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Loyalty to the Clintons Pays (a Lot)

Huma Abedin whispers in Hillary Clinton's ear (AP)
September 30, 2015

Huma Abedin is the most loyal of Clinton loyalists who weren't barred from holding a job in the Obama administration (see: Sidney Blumenthal). Abedin, who is often referred to as Hillary's "shadow," has been at her boss' side since the mid-90s, when she joined the Clinton White House as an intern (no, seriously). Now she is caught up in the growing scandal over Hillary's unconventional use of a private email server during her time as secretary of state.

Senate judiciary chairman Chuck Grassley (R., Iowa) is looking into Abedin's status as a "special government employee," which allowed her to earn $15,000 a month consulting for Teneo, a firm founded by former Bill Clinton aide Doug Band while continuing to pocket her $126,000 annual salary from the State Department. Abedin was also paid an unknown amount to work on behalf of the Clinton Foundation, and was personally paid by by the Clintons for services after Hillary quit her job as secretary of state.

That's a lot of money.

Oddly enough, the State Department has been egregiously non-responsive in its efforts to comply with orders to produce emails relating to Abedin's "special" employment status, which went into effect nearly a year after Abedin's husband, Anothy Weiner, was forced to resign from Congress over a sexting scandal. Meanwhile, after Politico reported that Hillary was named as the official who approved the arrangement, her campaign insisted that Hillary's chief of staff Cheryl Mills was actually the person who signed off (the signature on the official document is redacted).

Abedin's role has raised questions about possible conflicts of interest. For example, Politico obtained an email chain that shows how Teneo deployed Abedin in an effort to win a White House appointment for a Teneo client and prominent Clinton Foundation donor. On Tuesday, the Washington Times reported that Teneo paid Abedin to help organize a special reception featuring an array of high-profile guests including Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, and Tony Blair. The event took place at a fancy venue in Manhattan just days after the Benghazi terrorist attacks in September 2012.

Other Teneo clients include FIFA, the corrupt soccer organization whose president, Sepp Blatter, is currently the subject of a criminal investigation by Swiss authorities.

After the FBI opened its investigation into the handling of classified information over Hillary's private server, Abedin hired a team of lawyers. Thus far, many of the most controversial emails uncovered by investigators have been linked to Abedin, who is also under fire for overbilling the State Department for almost $10,000 in "unused" vacation days that she actually took but did not report, according to an inspector general's finding.

People like Abedin and Blumenthal, who was barred from joining the State Department but ended up with a $10,000-per-month gig at the Clinton Foundation, have been able to parlay their subservience to politicians into sizable fortunes. There are worse, less honorable, ways to earn a (comfortable) living, but not many.