Abedin is the highest paid staffer for presidential hopeful.
By Raif Karerat
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WASHINGTON, DC: The top paid employee on Hillary Clinton’s campaign has been revealed to be South Asian American Huma Abedin — a top aide and confidante to the presidential hopeful — according to Federal Election Commission disclosures released this week.
In her facility as the campaign’s vice chairwoman, Abedin received $69,263.09 in the first quarter of the campaign, according to the Weekly Standard, meaning she is on track to receive $277,052.36 this year. By contrast, campaign manager Robby Mook took home a paltry $27,625.80 in the first quarter, while Jennifer Palmieri, the communications director, earned $31,710.91.
Born in Kalamazoo, Mich. to an Indian father and Pakistani mother, Abedin began working as an intern in the White House in 1996, assigned to then-First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton. She later worked as traveling chief of staff and “body woman” during Clinton’s 2008 Democratic Presidential nomination campaign, and subsequently served as Deputy Chief of Staff under Clinton in the State Department.
Politico has reported that Abedin is “overseeing the campaign operation and serving more often as an independent surrogate for her boss,” even serving as her proxy during meetings.
Abedin had previously taken a hiatus from the Clinton team to support her husband, former U.S. Rep. Anthony Weiner, in his bid to become mayor of New York City.
She subsequently rejoined for another tour of duty with Clinton after her husband’s mayoral aspirations sensationally imploded after a sexting scandal.
In June 2013, Abedin was the target of a campaign led by Republican members of Congress that alleged her father, mother, and brother all had terrorist links to the Muslim Brotherhood. While Republican Congresswoman Michele Bachmann, who spearheaded the conspiracy theory, refused to back down, the Washington Post called her allegations “paranoid,” a “baseless attack,” and a “smear.”
The Seattle Times compared Bachmann’s accusations to the witch-hunts of Joseph McCarthy, calling the claims “unsupported … assaults by an unthinking zealot.”
Abedin’s sizable salary figures were released amidst boasts from Clinton’s campaign that they run a “cheap” campaign.
Campaign manager Robby Mook is the force behind the frugality, reported to Mediaite.
According to John Podesta, the chairman of Clinton’s presidential campaign, Mook “proudly tells staffers and donors alike that he is ‘really, really cheap.'” But it’s also a bit of political theater, reported the Washington Post, “to demonstrate that Clinton is buckling down and making a 180-degree turn away from the dysfunction of her failed 2008 campaign.”
However, many of Clinton’s staffers are balking at the situation — especially since they’re also required to use their own cell phones and other personal means of communication, reported the D.C.-based newspaper.