| This is great news for down-ballot Republicans Cue happy photo of House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) (Gary Cameron/Reuters) At a time when things really haven't been going their way, no less. Here are three reasons: 1) House and Senate Republicans have spent this whole campaign on the hook for their nominee. But now they can say that at least Donald Trump hasn't been caught up in FBI investigations twice now in an election year. 2) It doesn't help Democrats that these emails were uncovered in relation to Weiner, which broadens the story to a wider audience by making it more surreal and, frankly, just plain odd. 3) Even if this comes to nothing and Clinton is elected president Nov. 8, Hill Republicans plan to use the mere existence of Friday's bombshell to legitimize their own planned “years"-long investigations into Clinton's emails in the next Congress. What's the Clinton camp saying about all this? Robby Mook, campaign manager for Hillary Clinton, talks to the media, Friday, in a campaign plane. (Melina Mara/The Washington Post) Well, they're not happy. Actually, they sound kind of angry. Clinton Campaign Chair John Podesta sent out a remarkable statement that suggests the FBI is responding to political pressure from Republicans — and serving notice that Republicans won't be the only ones applying political pressure to the FBI, writes The Fix's Aaron Blake. Podesta: “It is extraordinary that we would see something like this just 11 days out from a presidential election. The director owes it to the American people to immediately provide the full details of what he is now examining. We are confident this will not produce any conclusions different from the one the FBI reached in July.” What effect will this have on the polls? Unclear. The Fix's Philip Bump points out that 18 million people have already voted; a substantial number when you consider that's 14 percent of all the votes cast in 2012. And given we don't know what's really going on with Clinton and the FBI and emails, Bump adds it's hard to say what impact this will have on everyone else who has yet to vote. After Comey announced in July there wasn't evidence to charge Clinton with a crime, Clinton's poll numbers didn't move. (Philip Bump / The Washington Post) Maybe people weren't paying attention back then. But maybe this just won't move numbers. A July Washington Post-ABC News poll found 56 percent of voters didn't agree with the FBI's recommendation not to charge Clinton, AND that a majority also said the outcome wouldn't change their vote. The bottom line of Friday's news is probably this: We don't know how badly Clinton is hurt by this — but we do know that the FBI deciding to probe her emails 11 days before the election isn't good news for Team Clinton. | 