Judicial Watch: Email Reveals Top Aide Huma Abedin Warning State Department Staffer That Hillary Clinton Is “Often Confused”

(Washington, DC) – Judicial Watch today released more than 35 pages of emails former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s top aide Huma Abedin revealing that Abedin advised Clinton aide and frequent companion Monica Hanley that it was “very important” to go over phone calls with Clinton because the former Secretary of State was “often confused.” The emails, from Abedin’s “[email protected]” address, also reveal repeated security breaches, with the Secretary’s schedule and movements being sent and received through Abedin’s non-governmental and unsecured Clinton server account. The emails document requests for special State Department treatment for a Clinton Foundation associate and Abedin’s mother, a controversial Islamist leader.

The Abedin email material contains a January 26, 2013, email exchange with Clinton aide Monica Hanley regarding Clinton’s schedule in which Abedin says Clinton is “often confused:”

Abedin: Have you been going over her calls with her? So she knows singh is at 8? [India Prime Minister Manmohan Singh]

Hanley: She was in bed for a nap by the time I heard that she had an 8am call. Will go over with her

Abedin: Very imp to do that. She’s often confused.

The newly released Abedin emails included a lengthy exchange giving precise details of the Clinton schedule on the Secretary’s final full day in office, Wednesday, January 31, 2013. The email from Lona J. Valmoro, former Special Assistant to Secretary of State Clinton, to Abedin, other top State Department staff, and Clinton associates, reveals exact times (including driving times) and locations of all appointments throughout the day:

8:25 am DEPART Private Residence En route to State Department [drive time: 10 minutes] *** 1:40 pm DEPART State Department En route to Council on Foreign Relations [drive time: 15 minutes] *** 3:05 pm DEPART Council on Foreign Relations En route to State Department [drive time: 15 minutes] *** 6:00 pm DEPART State Department En route to Private Residence [drive time: 5 minutes]

The detailed schedule provided in the Abedin email contains an annotation reading: “The information contained in this email is not to be shared, forwarded or duplicated.”

Another Abedin email provides details about a meeting with Saudi Arabia’s leadership.

The Abedin correspondence includes several instances in which the Clinton top aide attempted to obtain special treatment from the State Department for business associates and relatives. In the first instance, Abedin apparently worked with Teneo co-founder and Clinton Global Initiative official Doug Band to intercede on behalf of an individual seeking a visa. In the second instance, Huma Abedin received an email from her mother, Saleha Abedin (a controversial Islamist activist) who founded and serves as dean at Dar al-Hekma University in Saudi Arabia. In the December 11, 2011, email, Saleha Abedin seeks the assistance of her daughter to help the president of her college, Dr. Suhair al Qurashi, attend a State Department “Women in Public Service” ceremony, which included remarks by Hillary Clinton. (Mrs. Clinton spoke at Dar al-Hekma University in 2010. Dr. Qurashi and Saleha Abedin introduced Mrs. Clinton’s speech and moderated the subsequent discussion.)

“Huma Abedin’s description of Hillary Clinton as ‘easily confused’ tells you all you need to know why it took a federal lawsuit to get these government emails from Clinton’s illegal email server ,” said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton. “These emails also show that Hillary Clinton’s and Huma Abedin’s decision to use the Clinton email server to conduct government business was dangerous and risky.”

The documents were obtained by Judicial Watch on October 30, 2015, in response to a June 5 Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit filed against the State Department, after it failed to respond to a March 18 FOIA request seeking:

Emails of official State Department business received or sent by former Deputy Chief of Staff Huma Abedin from January 1, 2009 through February 1, 2013 using a non-“state.gov” email address.

###