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Advisor Huma Abedin’s Job Arrangement under Hillary Investigated by State Department
The State Department’s Office of the Inspector General (OIG) has agreed, only two years after the fact, to investigate a program that allowed former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to hire one of her key personal advisors, Huma Abedin, for government work even as she was also employed by a private firm.
Conflict of Interest?Inspector General Steve Linick said he is looking into whether those employed as Special Government Employees (SGE), the designation Clinton gave to Abedin, are following the law, and avoiding conflicts of interest. The idea is if you are being paid by two organizations, where your loyalty lies can come into question. Never mind the potential misuse of sensitive information you might acquire at the Secretary of State’s side.
“The OIG intends to examine the department’s SGE program to determine if it conforms to applicable legal and policy requirements,” Linick said in response to a request from Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Charles Grassley.
Clinton approved hiring Abedin, her long-time assistant, as an SGE, which allowed her to collect a government salary while also continuing to work for Teneo, a private firm. Teneo is a global advisory firm that helps with investments and other financial needs for many of the world’s largest and most complex companies and organizations. Knowing a bit about upcoming U.S. government decisions and plans would make someone quite a valuable asset in such a company.
Not the Right Order of ThingsIn addition to the conflict of interest issue, Senator Grassley also questioned whether Abedin was qualified to be designated an SGE at all.
The designation of someone as a Special Government Employee is supposed to be used to entice someone already in the private sector to split his or her time in order for the government to tap “special knowledge and skills.” However, in Abedin’s case, she was already working for Clinton. It was only after Clinton unilaterally designated her as an SGE that she moved to take an outside job, Grassley said.
In other words, the SGE program is designed to bring outside experts in to assist the government, not allow State Department employees to launch second careers in the private sector while remaining tied to the Department.
State Department records show that a half-dozen of Clinton’s political allies were also granted the special designation status during her tenure.
How Much Did She Make, and Why Can’t We Know?
There is no legal prohibition against State Department employees having an outside job per se, but they cannot be seen as taking advantage of their official position, and they must report their outside income to the Department.
Abedin, however, did not report her income. “Ms. Abedin did not disclose the arrangement — or how much income she earned — on her financial report,” the New York Times discovered. “An adviser to Clinton, Philippe Reines, simply said that Abedin was not obligated to do so.”
No explanation was given, and the State Department did not question the unique arrangement.
All Roads Lead Back to the Clinton FoundationAbedin is a busy woman. In the midst of her multiple jobs, she also found time to, you guessed it, serve as a consultant to the Clinton Foundation.
Abedin only ended her private sector consulting practice to move on to become director of Clinton’s transition office out of State. She now, of course, works for the Hillary campaign.
Abedin is married to former Democratic Representative Anthony Weiner, who resigned after a sexting scandal that involved photos of his penis and the use of false name, “Carlos Danger.”
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Rich Bauer said...
1DS was working for Blackwater. What’s the big deal?
“Part of that culture, according to the diplomatic security veteran, is “a bigtime revolving door” through which security contractors from Blackwater and other security firms land jobs at the bureau, effectively overseeing their former employers and colleagues. Over the years, the division forged a particularly close relationship with Blackwater, he says. The result, he adds, was that “accountability and oversight fell by the wayside.”
http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2010/03/state-department-diplomatic-security-blackwater
04/15/15 6:49 AM | Comment Link
bloodypitchfork said...
2quote”There is no legal prohibition against State Department employees having an outside job per se, but they cannot be seen as taking advantage of their official position, and they must report their outside income to the Department.
Abedin, however, did not report her income.”unquote
Ahhh..I get it now. The Office of Obfuscation, Doublespeak and Gimmicks issued a re-definition of the word “must”. It now means.. “should..unless you don’t want to”.
hmmmm, wasn’t there something about…”must” use State’s email too? right.
The parallel universe of Clinton.
Sheesusfuckingchrist. Even the writers at House of Cards couldn’t make this shit up.
Meanwhile, Rich quoted the article at link…
“The result, he adds, was that ‘accountability and oversight fell by the wayside’.”
