Weiner Scandal Focuses Attention On Lucrative Deal Given Huma Abedin

While some Democratic voters continue to debate whether to support Anthony Weiner in the wake of additional sextexting to women (after he resigned from office), there has been attention drawn to the extraordinary deal given to his wife Huma Abedin, a close aide to Hillary Clinton. This town is infamous for such special deals but this one takes my breath away. It appears that Abedin, the deputy chief of staff at the State Department under Clinton while she was at the State Department, was granted status as a “special government employee” after the birth of her son in the midst of the scandal. That allowed her to continue to earn $135,000 as a government employee while also earning as much as $355,000 as a consultant for Teneo. You guessed it. Teneo Holdings happens to have former President Bill Clinton is a board member.

One report states that as much as half of the outside income of $335,000 may have come from Weiner’s income. That would still leave a sizable outside income.

Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) is demanding to know how such a deal could be approved and I think he has good grounds to demand answers. I truly hope that this allegation is proven to be completely false because if any part of it is true, it is graceful. I do not understand why a State Department employee would be receiving a huge salary while working for an outside group. It is an insight into America’s Animal Farm where people like the Clinton maintain allies in a type of feudal estate system. She is indeed “special” because she is part of the Clinton camp and therefore had to be taken care of at the lifestyle that she had become accustomed to. Weiner and Abedin were always a power couple, both ambitious and well-connected. However, this deal may show how the ruling elite in this country in both parties maintain themselves and their allies in government.

The company by the way is active in trading on the stock market – a curious side job for a government employee. The company has various ties to the Clintons. It was co-founded by former Bill Clinton counselor Doug Band.Even without that job, what exactly was she doing for the State Department salary while in the scandal bunker with Carlos Danger?

Abedin appears to have confirmed the consultancy but stressed that “was not asked, nor did I provide, insights about the Department, my work with the Secretary, or any government information to which I may have had access.” I am less concerned about that than the double dipping in salaries and paying a State Department official while she works for an outside company.