The leadership PAC established by Hillary Clinton during her tenure in the Senate paid her longtime friend and aide Huma Abedin tens of thousands of dollars on top of her salary as a senior adviser, a Washington Free Beacon analysis found.
Hill PAC, the political action committee founded by Hillary Clinton in 2001, dished out more than $40,000 to Abedin over the course of a three-year period despite Abedin pulling in a salary as a senior adviser to the former senator at the time.
The payments from Hillary’s PAC to Huma began in January 2006 and lasted until January 2009, right before both Clinton and Abedin made their way to the Department of State.
Leadership PACs, by definition, are intended as a means for politicians to raise money for themselves and disperse funds to fellow candidates within their political party during an election cycle. However, despite their original purpose, they are often considered "slush funds" for those in Congress to expense anything ranging from a round of golf for big money donors at luxury resorts to paying family members or close friends.
The first paycheck to Huma was dated January 13, 2006, in the amount of $819.33 and listed as "wages." She was paid this amount twice a month throughout the year until November 30 when a payment of $1,495.77 was made. On December 29, 2006, Huma received $2,605.48 from the PAC. In total, Huma received $22,126.51 from Hill PAC throughout 2006, according to FEC documents.
In 2007, the PAC saw very little in the way of transactions. During the early portion of the year, Huma received $1,164.53 from the PAC, but nothing more for the rest of the year, as Clinton was focusing on the Democratic presidential nomination.
On July 15, 2008, payments resumed as a check in the amount of $1,373.27 went to Abedin. She received 11 more paychecks up until the end of 2008, pulling in a total of $16,512.24 in 2008.
The last payment Abedin received from the PAC took place on January 15, 2009 in the amount of $1,385.04, six days before Hillary took over as secretary of state.
In total, from January 2006 until January 2009, Huma received $41,188.32 from Hill PAC. The PAC dissolved in 2009 after Clinton became secretary of state.
Huma, who remains a close aide to Clinton, is currently under fire for using a private server alongside Hillary and receiving overpayments while at the Department of State.
A request for comment was not returned by the Hillary Clinton campaign by press time.