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Huma Abedin, a longtime close aide to Hillary Clinton, has written in a new book that she was sexually assaulted by a US senator, an incident she buried until allegations against the supreme court justice Brett Kavanaugh triggered her memory years later.

Abedin makes the shocking claim in a memoir, Both/And: A Life in Many Worlds, which will be published next week. The Guardian obtained a copy. Abedin does not name the senator or his party or give any other clues as to his identity.

Abedin details her alleged assault while describing her work for Clinton when the former first lady and future secretary of state and presidential candidate was a US senator from New York, between 2001 and 2009.

The passage comes shortly after a description of how Abedin and the Clintons came to attend Donald Trumps wedding to his third wife, Melania Knauss, in Palm Beach, Florida, in January 2005.

Of that occasion, Abedin, who was born in Michigan but grew up in Saudi Arabia, writes: I felt I was at an Arab wedding back home.

Then, after describing a Washington dinner attended by a few senators and their aides but not Clinton, Abedin writes: I ended up walking out with one of the senators, and soon we stopped in front of his building and he invited me in for coffee. Once inside, he told me to make myself comfortable on the couch.

She says the senator took off his blazer, rolled up his sleeves and made coffee while they continued to talk.

Then, in an instant, it all changed. He plopped down to my right, put his left arm around my shoulder, and kissed me, pushing his tongue into my mouth, pressing me back on the sofa.

I was so utterly shocked, I pushed him away. All I wanted was for the last 10 seconds to be erased.

Abedin writes that the senator seemed surprised but apologized and said he had misread her all this time. As she considered how to leave without this ending badly, she writes, the senator asked if she wanted to stay.

Then I said something only the twentysomething version of me would have come up with I am so sorry and walked out, trying to appear as nonchalant as possible.

Abedin writes that she kept away from the senator for a few days but then ran into him on Capitol Hill, nodding when he asked if they were still friends. Clinton then joined them, Abedin writes, as if she knew I needed rescuing even though Id told her nothing about that night.

Abedin writes that she stayed friendly with the senator and soon buried the incident, which she wanted to forget, succeeding in erasing it from her mind entirely.

Then, in late 2018, Kavanaugh was nominated to the supreme court by Donald Trump. A professor, Christine Blasey Ford, accused Kavanaugh of sexual assault at a party years earlier, an allegation Kavanaugh denied.

Testifying in the Senate, Ford said the alleged assault drastically altered her life, before a therapy session in 2012 led her to do her best to suppress memories of the assault because recounting the details caused me to relive the experience, and caused panic attacks and anxiety.

Though Kavanaugh became a leading symbol of the #MeToo era, in which allegations of sexual misconduct and assault have brought down prominent men, Republicans did not waver in their support of his appointment and he was duly confirmed to the court.

Abedins memory of her experience on the unnamed senators couch, she writes, was triggered when she read about Christine Blasey Ford being accused of conveniently remembering her alleged assault.

Earlier this month, an excerpt from the book published by Vogue dealt with Abedins experiences when her husband, the former congressman and New York mayoral candidate Anthony Weiner, became embroiled in repeated scandal over sexually explicit behavior on social media.

Abedin and Weiner are now estranged.

Information and support for anyone affected by rape or sexual abuse issues is available from the following organisations. In the US, Rainn offers support on 800-656-4673. In the UK, Rape Crisis offers support on 0808 802 9999. In Australia, support is available at 1800Respect (1800 737 732). Other international helplines can be found at ibiblio.org/rcip/internl.html

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Longtime Hillary Clinton aide Huma Abedin describes sexual ...

I understand the argument that Hillary Clinton has suffered enough for her husbands sins. (Of course, shes hardly suffered enough for her own.) But shes a beneficiary of the power and money Bill Clinton enjoys in the wake of his presidency. Shes his wife and a window into his personal life. So why are any serious news outlets interviewing her without asking about Jeffrey Epstein? If the press wants to treat allegations against Epstein seriously, why should Clinton get a pass when shes trying to sell books?

The former secretary of state is on a book tour, hawking her new novel, making stops at The View and The Atlantic to sell copies and complain about conservatives. Yet, in the years since her failed presidential bid, the public learned a great deal about Bill Clintons deeply suspicious ties to Jeffrey Epstein, the convicted sex criminal with a network of powerful allies. She should hardly be on the hook for all of Bills personal failings but these allegations are credible and enormous.

