Obama Defends Clinton Aide at Dinner for Muslim Americans

August 10, 2012, 11:06 pm

By PETER BAKER

President Obama came to the defense of an aide to Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on Friday night, countering conservatives who have called her a security risk because of supposed ties to Islamic extremists.

Hosting an iftar dinner at the White House marking the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, Mr. Obama singled out Huma Abedin, the deputy chief of staff to Mrs. Clinton who has come under fire from a handful of House Republicans who made unsubstantiated suggestions that she was among Muslim Americans with terrorist ties who have infiltrated the government.

Mr. Obama called Ms. Abedin “a good friend” and said she has “worked tirelessly in the White House, in the U.S. Senate and most exhau stingly at the State Department, where she has been nothing less than extraordinary in representing our country and the democratic values that we hold dear. Senator Clinton has relied on her expertise and so have I.”

He added: “The American people owe her a debt of gratitude because Huma is an American patriot and an example of what we need in this country â€" more public servants with her sense of decency, her grace and her generosity of spirit. So on behalf of all Americans, we thank you so much.”

While Mr. Obama did not directly address the allegations, his meaning was clear and his mention was greeted with applause by the guests.

Ms. Abedin, who was born in the United States to an Indian father and a Pakistani mother and raised in Saudi Arabia, is married to former Representative Anthony Weiner, a New York Democrat who resigned after sending lewd pictures of himself to women. She has worked for Mrs. Clinton since her days as first lady in the 1 990s and former President Bill Clinton presided at her wedding, describing her as almost like a daughter.

Representative Michele Bachmann of Minnesota, the former presidential candidate, and four other House Republicans, sent a letter to the State Department in June asserting that three relatives of Ms. Abedin, including her long-dead father, were “connected to Muslim Brotherhood operatives and/or organizations.”

Senator John McCain of Arizona, the Republican who lost the presidency to Mr. Obama in 2008, spoke out strongly on behalf of Ms. Abedin in a floor speech last month, denouncing the innuendo as “specious and degrading attacks” that “need to stop.”