HUMA $$ PROBE
Criminal conduct’ eyed
Huma Abedin, Hillary Rodham Clinton’s top aide, is under investigation for “potential criminal conduct” while at the State Department, a lawmaker has said.
The chairman of the Republicanled Senate Judiciary Committee claimed that an internal State Department probe found the agency paid Abedin nearly $10,000 for dozens of days when she was away from her government job — and instead working for the Clinton Foundation and for a Clinton-linked consulting firm, on maternity leave, or vacationing in Europe with hubby Anthony Weiner.
In a series of letters to Abedin and the State Department, Sen. Chuck Grassley (RIowa) said Abedin, 39, never requested leave for any reason — including for illness, vacation or her nongovernment jobs — in the four years she worked at the State Department under Clinton.
“Yet, the Committee has received allegations . . . that she claimed to be, and in fact was, on leave on numerous occasions,” Grassley wrote. If she was on leave, she should not have been paid.
An aide to Grassley told The Post on Saturday that the senator learned details of an internal State Department investigation completed in May from a “confidential source.”
Grassley also alleged investigators found Abedin violated conflictofinterest laws by seeking official favors for clients from her side job at Teneo, a consulting firm run by a former aide to exPresident Bill Clinton.
The stillsecret State Department investigation found “at least a reasonable suspicion” of Abedin’s misconduct, Grassley said.
In July 2013, Grassley complained that the State Department and Abedin “put up a stone wall” in response to the Judiciary Committee’s oversight queries regarding her moonlighting.
Abedin has contested the findings of the State investigation, and the details of the probe have not been made public.
“The Inspector General’s report is fundamentally flawed,” Karen Dunn, Abedin’s attorney, told The Post. “No hardworking, dedicated public servant should be subjected to such irresponsible allegations.”
The Judiciary Committee now seeks the full results of the Inspector General investigation.
Abedin, a Clinton confidante for nearly two decades, began her career as a White House intern assigned to the First Lady’s office in 1996. She worked for Clinton at the State Department from 2009 to 2013.
She currently serves as vice chairwoman of Clinton’s presidential campaign.