In May 2020, Netflix dropped Jeffrey Epstein: Filthy Rich, a docuseries bizarrely executive produced in part by James Patterson, Epsteins former neighbor and Bill Clintons repeated co-author. (Their latest book dropped this summer.) That documentary features two witnesses who say, despite the Clintons denials, that Bill visited Little Saint James, Epsteins private island that was literally nicknamed Orgy Island. Steve Scully worked on the island for six years, from 1999 to 2005. I saw Bill Clinton sitting with Jeffrey on the living room porch, he says in the show.

Virginia Giuffre, one of Epsteins most vocal accusers, also told documentarians, I remember having a dinner with Clinton. He was there, and I never saw him do anything improper. I wish, you know, he would just come clean about [it].

Giuffre made that claim in court documents as well, telling investigators in 2011 that Epstein said Clinton was on the island because he owe[d] me a favor.

There is also a serious discrepancy between the number of flights Clinton admits to taking on Epsteins plane and the number in reports from flight logs. Fox News reported that Clinton took at least 26 flights on the jet. Flight logs from Gawker show at least a dozen. Clinton admits to only four.

Did the former first lady ask her husband why he was photographed getting a neck rub from Epsteins 22-year-old massage therapist on a post-presidential humanitarian trip to Africa? That massage therapist, whos since accused Epstein of rape, says she saw Clinton partake in no foul play on the trip, during which he traveled on Epsteins plane. Fine. But what does his wife think of the pictures, which were released in 2020? Did she ask him about that? Does she think they suggest Bill had way too casual of a relationship with a convicted abuser?

The media largely treats Giuffres many allegations against Epstein credibly. Outlets have reported on the flight logs. Why, then, should Hillary Clinton be allowed to continue enriching her family and advancing her message without answering difficult questions about her own husbands ties to Epstein? Does the news value of her insipid political commentary really outweigh the value of asking these questions?

Of course, any outlet that asks Clinton about Epstein will be punished by her team. Thats how this works. Thats almost certainly why ABC News quashed Amy Robachs story on Epstein back in 2019, despite the networks denials. Yet Clintons ties to Epstein have made enough headlines, and are plenty serious, that his wife has presumably brought it up and presumably knows something more than the public. Shell, of course, deny wrongdoing. But she should actually have to do that.

ABC News let The View give Clinton a nine-minute tongue bath earlier this month. The networks executives and journalists are normalizing something very abnormal.

Every journalist should make these questions a condition of sitting down with Hillary and Bill Clinton. If the pair wants access to the media, they should have to earn it by answering important questions the media exists to ask.

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Why Is The Media Letting Hillary Clinton Sell Her Book ...

State of Terror, by Hillary Clinton and Louise Penny Simon & Schuster hide caption

State of Terror, by Hillary Clinton and Louise Penny

I approached the package with caution. The book inside could be trouble, big trouble. Literary collaborations usually are and this one by two women of achievement gave off warning signs of being a high-profile gimmick gone wrong.

Don't open the book, I told myself, but I couldn't resist late night readings, undercover, so to speak. And before I knew it, I'd lost my grip and fell headlong into the frantic feminist fantasy of State of Terror, a thriller by Hillary Rodham Clinton and Louise Penny.

Let's debrief: Clinton and Penny are personal friends a friendship that was sparked by Clinton's admiration for Penny's Chief Inspector Gamache mystery series. In the wake of Clinton's loss of the 2016 presidential election and Penny's loss of her husband, who suffered from dementia, they decided to collaborate on a political suspense novel.

The two women have said in interviews that they wanted to have some fun during a difficult time and to pay tribute to the power of female friendship. Call me nave, but the resulting thriller, though uneven, bears out their claims.

State of Terror is what Graham Greene famously called "an entertainment." Searching for fine writing or complex characters here would be as pointless a quest as searching for the Maltese Falcon. Instead, like most political thrillers, State of Terror is a plot-driven concoction, featuring a classic race against time to out-maneuver international terrorists and homegrown traitors hellbent on turning the United States into a Russian satellite state.

The twist here is the gender of the action figure who's barking commands and sweating her mascara off in the effort to save American democracy. Not only is she female, but she's a late-middle-aged secretary of state named Ellen Adams.

