James Comey has effectively said "nothing to see here" - but 12 days ago he made the world watch as he reignited the Hillary Clinton email story, dropping a political hand grenade into the closing weeks of this election.
The headlines were explosive - the emails it would seem are not. But the director of the FBI changed the way the race was run.
The Democrats were caught off guard.
Instead of ending her campaign with a positive message of how she wanted to lead the country and who she would help, Mrs Clinton, under pressure in the polls, focused on her opponent's weaknesses as her surrogates waged war on Mr Comey.
It was a turbulent few days that dominated the political conversation.
Donald Trump was given a lifeline, his team rejoicing in their 11th-hour gift.
It gave them fuel to focus his message.
There was already a deep well of suspicion around Mrs Clinton's trustworthiness. Now he had a closing argument.
He's lost that weapon, but the FBI investigation may have already inflicted serious harm on his opponent.
The Democrats' nominee made no mention of the news after it broke. At a rally in Cleveland, she tried to reshape her closing pitch, moving away from slamming her rival and towards focusing on her vision for America.
But Mr Trump refused to let go. In Sterling Heights, Michigan, he swiftly poured doubt on the conclusion, telling the crowd: "You can't review 650,000 emails in eight days."
That number was in fact never confirmed and the speed of the review suggests there were far fewer. But his claims of a "rigged system" have caught fire among his followers.
The fact that the FBI has found no case to answer will likely only drive more claims of a conspiracy - and the dust is unlikely to settle by 8 November.
If Mr Trump wins, some Democrats will hold Mr Comey responsible. If Mrs Clinton clinches it, she may always blame him for how close she came to a political disaster.
A vague letter made a dirty race a lot darker. That race will soon be over. The fallout from this saga may take a lot longer.
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