But the damage seems to have been done and the FBI’s action has had a decisive impact on Hillary Clinton’s ratings. Clinton has however rubbished the claim and said, “There is no case here.” The Clinton camp says that these are not fresh e mails but are the same that were investigated earlier and the case closed in June 2016. In his defence, FBI director James Comey claims that the agency had discovered additional e mails on a computer that was seized in an unrelated probe involving Huma Abedin’s husband Anthony Weiner. This act of the FBI less than one week before Election Day is no doubt debatable and supporters of Hillary Clinton have accused the agency of meddling in politics in an attempt to facilitate a certain outcome on November 8. Whatever gains she had garnered due to her performance in the three presidential debates have been negated by re opening of the FBI investigation into her handling of classified information while she was Secretary of State. This has put both candidates under a very adverse spotlight, more so Hillary Clinton, who has come under severe pressure as no other politician has undergone the kind of scrutiny that she has been subjected to. Whatever the outcome on November 8, it is a very closely contested battle for the White House in what has so far been one of the most divisive and turbulent presidential campaigns in US history. But according to the same poll, there is some uncertainty in the eventual outcome as a combined 12 percent of likely voters say they will cast their ballots for Libertarian Gary Johnson (8 percent) or Green Party nominee Jill Stein (4 percent), neither of whom will win a single state but would have succeeded in diverting precious votes away from the main contest. But on November 6, the last POLITICO/Morning Consult poll before the November 8 election has given Hillary Clinton a very slender lead of 45% to Trump’s 42%. An ABC/ Washington Post poll on November 1 gave Trump a 1% lead over Clinton and an 8-point lead over her on the issue of trustworthiness.
As the race to the White House enters its final day, attention gets re-focused on polls that have tightened and predict a very close race.