Trump climbs back into contention as Clinton's email investigation looms

Election Day is a little over a week away, and polls continue to tighten as Hillary Clinton's private email server returns to the headlines.

According to the latest Real Clear Politics national polling average, Clinton's lead over Republican nominee Donald Trump has dipped to 4.3 percentage points after the former secretary of state's lead surged to over 7 points earlier in October. Clinton previously peaked at 49 percent of the national average but has since fallen to 47.6 percent, while Trump has climbed back to 43.3 percent after plummeting to as low as 41.4 percent.

Trump's polling numbers aren't the only election indicator to see an increase in late October. Over the course of the previous two weeks FiveThirtyEight's Election Forecast has nearly doubled the GOP nominee's chances of winning the election -- taking Trump's chances from 11.2 percent to now a 21.0 percent chance. Clinton still holds a commanding lead in FiveThirtyEight's forecast, however, 78.9 percent now marks her first dip below 80 percent in since October 6.

Trump took to Twitter Sunday to celebrate the new numbers which appear to suggest a resurgence of momentum for the GOP hopeful.

"Now leading in many polls, and many of these were taken before the criminal investigation announcement on Friday - great in states!" Trump said.

While Trump has seen an uptick in the latest numbers, according to Real Clear Politics, the former secretary of state continues to lead slightly or at least tie with Trump in the majority of major national polls.

As Trump mentioned on Twitter, these numbers are all snapshots taken prior to the bombshell news that FBI Director James Comey will investigate emails that appear related to Clinton's private email server. Trump applauded Comey's decision and claimed the news was "bigger than Watergate."

Over the weekend, Clinton and her campaign fiercely called for Comey to release more details regarding the investigation, going as far as to call the FBI director's letter "long on innuendo and short on facts," even blaming Comey for the "overblown" reaction that followed.

BY: WILLIAM STEAKIN