. The move infuriated Democrats and emboldened Republican nominee Donald Trump. 
 
 It's impossible to know before results are tallied what impact Comey's actions -- first raising a vaguely worded red flag 11 days out, and then lowering it two days from the election -- will have on the contest. But the news could help Clinton put to rest a controversy that has dogged her in the 2016 race's closing days, helping Trump narrow a polling gap nationally and in key battleground states. 
 
 Trump assailed the FBI's handling of the matter, though he did not directly address Comey's announcement at a rally in Sterling Heights, Michigan. 
 
 "You can't review 650,000 new emails in eight days. You can't do it, folks," Trump said, adding, "Hillary Clinton is guilty. She knows it, the FBI knows it, the people know it, and now it's up to the American people to deliver justice at the ballot box on November 8." 
 
 JUST WATCHED Cooper to Conway: Fine to speculate without facts? Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Cooper to Conway: Fine to speculate without facts? 02:17 
 
 Dianne Feinstein, the top Democrat on the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, blasted Comey's handling of the review. 
 
 "Today's letter makes Director Comey's actions nine days ago even more troubling," Feinstein said in a statement. "There's no doubt that it created a false impression about the nature of the agency's inquiry." 
 
 She added: "The Justice Department needs to take a look at its procedures to prevent similar actions that could influence future elections." 
 
 JUST WATCHED Franken: Comey should answer Congress' questions Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Franken: Comey should answer Congress' questions 02:40 
 
 'As fast as we could' 
 
 Comey's letter was the culmination of a fast-paced review of the newly discovered email, law enforcement sources said Sunday. 
 
 "We went through this as fast as we could," a senior law enforcement official told CNN, with another law enforcement official saying investigators worked "around the clock" to review the large volume of emails. 
 
 The FBI found the new emails as part of its separate investigation into a sexting incident by Anthony Weiner, the estranged husband of top Clinton aide Huma Abedin. 
 
 The thousands of new emails were mostly personal and duplicates of what had already been seen, law enforcement officials said in explaining how the conclusion was reached so quickly. The laptop which was found was about a decade old with lots of personal content on it not relevant to the investigation, according to one source. 
 
 The probe is considered over with regard to Clinton. Though with not all the deleted emails recovered and not all the devices in FBI's possession, it is always possible something else could turn up that would require more review. 
 
 There were some classified emails found, but law enforcement officials stressed the issue is not the classified information so much as proving intent. The sources would not specify if the the classified messages were new or duplicates of ones already reviewed, nor would would officials say how many there were and what levels at which they were classified. 
 
 "Keep in mind we are focused on intent," the official said. "We know there are classified materials, but that doesn't change the conclusion reached back in July." 
 
 As for others who were part of the probe, including Abedin, the FBI is still working on some remaining aspects of the review, including determining how the emails ended up on the laptop in the first place. Abedin's attorneys have said she doesn't know why these emails were there because this wasn't a computer she used. 
 
 JUST WATCHED Who is Huma Abedin? Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Who is Huma Abedin? 03:25 
 
 The expectation remains that investigators will have to talk to Abedin again. 
 
 It isn't uncommon to come across new evidence after concluding a probe -- which is what happened here in October. Normally, investigators take a look to see if anything changes in their conclusions and it's not a controversial issue. This case isn't a normal case, given the election and the stakes. 
 
 DOJ informed of decision 
 
 Comey sent the letter as soon as possible, the senior law enforcement official said. He was "very careful" about how the letter was crafted given the sensitivities. 
 
 Attorney General Loretta Lynch was informed ahead of time that the FBI director was sending the updated letter to Congress informing them of that there would be no change in the FBI stance on Hillary Clinton, a Justice official told CNN on Sunday. 
 
 Lynch and Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates disagreed with Comey's earlier decision to notify Congress. The attorney general backed Comey's move Sunday. 
 
 "Everyone is on the same page," the source said. 
 
 Since there is no change to the original findings, the Justice Department has no need to weigh in further, the official said. 
 
 "The Department of Justice and the FBI dedicated all necessary resources to conduct this review expeditiously," the Justice Department said in a brief statement released Sunday afternoon. 
 
 Campaigns weigh in 
 
 Clinton spokesman Brian Fallon said her campaign is validated in its belief that nothing would change. 
 
