Huma Abedin testimony limited during questioning by lawmakers

Following the closed-door questioning of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s top aide and confidante Huma Abedin by House of Representatives’ Select Committee on Benghazi, Rep. Trey Gowdy, R-South Carolina, released a statement.

“The interview with Ms. Huma Abedin has concluded. She answered all questions posed by Members and staff, and the Select Committee on Benghazi greatly appreciates her willingness to take the time to voluntarily appear before the committee, as well as her service to the United States over a number of years. The information she provided will assist the committee in writing its final report,” Rep. Gowdy, a former prosecutor, stated.

Although what started as an investigation into the tragic terrorist attack on a U.S. diplomatic mission that left four Americans dead, including Clinton’s “friend” U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens, there have been other issues that came to light. One major subplot to the Benghazi incident was Hillary Clinton’s email and unauthorized Internet server as well as the suspicious activity at Bill Clinton’s so-called charity — the Clinton Foundation — that appears to be a large-scale slush fund for the Clinton family’s allies to draw paychecks while waiting for Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign.

Unfortunately, thanks to Democratic Party’s lock-stepped stonewalling and media-generated tactics, Gowdy and his panel have been attacked and their efforts to getting to the truth labeled a witch hunt by some reporters and pundits. It’s the replay of what kept her husband Bill from being ousted and imprisoned.  

Meanwhile, an internal investigation by the Obama State Department discovered information that a top State Department aide to then Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, disgraced Democrat Anthony Weiner’s wife Huma Abedin, while working as a government employment was involved in activities that could be construed as conflicts of interest.The investigation also discovered evidence of overpayments by then Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to her alleged “closest aide.”  

In a previous letter to Secretary of State John Kerry, Sen. Chuck Grassley, who chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee, stated that a special probe by the State Department’s inspector general uncovered possible leveraging of a State Department job by Huma Abedin that appears to have benefited her other employers while she worked for Mrs. Clinton. The two paid positions were with the now infamous Clinton Foundation and a consulting firm called Teneo Strategies that is also tied to former President Bill Clinton.

The so-called consulting firm known as Teneo Strategies is run by Douglas Band who once served as a special adviser to President Bill Clinton. Part of the Teneo firm’s success has been Band bragging to potential clients and others that the former president is a paid board member and has been in that position since 2011, coincidentally while Hillary Clinton served as Secretary of State.

According to Grassley’s letter to Kerry, Abedin allegedly sent or received more than 7,000 emails on her government account that involved Band and his firm which conducted business overseas with nations that benefited from having the Secretary of State’s ear. One example of Abedin’s potential conflicts of interest was an email exchange that was discovered in which Band pressured Abedin to encourage Hillary Clinton to help one of his clients secure a White House appointment.

Judith Rodin, Band’s client, was then president of the Rockefeller Foundation based in New York City, “which donated hundreds of millions of dollars to the Clinton Foundation, a fact which Mr. Band allegedly noted in his email to Ms. Abedin,” the Grassley letter noted. “(The) email evidence allegedly suggests that Ms. Abedin and Ms. Mills shared a desire to find a way to ensure the Department paid for Ms. Abedin’s travel to and from New York,” the Grassley letter states.

Grassley also questions a payment of more than $30,000 that Ms. Abedin received from the State Department for leave she hadn’t used. However, there are questions unanswered about the times she took off from the State Department but worked for the Clinton Foundation or Teneo Strategies.

The Iowa Republican pointed out that the Senate Judiciary Committee found evidence that Abedin had indeed taken leave during her time as a government employee, and it has led to questions about whether or not Abedin was entitled to taxpayer money in excess of $30,000, the annual take-home pay of many police officers not as fortunate to be connected to the Clintons.

Critics have accused Hillary Clinton of, once again, bending the rules – in this case personnel regulations – to allow Huma Abedin to collect her government paycheck while wielding her influence to the benefit of her other employers who did business with the State Department.

Grassley cited Hillary Clinton’s trip to Ireland with Huma Abedin for her last official appearance as secretary of State. While in Ireland Mrs. Clinton attended an event hosted by a major Clinton Foundation donor – under the guise of a charitable contribution – that was being promoted by Teneo.

“No matter how you slice it, these [Clinton] people were sucking up taxpayer money in some inventive ways that would put the average American in federal prison. It almost appears to be a organized crime shell-game, but as usual Democrats ask where’s the smoking gun?” noted former criminal investigator Cheryl Freedman. “Smoking gun or not, I’ve seen Americans locked up with less evidence than what I’ve seen here,” she added.