After months of stonewalling, the State Department finally released a list of employees that were granted a special arrangement to have private clients while working for the State Department. ProPublica noted that Clinton ally Caitlin Klevorick, whose private consulting firm advised governments and corporate clients, was among the State Department employees that had such a special arrangement. Klevorick worked for Bill Clinton and The Clinton Foundation before she was hired to work at the State Department led by then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
ProPublica writes:
“Now, after a six-month delay, the department has given us the names. The list suggests that the status is mostly used for its intended purpose: to allow outside experts to consult or work for the government on a temporary basis. But at least one person on the list appears to have had an arrangement similar to Abedin’s. Caitlin Klevorick received two one-year appointments as a special government employee beginning in January 2012. During that time, online listings show she had a private consulting firm, CBK Strategies, which advises government and corporate clients on communication and policy.”
“There is a very high potential for actual conflicts of interest in this case, and there is certainly every appearance of conflicts of interest,” said Craig Holman of the ethics watchdog Public Citizen.”