 We were always confident nothing would cause the July decision to be revisited. Now Director Comey has confirmed ithttps://t.co/BMQQx9eRzw — Brian Fallon (@brianefallon) November 6, 2016 
 
 "We were always confident nothing would cause the July decision to be revisited. Now Director Comey has confirmed it," he tweeted. 
 
 The Trump campaign quickly slammed Comey. 
 
 "We thought that Director Comey and the FBI were wrong when they made their initial recommendation in July, and we think that they're wrong now," Trump spokesman Jason Miller told CNN's Wolf Blitzer on "The Situation Room." 
 
 GOP vice presidential nominee Mike Pence sought to keep the pressure on Clinton. 
 
 "Mishandling classified information is a crime," he said at a rally in an airport hanger in Hickory, North Carolina. "Hillary Clinton said that she never sent or received any classified information and the director of the FBI told the Congress classified information was sent." 
 
 In Michigan, Trump called Clinton "the most corrupt person ever to seek the office of the presidency of the United States." 
 
 But the Republican nominee, who has expressed hope in the last week that the FBI's review of new emails might yield an indictment, emphasized to his supporters Sunday that Clinton is "protected" by powerful forces. 
 
 "Well, you have to understand it's a rigged system and she's protected," Trump said in Minnesota, though he offered no evidence to back up his theory. 
 
 'It opened a wound' 
 
 A senior Democrat close to Clinton's campaign told CNN that "it's impossible to fully undo the damage of the last nine days." 
 
 Internal campaign polling, the source said, found that some independents and Republican women fled Clinton after the original Comey announcement, robbing her of a constituency that she'd hoped would turn her contest with Trump into a blowout. 
 
 "It opened a wound that cannot be quickly healed," the Democrat said. 
 
 However, the Democrat called it a relief that the "matter is resolved" and said Clinton's campaign plans to "make everyone know about" Comey's Sunday letter. 
 
 Comey's last-minute announcement gives Clinton an opportunity for an I-told-you-so moment. 
 
 "We have seen Director Comey's latest letter to the Hill," said Jennifer Palmieri, Clinton's communications director, speaking with reporters after the news broke. "We are glad to see that he has found, as we were confident that he would, that he had confirmed the conclusions he reached in July and we are glad that this matter is resolved." 
 
 Trump and his allies have seized on that announcement, using it to claim Clinton was likely to face criminal charges. 
 
 "If she were to win, it would create an unprecedented constitutional crisis," Trump claimed Saturday night in Reno, Nevada. "In that situation we could very well have a sitting president under felony indictment and ultimately a criminal trial. It would grind government to a halt." 
 
 Political benefit 
 
 The political benefit for Trump has been that Republicans who'd been skeptical of their party's nominee have largely followed vice presidential nominee Mike Pence's calls to "come home" to the party -- finding Trump less objectionable than Clinton. 
 
 It's not just Trump's campaign that seized on Comey's actions. Down-ballot Republicans -- particularly Senate candidates who had been forced to answer for Trump's statements for months -- used the moment to change the topic, shifting to the more comfortable ground of attacking Clinton. 
 
 The last-minute Sunday move from Comey could also provide new fuel for Trump's claims of a "rigged" system -- allowing him to cast the FBI director's intervention in the presidential election in a new light. 
 
 Comey and the FBI went from Trump's scapegoat to the Republican nominee's hero, with Trump claiming Comey had redeemed himself just in time. 
 
 Newt Gingrich, a top Trump ally, tweeted "Comey must be under enormous political pressure to cave like this." 
 
 Comey must be under enormous political pressure to cave like this and announce something he cant possibly know. — Newt Gingrich (@newtgingrich) November 6, 2016 
 
 Dems, GOP react 
 
 House Speaker Paul Ryan dismissed the significance of Comey's latest letter. 
 
 "Regardless of this decision, the undisputed finding of the FBI's investigation is that Secretary Clinton put our nation's secrets at risk and in doing so compromised our national security," Ryan said in a statement. "Fortunately, the American people have the opportunity to ensure Secretary Clinton never gets her hands on classified information again." 
 
 Capitol Hill Democrats praised Comey's decision to release more information. 
 
