Trump unleashes attack ad tying Clinton to Weiner

Seeking to keep the pressure on Hillary Clinton, Donald Trump’s campaign unveiled a new campaign ad that argues the emails found on the laptop of her top aide’s estranged husband, Anthony Weiner, make her “unfit” to serve as president.

“Decades of lies, coverups and scandal have finally caught up with Hillary Clinton,” intones a voiceover at the beginning of the 30-second spot released Thursday. “Hillary Clinton is under FBI investigation again after her emails were found on pervert Anthony Weiner’s laptop.”

Last week, FBI Director James Comey sent a letter to Congress announcing a review of new emails discovered on a laptop belonging to Weiner — the estranged husband of longtime Clinton aide Huma Abedin — during the bureau’s investigation into his alleged sexting with a 15-year-old girl. In his letter, Comey said the emails appear to be “pertinent” to the bureau’s now closed investigation into Clinton’s use of a private email server as secretary of state.

But it’s unclear whether any of those emails were sent by Clinton or if they were new or duplicates of the tens of thousands already reviewed by the FBI. Yahoo News reported on Saturday that FBI agents had not been able to review any of the newly discovered material because the bureau had not yet gotten a search warrant to read them. (The FBI obtained the warrant on Sunday.) And, as the Clinton campaign has noted, Comey’s letter does not constitute a reopening of the case.

“Think about that,” the ad continues. “America’s most sensitive secrets, unlawfully sent, received and exposed by her staff and Anthony Weiner.”

In July, Comey concluded that while Clinton and her State Department colleagues were “extremely careless” in the handling of classified information, he could not find evidence they had broken any laws.

“Hillary cannot lead a nation while crippled by a criminal investigation,” the ad concludes. “Hillary Clinton: Unfit to Serve.”

Related: Comey letter receives surprise criticism from GOP

Comey’s letter has been criticized by a broad spectrum of politicians on Capitol Hill — including several top Republicans.

President Obama hinted at his own displeasure with Comey, saying, “We don’t operate on innuendo, and we don’t operate on incomplete information.”

And the Clinton campaign blasted the director’s decision as “strange” and “unprecedented.”

“As far as we know now, Director Comey knows nothing about the content of these emails,” Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine, Clinton’s running mate, said on ABC’s “This Week With George Stephanopoulos.” “Why would you release information that is so incomplete when you haven’t even seen the material yourself? Eleven days before an election — why would you talk about an ongoing investigation? I just have no way of understanding these actions. They’re completely unprecedented.”

Earlier this week, Trump thanked Weiner for inadvertently exposing the undiscovered emails — and putting Clinton on the defensive.

“We never thought we were going to say thank you to Anthony Weiner,” Trump said at a rally in Las Vegas on Monday.

The Republican nominee also accused Clinton of covering up a crime.

“Her criminal action was willful, deliberate, intentional and purposeful,” he said.

By Thursday, Trump had upped the rhetorical ante, citing a report by Fox News’ Brett Baier claiming the FBI’s year-long investigation investigation into the Clinton Foundation would “likely” lead to an indictment.

“There is an avalanche of new information coming in every day,” Trump said at a rally in Jacksonville, Fla., quoting an unnamed source from Baier’s report. “FBI agents say their investigation is likely to yield an indictment.”

But Baier had already walked back his statement about the likelihood of an indictment, saying he had been “inartful” in his characterization.