Like all sequels, F.B.I. Director James Comey’s follow-up to his “October surprise” letter was always likely to disappoint many fans of the original.

Even so, there was widespread gnashing of teeth from supporters of Donald Trump when Comey wrote to Congress on Sunday to announce that the bureau had turned up nothing new in its review of emails belonging to Hillary Clinton’s aide, Huma Abedin, found last month on the laptop of her estranged husband, Anthony Weiner.

To many old enough to remember the early days of “Saturday Night Live,” the perfect characterization of Comey’s “November Surprise” was the catchphrase made famous by Gilda Radner’s character, Emily Litella, who was hard of hearing and famous for overreacting to news events.

According to NBC, sources in the Justice Department explained that nearly all of the emails on the laptop were duplicates of messages already reviewed by the F.B.I. before it closed its investigation in July, having decided that Clinton and her staff had not violated the law.