Top Clinton aide Huma Abedin failed to acknowledge a State Department records request for more than two months because the request got lost in the mail, her lawyers claim.
The State Department's request that Hillary Clinton's former deputy chief of staff, Huma Abedin, return any work-related emails in her possession went unreceived for two months because of issues with delivery of State's mail and email messages asking for the records, according to Abedin's lawyers.
After the controversy over former secretary of state Clinton's use of a private email account and server for official business erupted in March, Abedin was among 10 current or former State Department officials asked by their former agency to provide any similar messages on their private accounts.
But Abedin's lawyers said she didn't receive that request for more than two months after it was sent on March 11...
It's unclear why State Department officials had so much trouble tracking down Abedin, who is currently vice chair of Clinton's presidential campaign. It's also not clear whether State's snail-mail letter was sent to an old address for Abedin, a wrong address for her or was returned for some other reason. The State Department declined to comment on the delay. [emphasis added]
Abedin is under fire for potentially breaking conflict-of-interest rules while working for Hillary at the State Department. Abedin was given "special government employee" status, which allowed her to work concurrently as a consultant for the Clinton Foundation and Teneo Holdings, a consulting firm founded by a former Bill Clinton aide. The State Department's inspector general determined there was "reasonable suspicion" that Abedin had violated conflict-of-interest rules by lobbying the White House on behalf of a Teneo client. Meanwhile, Reuters has been waiting more than two years for the State Department to respond to its Freedom of Information Act request for emails related to Abedin's special employee status.
In related news, former Clinton aide and current Pennsylvania attorney general Kathleen Kane was charged with leaking confidential grand jury information and lying under oath.
I sense a theme here.