 "While the original letter should never have been sent so close to an election, the expeditious review of these emails should put to rest -- once and for all -- the irresponsible speculation indulged in by the Trump campaign and others," Rep. Adam Schiff, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee said. "Voters can now make their decision based on the merits, and that decision should be simple: it is the choice between a woman superbly qualified to be commander in chief, and a man patently unfit for office." 
 
 Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus issued a statement saying, "None of this changes the fact that the FBI continues to investigate the Clinton Foundation for corruption involving her tenure as secretary of state. Hillary Clinton should never be president." ||||| Please share and comment. Right after the news that FBI director James Comey was reopening the case into Hillary Clinton's email server, Rush Limbaugh speculated that it was all a distraction to take away focus from the Wikileaks and that Comey would clear Hillary Clinton. After today's revelation that theory seemed to have proven true Mediate.com reported: Responding to the news Friday that the FBI was rekindling its investigation into Clinton’s emails, Rush Limbaugh speculated that the bureau was simply trying to redirect voters’ attention away from Wikileaks’ ongoing release of emails hacked from Clinton campaign manager John Podesta. FBI Director James Comey “is going to make everybody think for the next three or four days that there’s really something to be forthcoming here,” Limbaugh said. Limbaugh said that the revelations in the Wikileaks material were “starting to hurt” the Clintons and that the renewed interest in an FBI investigation into her private email server would be a fruitless distraction. The radio host likened Comey to the “Lone Ranger,” riding to the Clinton campaign’s rescue. He added that Comey was “still carrying water for Clinton and is trying to get everybody to stop paying attentions to the Wikileaks dump.” Read more @ (Link: www.mediaite.com) After today's revelation it would appear that Rush may have been correct. Please Share and Comment ||||| (CNN) Hillary Clinton on Saturday questioned FBI Director James Comey's decision to write to congressional leaders about emails uncovered in the bureau's probe into Anthony Weiner, saying the timing of such a move was "unprecedented" and "deeply troubling." 
 
 "It's pretty strange to put something like that out with such little information right before an election," Clinton told supporters in Daytona Beach, Florida, where the crowd booed at the mention of Comey's letter. "In fact, it's not just strange, it's unprecedented and it's deeply troubling because voters deserve to get full and complete facts." 
 
 Clinton called on Comey to swiftly release more information, saying he must "explain everything right away, put it all right on the table." 
 
 Clinton also swiped at Republican rival Donald Trump, saying he's "doing his best to confuse, mislead and discourage the American people" over the issue. 
 
 "Of course, Donald Trump is already making up lies about this," Clinton said. 
 
 The Democratic nominee's comments here marked an escalation in the Clinton campaign's full-out war against Comey in the final 10 days of the election. 
 
 Earlier in the day, just hours after Comey made the stunning announcement on Friday that the FBI is examining newly unveiled emails that appear to be "pertinent" to the now-closed investigation into Clinton's private server, top campaign officials unleashed a blistering attack on the FBI director, accusing him of being irresponsibly "light on facts" and "heavy on innuendo." 
 
 On a conference call with reporters, Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta accused Comey of failing to be "forthcoming with the facts." Podesta blasted both the timing and contents of the letter Comey sent to congressional leaders on Friday, summing the director's actions as "providing selective information." 
 
 Campaign manager Robby Mook echoed Podesta's call for more information from Comey and suggested that the FBI has now waded into political territory. 
 
 "The Justice Department's longstanding practice is: Don't do anything seen as trying to influence an election," Mook said. "It's completely unfair to Secretary Clinton and it's really unfair to the voters." 
 
 'Hillary's not going to be distracted' 
 
 The sharp criticism marked an extraordinary rebuke of the head of an agency historically known for its political independence. And it guarantees that Comey -- already a polarizing presence for his role in probing Clinton's email use as secretary of state -- will be a central political figure in the election's final days. 
 
 As Clinton prepared to fly to Florida for a two-day swing through the battleground state, Podesta was defiant: "We're not going to be distracted and Hillary's not going to be distracted in the final days of this election over nothing." 
 
 Both Podesta and Mook emphasized the possibility that the emails that the FBI is now examining -- uncovered as part of the bureau's investigation into Clinton aide Huma Abedin's estranged husband, Anthony Weiner -- may not reveal new information. 
 
