Huma Abedin, the top aide to Hillary Clinton and wife of disgraced former Rep. Anthony Weiner, is under a federal investigation for embezzling about $10,000.
While at the State Department, Abedin took a vacation and maternity time without extending her formal leave, The Washington Times reported Wednesday. She’s also being investigated for allegedly filing time sheets charging the government for impermissible overtime and excessive hours when she worked as a contractor for the State Department.
During her time as Clinton’s deputy chief of staff from 2009 to 2012, Abedin received a $33,000 lump sum payment, nearly a third of which is considered improper by federal investigators.
Abedin claimed that she didn’t notice the money because she leaves her husband in charge of the family’s finances.
“My husband handles all the finances in our household,” she told investigators during an October 2014 interview.
She also acknowledged that she likely did not fill out the required forms when she went on her vacation.
Without that time off noted, the State Department gave her a cash compensation of $10,674.32 for not taking enough vacation, investigators reported.
“You are 100 percent right on the Babymoon. I don’t recall. One hundred percent right. I don’t recall filling out any paperwork saying I was taking leave,” Abedin told the investigators. “I’m not even going to blame it on my pregnancy brain.”
Investigators concluded that while they could not find evidence that she intentionally defrauded the government, “the investigation substantiated that Abedin, on several occasions, failed to submit a Request for Leave or Approved Absence.”
