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After more than a year of silence, a verified Twitter account operated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation raised eyebrows last week when it suddenly awoke and fired off nearly two dozen links to its investigatory documents, some of which pertain to the current presidential candidates.

Left-wing publications and supporters of Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton questioned whether the FBI might have political motives in highlighting old case, just a week before Election Day, that scrutinize Mrs. Clinton, her husband, and their charitable foundation. The questions dovetail on complaints that FBI Director James Comey had already politicized himself and his bureau by telling Congress his investigation into Clinton's private email server might not be closed after all.

But officials and others contend the tweets were automated, disclosing only documentation made public in response to multiple Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests.

Jason Leopold, a senior investigative reporter with Vice News who sued the US Department of State for access to Clinton's emails, said in a tweet that the FBI's tweets are neither newsworthy nor scandalous.

Clinton campaign spokesman Brian Fallon had tweeted that the timing of the FBI's sudden flood of tweets was "odd" in the absence of a FOIA litigation deadline.

The FBI, however, says the tweets – under the FBI Records Vault handle – had been published pursuant to standard procedures, as The Guardian reported, publishing a statement from the bureau:

In addition to information about Clinton, the series of tweets – which began Oct. 30 at 3 a.m. Eastern time – included one collection of documents about Republican nominee Donald Trump's father, Fred Trump, described as "a real estate developer and philanthropist." The tweet that drew the most attention, though, was the most recent, concerning a closed investigation into former President Bill Clinton's decision to pardon fugitive financier Marc Rich, as º£½Ç´óÉñ reported last week:

While allegations of political motivations behind every action are common so close to a major election, Sean Gallagher wrote for Ars Technica that the more than 20 tweets could have been backlogged since June due to a simple website glitch that went unfixed until last week.