Huma and Hillary: sign of conflict in newly released email?
Judicial Watch released more Hillary emails that were withheld from State Department after she claimed to have turned over all of them. This contradicts earlier sworn statements and raises potential legal issues:
Judicial Watch today released new State Department emails (one batch of 103 pages, the second of 138 pages) that again appear to contradict statements by former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton that, “as far as she knew,” all of her government emails were turned over to the State Department and that she did not use her clintonemail.com system until March 18, 2009. (snip)
Many of the documents predate March 18, 2009, go back as far as January, and were not turned over by Clinton to the State Department from her non-government server. The emails cover topics such as: her schedule and travel plans; criticisms of Clinton by Richard Gere; Afghanistan; U.S. financial aid and security concerns for several Pacific Islands; the recommendation for a health care system overhaul; and food security.
No doubt Hillary will claim that the withholding was inadvertent and that aides are responsible for the oversight. Her lickspittles in the media will accept this and deny “criminal intent.”
But there is one juicy tidbit concerning the odd relationship between Hillary and her very close aide, Huma Abedin, who, we just learned, was already grilled by the FBI a month ago.
The Abedin emails include an exchange with Clinton’s former Deputy Chief of Staff Jacob Sullivan, in which Abedin suggests Clinton would often complain of being “exhausted”:
From: Abedin, Huma
To: Sullivan, Jacob J.
Sent: Thursday, April 16 18:54:22 2009
Subject:
I have to go to the dinner with her [state dinner in Santa Domingo, Dominican Republic]
I just got the I’m exhausted thing from her and Eugene [likely Eugene Bae, Clinton’s advance official] isn’t going to be able to tell Oscar de la Renta to shut up.
A March 31, 2011, email from State Department official Michael Hammer to Abedin and others shows yet another non-State.gov email address of HumaMAbedin[Redacted], which differs from the known Huma@clintonemail.com and HAbedin@hillaryclinton.com.
“These emails further undermine Hillary Clinton’s statement, under penalty of perjury, suggesting she turned over all of her government emails to the State Department,” said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton. “How many more Hillary Clinton emails is the Obama State Department hiding?”
Is Huma griping about “the ‘I’m exhausted’ thing”? At a minimum, it suggests that Hillary frequently complains about being exhausted, reinforcing a talking point Donald Trump has already used about Hillary – one he is expert at wielding (remember “low-energy Jeb”?)
But it also suggests that Huma has her limits in putting up with her boss.
I was stunned last week to read this in Newsweek:
“She was a very, very religious person—she didn’t smoke, drink or swear, always very polite,” recalls one Clinton friend, who, like most people who spoke to Newsweek, asked not to be named. “A lot of times, Hillary would snap her fingers and go, ‘Gum.’ And Huma would fetch it.” Abedin took her duties so seriously, the source recalled, that when she learned that Clinton had once carried her own bag up a flight of stairs in her aide’s absence, Abedin nearly burst into tears.
Perhaps that level of devotion has frayed a bit?