Missing from much of the news media coverage of FBI Director James Comey’s testimony last week that long-time top Hillary Clinton aide Huma Abedin regularly forwarded classified emails to her husband, Anthony Weiner, is that the revelation directly contradicts Abedin’s own claims from last November about how the emails famously made it to Weiner’s laptop computer.
During last Wednesday’s Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on FBI oversight, Comey stated Abedin appears to have engaged in a “regular practice of forwarding e-mails” to Weiner’s computer, possibly for him to print out.
The testimony, which came during an exchange with Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) about classified emails found on Weiner’s computer, went thusly:
KENNEDY: OK. Was there classified information on – on former Congressman Weiner’s computer?
COMEY: Yes.
KENNEDY: Who sent it to him?
COMEY: His then spouse, Huma Abedin, appears to have had a regular practice of forwarding e-mails to him, for him I think to print out for her so she could then deliver them to the Secretary of State.
Those details seem to contradict claims made by Abedin last November through her lawyer, Karen Dunn, immediately following reports that the FBI discovered possible Clinton emails on her estranged husband’s computer. Dunn claimed that Abedin did not know how the emails could have reached Weiner’s device and only learned about the possibility of emails being on Weiner’s laptop via media reports.
“She only learned for the first time on Friday, from press reports, of the possibility that a laptop belonging to Mr. Weiner could contain emails of hers. While the FBI has not contacted us about this, Ms. Abedin will continue to be, as she always has been, forthcoming and cooperative,” Dunn said in the statement.
Politico further quoted a “source familiar with Abedin’s account” as stating that, according to Politico’s portrayal, that Abedin “has told colleagues she was taken aback when she learned that the FBI found her emails on a laptop belonging to her estranged husband, Anthony Weiner, and doesn’t know how the messages got there.”
That’s a far cry from Comey’s testimony that Abedin appears to have regularly forwarded Clinton emails to Weiner.
Weiner was seemingly trusted in Clinton’s inner circle. As Breitbart News reported last November, one Clinton email released at the time had Clinton asking Abedin whether a trusted staff member working for Weiner could deliver a secure cell phone to Clinton.
Meanwhile, Comey’s revelation has some calling for a special prosecutor to probe Abedin. Last week, Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) was asked on MSNBC’s Morning Joe whether he believes Abedin’s actions were potentially criminal.
“If there was classified information and it was improperly passed to a person unauthorized to receive it. Yes, it’s a crime,” he said.
“Without knowing what the intentions were and so forth, there is potentially a prosecutable crime.”
“Should it have been prosecuted?” host Joe Scarborough asked.
“It still may be potentially. It’s not outside the statute of limitations. Who will decide it? That’s why we need a special prosecutor to review all of this investigative material,” Blumenthal replied.
Aaron Klein is Breitbart’s Jerusalem bureau chief and senior investigative reporter. He is a New York Times bestselling author and hosts the popular weekend talk radio program, “Aaron Klein Investigative Radio.” Follow him on Twitter @AaronKleinShow. Follow him on Facebook.
With research by Joshua Klein.
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