 "Reports indicate that many of these emails are likely to be duplicates," Podesta said. "It's in fact entirely possible all the emails in question are just that -- duplicates." 
 
 Donald Trump continued to trumpet the news at a campaign stop in Golden, Colorado, Saturday afternoon, wondering if Clinton would keep Abedin as an adviser. 
 
 "Huma's been a problem," Trump said. "I wonder if Huma's going to stay there. I hope they haven't given Huma immunity because it seemed that everybody that walked down the sidewalk got immunity. She knows the real story. She knows what's going on." 
 
 Abedin, one of Clinton's closest confidantes, regularly travels with Clinton and was with the candidate on Friday when the FBI news broke. However, Abedin was notably absent on Saturday as Clinton traveled to Florida. 
 
 Comey was sworn in as FBI director in 2013 for a 10-year term. That means if Clinton were to win in November, Comey would serve under her administration unless she chose to remove him. 
 
 A Clinton aide later said Saturday that Clinton took the FBI news "like a champ." The aide added that Clinton and her top aides were well aware that the last two weeks of the campaign would not be entirely smooth and that Clinton's reaction reflected that. 
 
 "She is in a good state of mind," the aide added. 
 
 Sudden turn 
 
 The new attacks on Comey are a sudden turn for Clinton's campaign, which sang the FBI director's praises for his initial findings in the Clinton email case. 
 
 Clinton aides, in conversations with reporters and in statements, highlighted the fact that Comey was a Republican known for his fierce independence, touting him -- and his investigators -- as career professionals. Surrogates were told to highlight Comey's testimony to Congress and note his political affiliation and track record. 
 
 In an interview on CNN's "Situation Room" in July, Clinton press secretary Brian Fallon went after Republicans for criticizing Comey after the FBI concluded it would not press criminal charges against Clinton. 
 
 "It seems they were disappointed with the outcome of the FBI investigation so they decided to put the director in a hot seat and second-guess his decision," Fallon said at the time. "I think it is a bad look for House Republicans to be second-guessing a career prosecutor who is a registered Republican, No. 2 official at the Justice Department under George Bush and was even deputy council on the committee investigating the Clintons in the 1990s." 
 
 On Sunday, Fallon said the issues that the Clinton campaign is now raising are different from attempts by Republicans to smear the bureau as "corrupt" and "engaging in a nonexistent conspiracy." 
 
 "We are taking issue with a decision to publicly surface FBI activities on the eve of an election, which is an undisputed violation of protocol that both the current Attorney General and Republicans like George Terwilliger have acknowledged," Fallon said. 
 
 Nevertheless, the Clinton campaign now finds itself voicing similar concerns as some Republicans when it comes to the FBI's handling of emails uncovered in its Weiner investigation. 
 
 Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, an outspoken Trump supporter, wrote on Twitter Saturday: "If there are really more than 10,000 emails in the weiner-Abedin computer the FBI should release all Monday. Americans have a right to know," he wrote. 
 
 Gingrich added: "We should not be forced to vote with ten thousand or more emails still hidden by the FBI. John Podesta and Hillary Clinton are right."
– Just as quickly as the bombshell was dropped, it disappeared: FBI Director James Comey said in a letter Sunday to the top Republicans on the House Oversight Committee that after reviewing newly discovered Hillary Clinton emails, the bureau still believes there's no reason for Clinton to be criminally charged. "Based on our review, we have not changed our conclusions that we expressed in July," the letter reads, per CNN. Clinton spokesperson Brian Fallon tweeted in response: "We were always confident nothing would cause the July decision to be revisited. Now Director Comey has confirmed it." Twitter went nuts after the news broke; Mediaite and the Raw Story have a sampling of the reaction, much of it backlash against Comey and the FBI. Newt Gingrich tweeted, "Comey must be under enormous political pressure to cave like this and announce something he cant possibly know." Mediaite notes that when news of the review of the new emails was first announced, Rush Limbaugh had speculated the announcement was just a stunt to distract everyone from the WikiLeaks release of John Podesta's emails. "[Comey] is going to make everybody think for the next three or four days that there’s really something to be forthcoming here," Limbaugh said, only for nothing to ultimately come of it. At least one blog says Sunday's letter proves Limbaugh correct.