US election: Trump gambles on four Hillary strongholds

Donald Trump will gamble his bid for the presidency on a high-risk tour of Hillary Clinton strongholds.

‘There is no case here’: Hillary Clinton lifts the mask on her campaign plane at Erlanger, Kentucky.

Re-energised Republican nominee Donald Trump will gamble his bid for the presidency on a high-risk tour of Hillary Clinton strongholds in the final week of the US election campaign in the belief the FBI email scandal may trigger a come-from-behind victory.

With polls across the country narrowing, the Trump campaign has thrown caution to the wind to try to win four states that could ­potentially deliver him the White House.

The move came as Mrs Clinton stepped up her attack on FBI ­director James Comey, declaring she had “no case to answer” after he rocked her campaign by ­reopening the FBI’s probe into her use of a private email server while secretary of state.

The pressure on the FBI chief grew yesterday when former ­Republican attorney-general ­Alberto Gonzales said Mr Comey had made an “error in judgment” in reopening the case so close to next Tuesday’s election.

“I worry that, in this particular instance, he has made an error in judgment in releasing this letter which really says nothing,” said Mr Gonzales, who served in the George W. Bush administration.

A group of 50 former US state and federal attorneys-general have signing a letter critical of Mr Comey’s decision.

Mr Trump urged Mr Comey to “hang tough” in the face of the criticism, saying he had done the brave and right thing in reopening the FBI probe.

“I have to give the FBI credit, that was so bad what happened and it took guts for director Comey to make the move he made. It took a lot of guts,” Mr Trump said.

“I was not his fan, but I’ll tell you what, what he did, he brought back his reputation.

“We can be sure that what is in those emails is absolutely devastating and I think we’re going to find out.”

It appears unlikely the FBI will have even an interim finding available before the election, leaving Americans to vote without knowing whether the new investigation will uncover criminal or unethical behaviour.

Mr Comey has remained silent since he wrote to congress last week saying he believed he had no choice but to reopen the probe after a large cache of relevant email were discovered in an unrelated investigation of Anthony Weiner, the estranged husband of top Clinton aide Huma Abedin.

With the polls already eroding Mrs Clinton’s once comfortable lead before the FBI announcement, Mr Trump moved to capitalise on the momentum by launching a sweep of four states that only a week ago were considered won by Mrs Clinton.

Yesterday Mr Trump visited Michigan, a state worth 16 electoral college votes that has not voted Republican since 1988 and where the average RealClearPolitics poll still has Mrs Clinton leading by ­between six and seven percentage points.

Today Mr Trump will visit Wisconsin, worth 10 electoral college votes, where Mrs Clinton has a five to seven-point lead, and the industrial state of Pennsylvania, worth 20 electoral college votes, where the Democrat holds a five-point lead.

Later this week Mr Trump will do a multiple-stop tour of Florida, worth 29 electoral votes, with polls showing he now has a narrow half of a point lead after trailing Mrs Clinton by about five points only a week ago.

Mr Comey’s critics appear to be divided between those who believe he should not have reopened the investigation so close to the election and those who believe he should have done so only after first examining the nature of the emails and then giving a clear time frame for a resolution.

In July the FBI chief cleared Mrs Clinton of criminal behaviour, saying there was no evidence she had illegal sent classified data on her server.

Mrs Clinton yesterday defended her actions in a rally in Ohio.

“I’m sure a lot of you may be asking what this new email story is about and why in the world the FBI would decide to jump into an election with no evidence of any wrongdoing with just days to go. That’s a good question,” she said.

“First of all, for those of you who are concerned about my using personal email, I understand and as I’ve said, I’m not making ­excuses. I said it was a mistake and I regret it and now they apparently want to look at emails of one of my staffers and by all means, they should look at them.

“And I am sure they will reach the same conclusion they did when they looked at my emails for the last year. There is no case here.

“And they said it wasn’t even a close call and I think most people have decided a long time ago what they think about all of this. Now what people are focused on is choosing the next president and commander-in-chief of the United States of America.”