WASHINGTON — President Trump on Tuesday appeared to suggest that Huma Abedin, a former top aide to Hillary Clinton, should face jail time, days after the State Department posted emails found on her estranged husband’s computer that included confidential government information.
In a tweet, Trump also urged the Justice Department to act in prosecuting Abedin and former FBI Director James Comey, who the president fired in May amid the mounting investigation into Russia’s meddling in the 2016 presidential election and contacts between Moscow and Trump’s campaign.
Trump tweeted “Crooked Hillary Clinton’s top aid, Huma Abedin, has been accused of disregarding basic security protocols. She put Classified Passwords into the hands of foreign agents. Remember sailors pictures on submarine? Jail! Deep State Justice Dept must finally act? Also on Comey & others”
The State Department, responding to a lawsuit from Judicial Watch, posted online copies of Abedin’s emails from her non-government address that had been discovered on the laptop of her estranged husband, Anthony Weiner, during an FBI investigation.
In his tweet, Trump appeared to be reacting to a report in the Daily Caller that found Abedin had forwarded State Department passwords to her personal Yahoo account before Yahoo faced a series of high-level hacks that affected all account-holders.
Trump has previously accused Comey of leaking sensitive information after the former director testified that he had asked a friend to pass on notes he had taken of his interactions with Trump to a reporter for the New York Times in hopes of securing a special prosecutor to take over the Russia investigation. Ethics experts said Comey’s actions appeared to be legally protected, provided he did not disclose classified information.
In his tweet, Trump referred to the “Deep State Justice Department,” an apparent reference to the president’s contention that some elements of the U.S. intelligence apparatus have attempted to undermine his election. Trump has said there is no evidence that he colluded with Russian agents during the campaign.
After Comey was ousted, special counsel Robert S. Mueller III was appointed; he is handling the ongoing investigation and brought charges against former Trump aides, including former national security adviser Michael Flynn.
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