Huma Abedin, the longtime assistant of presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton, is currently under scrutiny because of her "special government employee" status inside the U.S. State Department. As Clinton's 2016 presidential campaign gears up, the 39-year-old political staffer is making headlines as she serves as the vice-chairwoman of the campaign.
In the '90s, Huma Abedin started as an intern for first lady Hillary Clinton while being a George Washington University student. According to Washington Post, she became an adored figure who was usually associated with the Clintons.
Aside from being one of the hard-working staffs of Hillary Clinton, Huma Abedin is currently drawing a lot of attention for a potential conflicts of interest when she spent her time working for for the State Department, Clinton Foundation, an outside consulting firm, Teneo, which has close ties to the Clintons and for Clinton herself, ABC News noted.
So, who is Huma Abedin? Here are 5 need-to-know facts about Hillary Clinton's longtime aide.
1. Abedin was Clinton's Deputy Chief of Staff at the State Department. Before that, she was the traveling chief of staff and "body woman" during Clinton's campaign for the Democratic nomination in the 2008 presidential election.
2. Huma Abedin is a Muslim who speaks English, Urdu and Arabic, CNN noted. She is married to former Congressman Anthony Weiner, who resigned from Congress due to a Twitter photo scandal on June 23, 2011.
3. From 1996 to 2008, Abedin was employed by the Institute of Muslim Minority Affairs (IMMA) as the assistant editor of its in-house publication, the Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs (JMMA), discoverthenetworks.org revealed. Throughout her years with IMMA, Abedin, who was described as "a trusted advisor especially on issues pertaining to the Middle East, has remained a close aide to Hillary Clinton.
4. Huma Abedin is considered as the most powerful person in the campaign organization and indispensable in Clinton's life, as per Orb Magazine.
"Huma's influence is so pervasive and Hillary's dependence on her so total that it is expected she will have her own bedroom upstairs in the White House," a Clinton associate said. "After 20 years as Hillary's gatekeeper, no one else could screen the calls and decide who gets access as ably as she does."
5. This 2015, Abedin and several other Clinton aides were drawn into investigations surrounding Hillary Clinton's use of a private email account while being the Secretary of State. It was determined that the potentially classified emails from Abedin and aide Jake Sullivan were linked to the 2012 Benghazi attack and its aftermath, which had been sent through Clinton's private, non-government server.
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