anthony weiner's estranged wife, huma abedin had a device, and thousands of e-mails. pierre thomas tonight. >> reporter: hillary clinton investigation? >> reporter: ignoring reporter questions about those newly discovered e-mails. her campaign stunned. abc news has learned it began inside the fbi yesterday morning. the firestorm set in motion during a highly confidential briefing by director james comey with senior agents. those agents came to him with explosive information that new e-mails had been discove even though there is no evidence of wrongdoing by clinton, the director decides he has to tell congress. today, less than 24 hours later, with clinton flying to iowa, director comey drops the bombshell in a letter to congress. writing, in connection with an unrelated case, the fbi has learned of the existence of e-mails that appear to be pertinent to the investigation. he goes on to say they will determine whether they contain classified information. and stresses that the fbi cannot yet assess whether or not this material may be significant and long it will take to

we know the e-mails were discovered on anthony weiner's laptop. and she, of course, is hillary clinton's long-time aide. the new fbi spotlight comes amid our new tracking poll showing hillary clinton now down to a one-point lead nationally. tonight, the clinton camp furious with the fbi, asking, why it would make this public with so few answers to offer to the american people. and with so few days left before the election. abc's senior justice correspondent pierre thomas with fbi, dozens of cyber experts are pouring over thousands of e-mails belonging to huma abedin, hillary clinton's top aide. the team, which previously investigated clinton's private server, has pulled the hard drive from a laptop used by abedin's estranged husband, anthony weiner, who is under investigation for an alleged sexting scandal with an underage girl. weiner's disgrace captured in this documentary. >> why do you think you deserve this second chance? >> reporter: abedin seen today in this exclus photo, now off the trail as the investigation intensifies. abc news has lear