Poll: Clinton’s lead unchanged after FBI letter

Hillary Clinton’s lead over Donald Trump in the presidential race has held steady since the FBI announced a new review of emails related to her email server, according to a NBC/Survey Monkey poll released Monday.

Clinton scored 47 percent in the poll, compared with 41 percent for Trump. Those numbers held steady over the weekend, when the survey asked questions related to the FBI letter, NBC said.

{mosads}FBI Director James Comey has come under criticism for sending a letter to lawmakers on Friday informing them that the bureau recently found emails potentially related to the Clinton server investigation. Those emails were reportedly found in a separate investigation of former Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-NY). 

It remains to be seen whether the FBI’s move will influence the outcome of the presidential race.

While the NBC/Survey Monkey poll finds virtually no change, a Washington Post-ABC News tracking poll over the weekend found Clinton ahead by only 1 point when third-party candidates were included.

A Reuters/Ipsos tracking poll on Monday found a slight dip for Clinton in the aftermath of the FBI letter, with her lead over Trump falling from 6 points to 5 points.

Most Americans in the NBC poll, 55 percent, said the FBI’s letter is an important campaign issue, while 44 percent said it was a distraction.

Among independents, 68 percent said the FBI letter was an important issue to the campaign, and 31 percent said it was a distraction. While 93 percent of Republicans said the letter was important, 83 percent of Democrats said it was a distraction. 

The survey was conducted online Oct. 24–30, polling 40,816 likely voters. It had a margin of error of 1 percentage point.

Updated at 5:20 p.m.