State Department watchdog to investigate Clinton aide's special job status

[Geee]

Washington Examiner:

Inspector General Steve Linick is investigating the State Department's use of a rare classification that allowed former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's deputy chief of staff to be paid simultaneously by the government and a private consulting firm.

 

Huma Abedin, one of the former Secretary of State's closest aides, received the "Special Government Employee" classification. State Department officials have declined to provide information about who approved the designation for Abedin or the justification for it.

 

Linick told Sen. Charles Grassley that he "intends to examine the Department's SGE program to determine if it conforms to applicable legal and policy requirements, including whether or not the program, as implemented, includes safeguards against conflicts of interest."

 

The confirmation came in a letter made public late Friday by Grassley, who is chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

 

Grassley has been unsuccessfully seeking documents concerning Abedin's role at the department since 2013. He requested the probe out of concern with potential conflicts of interest resulting from Abedin working for the government and Teneo Holdings, a strategic consulting firm founded by Doug Band and DeClan Kelly, long-time advisers to former President Clinton and to Hillary Clinton.