posted 09-24-2015 07:09 PM                  

By Rachael Bade
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09/24/15 05:25 PM EDT
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Updated 09/24/15 05:35 PM EDT

Hillary Clinton greenlighted the controversial ¡°special government employee¡± position for her top aide Huma Abedin, allowing her to both advise her at State Department while collecting a paycheck from an outside consulting firm and the Clinton Foundation.

According to new documents obtained by conservative group Judicial Watch through a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit, the 2016 Democratic frontrunner was the immediate supervisor who approved the position on March 23, 2012, allowing her then-deputy chief of staff to work several jobs at once.

That dual role, which wouldn't go into effect until June of that year, is currently under investigation by Senate Judiciary Committee Republican staff. Republicans and outside groups have openly wondered if the post presented a conflict of interest for the woman who is now vice chair of Hillary for America, or if her other jobs influenced what happened at State.

Her lawyers have maintained that she did nothing wrong, noting that government workers have moved to SGE status before.

POLITICOreportedWednesday that the president of the outside company where Abedin would end up working later that year, Doug Band of Teneo, had contacted her that spring in April 2012, asking her for help getting a client appointed to a post on the President¡¯s Global Development Council.

In the email, he made sure Abedin knew the woman, Judith Rodin, president of The Rockefeller Foundation, was also a big supporter of the Clinton Foundation ¡ª another place Abedin would collect a paycheck after her SGE status was approved.

Clinton, in an interview with MSNBC on Sept. 4, said she "was not directly involved" with Abedin's job arrangement.

"Do you think [Donald Trump] had a point in raising the question of whether it was appropriate for her to be taking a State Department salary and also be paid by an outside company closely associated with your husband, by you?" asked reporter Andrea Mitchell.

"Well, I was not directly involved in that, but everything that she did was approved under the rules as they existed by the State Department," Clinton said.

The document states the following: ¡°I certify that this is an accurate statement of the major duties and responsibilities of this person¡­ and the position is necessary to carry out government functions for which I am responsible,¡± the form reads in a box labelled "supervisory certification."

¡°Hillary Rodham Clinton, Secretary of State,¡± reads the name in that box.

The signature, however, has been blanked out by the State Department.

Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2015/09/clinton-abedin-state-job-approved-214038#ixz z3mhjZw7RK

posted 09-25-2015 01:29 AM                  

The comments by Admiral Mike Rogers were in response to questions during a U.S. Senate hearing about former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's use of a private server for email.

"From a foreign intelligence perspective, that represents opportunity," Rogers told senators.

The server has become an issue in Clinton's campaign for the 2016 Democratic presidential nomination. She has apologized for her use of the equipment.

During a hearing on the NSA, Republican Senator Tom Cotton asked Rogers a series of questions related to Clinton's use of a private email server at her home for communications as secretary of state.

Rogers said he did not want to be dragged into the issue, but Cotton said he wanted the NSA director's "professional opinion."