Hillary Clinton aide Huma Abedin was formally investigated for embezzlement after she admitted to taking a vacation and maternity leave while working at the State Department without using her formal leave time, thereby accepting more than $10,000 in overpayments from the government.
The Washington Times reported:
The probe also gathered evidence she filed time sheets charging the government for impermissible overtime and excessive hours after she converted from a full-time federal employee to a State Department contractor. Those timecards were filed during a period that remains under investigation over questions about possible conflicts of interest, documents gathered by the State Department inspector general show.
Abedin, who served as former secretary of State Clinton’s deputy chief of staff from 2009 to 2012 and now works on her presidential campaign, was scrutinized by federal investigators in October 2014 about a lump sum payment of $33,000 she accepted after departing her role at State.
When questioned about a third of the payment deemed improper by investigators, Abedin blamed the overpayments on her husband, former Democratic Rep. Anthony Weiner.
"My husband handles all the finances in our household," Abedin said. She claimed that she discovered the excess funds when investigators reached out to her two years after she left the State Department.
"I did ask my husband to look up our bank statements, and we did have a deposit," Abedin confirmed.
The Clinton aide admitted that she took a two-week vacation in Europe in 2011 ahead of the birth of her child, which she labeled a "babymoon."
"You are 100 percent right on the babymoon," Abedin explained. "I don’t recall. One hundred percent right. I don’t recall filling out any paperwork saying I was taking leave. I’m not even going to blame it on my pregnancy brain."
According to the State Department inspector general’s conclusions, Abedin neglected to correctly turn in required time sheets and leave forms associated with her time away from State. She was, as such, overpaid $10,674.32.
The report of the investigation’s findings comes about a month after Senate Judiciary Committee chair Sen. Chuck Grassley (R., Iowa) sent a letter to Abedin citing the investigation and accusing her of accepting overpayments from the government.
The Senate Judiciary Committee has also for years been probing the "special government employee" status that allowed Abedin to work for the Clinton Foundation and a firm with ties to the Clintons during her last six months at State.