Hillary Clinton without close aide Huma Abedin for third day

Ohio: Hillary Clinton campaigned Monday for a third straight day without close aide Huma Abedin, linked by media to the renewed FBI probe into the former secretary of state`s use of a private email server.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation jolted the US presidential race Friday with the announcement it was reviewing a new batch of emails that appeared to be pertinent to the Clinton case.

US media reports said the emails were discovered during a separate FBI probe of Abedin`s estranged husband, Anthony Weiner, for allegedly sending explicit online messages to a minor girl.

Democratic presidential nominee Clinton, who is locked into a tightening race for the White House against maverick Republican billionaire Donald Trump, spent the weekend without Abedin in the crucial battleground state of Florida, and was again without her on a visit to swing state Ohio on Monday.

The last time the elegant 40-year-old Abedin, who has worked for Clinton for 20 years, was seen traveling with Clinton was Friday, when America`s top cop made his dramatic announcement just 11 days before the November 8 election.

FBI boss James Comey announced in a letter to lawmakers that his agents are reviewing a newly discovered trove of emails, resurrecting an issue Clinton had hoped was behind her.

At the time Clinton and her team, including Abedin, were on the candidate`s campaign plane gliding toward an election rally in Iowa, oblivious to the shockwaves convulsing the political world below.

US media say the probe was renewed after agents seized a laptop used by Abedin and Weiner.

The disgraced former congressman, who resigned in 2011 after sending explicit online messages, is under FBI investigation over allegations he sent sexual overtures to a 15-year-old girl.

In August, Abedin announced their separation in August after The New York Post published messages and photographs that he exchanged with a woman showing him shirtless and in bulging briefs next to their sleeping four-year-old son.

Weiner was forced to resign his seat in Congress in 2011 after a similar sexting scandal in which he admitted to exchanging sexually explicit pictures and messages with at least six women.

Comey`s announcement thrust back into the spotlight allegations that Clinton put the United States at risk by using a private email server while secretary of state.

Comey in July accused Clinton of being "extremely careless" but did not recommend that charges be brought, angering Republicans.