DHAKA: Hillary Clinton has blamed her defeat in the US presidential election on interventions by the FBI director.

James Comey’s announcement of a new inquiry into her use of email while secretary of state shortly before Election Day had stopped her campaign’s momentum, Clinton said.

The Democratic candidate was speaking to top party donors in a phone call, which was leaked to the media, reports the BBC.

Protests are continuing against the victory of her rival, Donald Trump.

In New York, about 2,000 marchers headed for the skyscraper where the president-elect lives, shouting “not my president”.

Anti-Trump activists have held daily protests in US cities since his election victory was confirmed on Wednesday.

Trump seems to be rowing back on some of his campaign pledges.

Having promised to scrap President Barack Obama’s healthcare law dubbed “Obamacare”, he now says he is open to leaving intact key parts of the act.

Asked by the Wall Street Journal whether he would implement a promise to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate Clinton’s use of a private email server while secretary of state, he listed healthcare, jobs, border control and tax reform as greater priorities.

The Republican is due to be sworn in on 20 January, taking over from Obama, who will have completed two terms in office.

Clinton, who served as Obama’s secretary of state from 2009 to 2013, has been keeping a low profile since conceding victory.

On 28 October, Comey informed Congress that the FBI was examining newly discovered emails sent or received by Clinton, thus reviving an investigation which had been completed in July.

Then, on 6 November, two days before the election, Comey announced in a second letter that he was standing by his original assessment - that Clinton should not face criminal charges.

According to US media, she added that Comey’s later recommendation that she should face no charges had energized Trump’s supporters.

Her campaign team said that despite Clinton being cleared of criminal behaviour, the move only revived Trump’s claim that the Democratic candidate was being protected by a rigged system.

The New York marchers rallied in Union Square Park for the march to Trump Tower, from which the next president has been planning the transition to his inauguration.

One organizer of the New York protest, Kenneth Shelton, told the BBC that it was not an attempt to challenge the legitimacy of Tuesday’s election.

BDST: 1004 HRS, NOV 13, 2016
NJ/BD