Inquiry Faults Huma Abedin, Close Aide to Hillary Clinton

By New York Times – August 1, 2015

WASHINGTON — The State Department inspector general has determined that Huma Abedin, the close confidant of Hillary Rodham Clinton, must return more than $9,000 for alleged overpayments made to her during her time working for the department when Mrs. Clinton was secretary of state, according to her lawyer and Senate documents.

The inquiry into Ms. Abedin, a longtime aide to Mrs. Clinton and wife of Anthony Weiner, the former New York congressman, comes at a time of increased congressional scrutiny into the tenure of the former secretary of state as she seeks the Democratic nomination for president.

The inspector general directed Ms. Abedin to refund the government $9,857.73, according to a letter released Saturday by her lawyer, Karen L. Dunn, who said Ms. Abedin will challenge the finding. Her lawyers criticized the inquiry for “holes in its methodology” and “unsupported allegations.”

The investigation, which was first reported in Saturday editions of TheWashington Post, was brought to the attention of the office of the Senate Judiciary Committee chairman, Senator Charles E. Grassley, Republican of Iowa, a spokesperson for the senator said. The senator has not yet obtained a copy of the inspector general’s investigation, which has not been made public.

Letters from the judiciary committee dated July 30 raised concerns that Ms. Abedin had been improperly paid twice for work done while she was on leave or working for the Clinton Foundation. Ms. Abedin has requested an administrative review at the State Department.

Specifically, Ms. Abedin is said to have taken a vacation and maternity leave that she did not officially file for. But her representatives say that she was still working during those times.

“Huma has been nothing but cooperative in helping the department work through its record-keeping issues, and she will continue to do so in the hope the right thing is done,” said Ms. Dunn.

Senator Grassley’s office denied there was any political motivation for the committee’s interest in the matter.

“Information about the State Department’s practices on special government employees, email use and more has been hard to come by,” Senator Grassley said in an emailed statement. “As information came in, it evolved to focus on an agency that used the designation in a different way than others in at least one high-profile case.”

John Kirby, the State Department spokesman, said in an email, “We are in receipt of Senator Grassley’s letter and will respond to it accordingly.”