The friend had 'special government status' while Clinton was at Foggy Bottom. Clinton aide got 'special' status

A longtime adviser and confidante of Hillary Clinton had “special government status” while the former Secretary of State was at Foggy Bottom, allowing her to work on a targeted project about women’s issues while she maintained her own business, officials told POLITICO.

Maggie Williams, who has been in Hillary Clinton’s orbit for years and who took over her campaign after a shakeup in the 2008 presidential race, was granted “SGE status” to work with the Global Women’s Issues office, officials said.


“Maggie Williams joined the State Department in May 2011 to develop an actionable plan combining communication, policy development and implementation and other dynamic tools and strategies to focus public attention on issues threatening the lives of women and girls,” said a State Department official. “She stayed on to help implement that ambitious plan.”

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The subject of SGE status during Clinton’s tenure has gained attention since POLITICO first reported that Clinton’s top aide, Huma Abedin, had received the status after working as the Secretary’s deputy chief-of-staff. It allowed the New York City-based Abedin, post-maternity leave with her son with Anthony Weiner, to consult for outside clients and simultaneously work at State.

Another official familiar with SGE workers said it is often granted to attract people to government work who might otherwise take a pass. Williams, the source suggested, fell into that category. Clinton’s State Department chief of staff, Cheryl Mills, retained a role at State as an “SGE” after departing full-time work because of her involvement with Haiti relief (Officials say Mills' SGE status since leaving State is completely uncompensated). The current number of SGEs at State is about 100 people, said one source familiar with the matter, adding that across federal government agencies there are many thousands.

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In the case of Williams, who’s worked with the Children’s Defense Fund and who has a master’s degree from the Annenberg School for Communication, she had never worked full-time at State, and the department essentially became a client of hers for a specific project on moving “women and girls into the consciousness of key audiences,” said one soure.

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The initiative involved interviewing roughly two dozen people, including officials in the department, and then putting it into effect. “It was confined, it was focused, it was around a particular expertise” that Williams had, the source said.

Williams’ SGE status was renewed in about July 2012, one source said, but she stopped submitting time sheets in January, around the time Clinton stepped down from State.

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