Yeah, along with all the victims of those murdering scumbags at Blackwater. At least, for once, “justice” prevailed. Too bad their boss didn’t meet the same fate, notwithstanding Bush et al.
https://firstlook.org/theintercept/2015/04/14/blackwater-guards-get-long-sentences-iraq-killings/
Ya know, if Peter’s blog were required reading for the DCOTP..there’d be an overnight revolt. …er..wait. No there wouldn’t. I was daydreaming.
bartender.. you got it. A bottle of TwoRollingEyes.
04/15/15 8:36 AM | Comment Link
bloodypitchfork said...
3quote”There is no legal prohibition against State Department employees having an outside job per se, but they cannot be seen as taking advantage of their official position,…”unquote
Bwahahahahahaha…hohohohohohohohohoho…hahahahahahahaha!! Goddamn. I needed a good laugh to start the day. Cannot be seen as taking advantage. Hahahahahahahahahaha!
Advantage. As defined by the OODG = Do whatever the fuck you want rules be damned.
04/15/15 8:41 AM | Comment Link
Rich Bauer said...
4Pitch: Ya know, if Peter’s blog were required reading for the DCOTP..there’d be an overnight revolt. …er..wait. No there wouldn’t. I was daydreaming.
Pitch,
It’s war on, mother…
It’s always been amazing to me that in a country where 42% of the population makes roughly $15 per hour, that more people weren’t already holding bullhorns, and I don’t mean just low-income workers. There’s something fundamentally off about the fact that corporate profits are at record highs in large part because labor’s share is so low, yet when low-income workers have to then apply for federal benefits, the true cost of those profits gets pushed back not to companies, but onto taxpayers, at a time when state debt levels are at record highs. Talk about an imbalanced economic model.
http://time.com/3821602/minimum-wage-strikes/
04/15/15 9:39 AM | Comment Link
Bruce said...
5Jest another Huma to the tune of interminable Billaryous Bombo eruptions!
04/15/15 11:08 AM | Comment Link
Bruce said...
6https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hNh–HGb8kg
BTW, Jest eliminate the need for the doors At ALL; send a secret shemail !
04/15/15 11:26 AM | Comment Link
Rich Bauer said...
7All Roads lead back to Hillary…the road to hell that is:
http://www.counterpunch.org/2015/04/15/secrecy-intransigence-and-war/
04/15/15 12:23 PM | Comment Link
bloodypitchfork said...
8quote”It’s always been amazing to me that in a country where 42% of the population makes roughly $15 per hour, that more people weren’t already holding bullhorns,..”unquote
You’re not serious are you? $15ph ? Show me the figures. If that’s true, than I’ll eat my hat.
04/15/15 2:04 PM | Comment Link
John Poole said...
9Huma forgave her husband after his sexting scandal I guess because he had forewarned her of his predeliction prior to their marriage. Bill and Hillary probably told themselves, “Hey, Huma and Anthony are just like us- same fetishes. Wow, how cool.”
The psychosexual pathologies of such people should make them clearly unacceptable to even nondiscerning voters but Hillary may still escape a quest ending revelation since all truth telling little boys have been banned from her campaign route.
04/15/15 8:28 PM | Comment Link
bloodypitchfork said...
10Hey Rich.. I dunno about 42%..but it looks like there’s a push to get there.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/04/15/15-minimum-wage_n_7067858.html
Now, if i could only figure out a way to make the same at 70.
04/15/15 8:48 PM | Comment Link
Lisa said...
11Ever notice that Hill’s entire entourage is composed of women? Not even fey men in sight.
Hill-as-Hild?: a 7th century mystic recently fictionalized as an other-sexed individual (by a bisexual author.) She divined this off of one-half page of historical notation.
Agendas — what agendas?
fyi: a href=”http://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/books/hild-by-nicola-griffith/2013/12/27/68b06cdc-6670-11e3-a0b9-249bbb34602c_story.html”>HILD
Hild and perhaps Hill, is like “calves born female but with male characteristics gleaned in utero from twin brothers.”
04/17/15 2:26 AM | Comment Link
wemeantwell said...
12Oh, poor Lisa, this is for you: https://instagram.com/bottomforhillary/
04/17/15 9:25 AM | Comment Link
Just Another DoS Lackey said...
13Would love to see her OGE-450 or any other docs L/EFD make “us” fill out… Sigh
04/20/15 7:27 PM | Comment Link