In September of 2012, the world was under the impression that Huma Abedin was still Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's full-time Deputy Chief of Staff. But that June her job at the State Department furtively changed to part-time, and she became a Special Government Employee (S.G.E.) so that she could allegedly work from home at the pricey new Park Avenue condo - owned by a friend of the Clintons - she just moved into with her husband, former NY Democratic Congressman Anthony Weiner, who infamously resigned in 2011 for lying about sexting. Abedin claims that she became a S.G.E. to take care of her baby, but she took on consulting jobs and went on at least one foreign trip with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, as I exclusively reported last month (See Teneo worked on Belfast event honoring Hillary Clinton).
However, clients of Teneo - a firm co-founded by two Clinton associates - would've known that Abedin was wearing two hats as early as September 16, 2012.
A September 2012 Teneo brochure (pdf link) touts Huma Abedin as "Senior Leadership" for the firm, and her specific job title is listed as a "Senior Advisor". Longtime Clintons aide Justin Cooper - who registered the www.Clintonemail.com domain that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Huma Abedin secretly used to send and receive emails instead of official State Department accounts - is featured on the same page.
"Teneo's highly experienced and dedicated professions come from diverse backgrounds including investment banking, private equity, corporate finance and strategy, government, government affairs, communications, investor relations, media, and public policy," the brochure states.
Clients were told that Huma Abedin was a Senior Advisor for Teneo, but there doesn't appear to be any sign that Teneo ever noted it on its website, where the public and journalists would know that she was working for them while still at the State Department. The Weiners, Clintons and the State Department didn't inform the public or press that she was working for four clients at the same time: the State Department, Teneo, the Clinton Foundation and Hillary Clinton, herself. As I reported in 2013, Acting Deputy Spokesperson and Director of the Press Office Patrick Ventrell didn't correct a journalist who specifically referred to Huma Abedin as Hillary Clinton's Deputy Chief of Staff during a July 18th, 2012 press conference. I also reported how the Weiners and Clintons often inform the press about mistakes on their behalf, but they said nothing when The New York Times wrongly reported Abedin was still Hillary's Deputy Chief of Staff throughout 2012 in multiple articles. President Barack Obama defended Huma Abedin in an August 10, 2012 speech while she sat beside his podium. Obama said she worked "exhaustingly" at the State Department, but he also essentially kept her part-time status a secret.
On Sunday, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced that she was running for president. But recent polls show that the emails controversy may haunt her, since she deleted over 30,000 emails without independent oversight, after the State Department asked her to turn them over, in part, because of a Congressional investigation of the Benghazi scandal.
Clinton's and Abedin's emails are also being sought by Sen. Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa) who is probing Teneo and the SGE program. In addition, lawsuits by the Associated Press, Citizens United and Judicial Watch have been filed related to unfulfilled Freedom of Information Act requests from 2013 regarding Abedin's counseling for Teneo and the Clinton Foundation, while working at the State Department, too. Earlier today, Judicial Watch's Micah Morrison tweeted that my "upcoming articles could derail #Clinton2016".
DEVELOPING...MORE TO COME...
See my previous stories for more details:
Questions linger about Clintons-linked firm co-founded by former US Economic Envoy to Northern Ireland
Staff employed by State Dept. as administrative support for Clinton envoy helped launch Teneo
Teneo worked on Belfast event honoring Hillary Clinton
State Secretary's last dinner in Dublin hosted by Clinton Foundation donor
Is Weiner planning to try and win back his old Congress seat?
State Dept. spokesman fielded question about Hillary Clinton Deputy Chief of Staff after Huma Abedin 'quietly' left position
Anthony Weiner company led by former board director for firm investors blasted as 'CROOKS'
Friends of Weiner may get hit with FEC audit or enforcement action
Weiner paid 'fund-raising whiz' $8K a month after he resigned .
(Hat tip to Huffington Post's Ryan Grim)
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