At Adams' side is her trusted counselor and best friend from childhood, a woman named Betsy Jameson. Together, they outwit a cabal of evil potentates, minions and dictators as they ricochet around the globe on Air Force Three. Call it, "The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pantsuits."

State of Terror is a giddy read, particularly for women of a certain age; let's say, us women of an age old enough to think that the just-concluded run of Daniel Craig as James Bond lost much of its mojo when Judi Dench as "M" departed the series in Skyfall.

Suspense let alone political suspense is still pretty much a white man's game. Lauren Wilkinson's recent Cold War thriller, American Spy, is one of the rare novels in this genre starring a woman of color and one who's a professional. Most often, when female characters occupy a lead role in suspense, they've stumbled into it. That's especially true of World War II thrillers starring female spies and assassins: Think of Eye of the Needle, by Ken Follett; Fall from Grace, by Larry Collins; and Three Hours in Paris by Cara Black.

Dench's "M" was that rarest of animals an ambitious professional older woman wielding power. And, that's what makes State of Terror intriguing, particularly in its second half when Penny's trademark one sentence paragraphs intensify the pace of the suspense and Clinton's fictional alter ego goes la mano a mano with two of her real-life foes: Putin, here called Ivanov, and a former American president, here called "Eric Dunn."

There's always been a score settling potential inherent in mystery and suspense fiction; for instance, the late literary scholar Carolyn Heilbrun routinely targeted her Columbia University English Department colleagues in her Amanda Cross mysteries. Here, at the end of an unsuccessful fact finding meeting with Dunn in his Palm Beach palace, Adams lets her nemesis know who's in charge:

"Thank you for your time." [Adams] held out her hand, and when [Dunn] took it, she yanked and pulled the immense man right up to her, so that their noses were touching and she smelled his breath. It smelled of meat. ...

"You've made it clear time and again that nothing happened in the White House without your approval. ... If there is a disaster, it will be dumped at your big gold door. I'll make sure of that. ..."

All thrillers are fantasy stories fantasies about power and ingenuity. In State of Terror, an older woman draws on her expertise, a reserve of female solidarity, and the magic of a tool James Bond never scored a pair of Spanx and she manages to avert disaster. As thriller fantasies go, this one feels a lot more plausible to me than most.

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'State of Terror' Review: Hillary Clinton and Louise Penny ...

Hillary Clinton was heckled and booed by a crowd outside of Queen's University in Belfast on Friday as she attended a ceremony installing her as the college's first female chancellor.

A 40-second clip posted on Twitter showed Clinton dressed in robes as a child follows behind her, holding the garment up to prevent it from dragging on the ground. As she steps into the roadway, toward the university, members of the crowd begin yelling at the former U.S. Secretary of State.

One person can be heard screaming "war criminal!" at least a dozen times while another individual yells for Clinton "to go f**k" herself. Someone else in the group shouted, "shame on Queen's" before an inaudible chant briefly starts.

The group is anti-war and was protesting against the United States' foreign policy, according to British media.

Clinton appeared to be unphased by the taunting and gave a quick wave before ascending the college's steps.

The politician was originally appointed as chancellor in January 2020 but her installation was delayed because of COVID. She is the university's 11th chancellor and the first woman to hold the title.

"Secretary Clinton is an internationally recognized public servant who has demonstrated a longstanding commitment to Northern Ireland. She has an enormous amount to offer the University and will continue to work as a key advocate for Queen's on the international stage," Professor Ian Greer, the president and vice-chancellor of Queen's University, said in a statement.

The term is for five years and will be largely ceremonial, however, Clinton will oversee graduation ceremonies, serve as the university's ambassador and offer advice to senior management.

Prior to the ceremony, Clinton said she was happy to be in Northern Ireland and is proud of her "longstanding connection" with the country. In her acceptance speech, she said the decision to take on the role was easy as she's always enjoyed being on campuses and talking with students.

But she also cited the country's recent history as part of her reason.

"Northern Ireland has become a symbol of democracy's power to transcend divisions and deliver peace, and we need that beacon of hope now more than ever," Clinton said during her inauguration ceremony.

"But with hope comes responsibilities, the responsibility to be a citizen, to be willing to discuss and learn from people unlike yourselves," she added. "To debate and compromise in search of common ground to participate in our shared institutions, to respect the rights, dignity and needs of all people, and to uphold the rule of law."

Fourteen other individuals from areas like business, politics, sports, the arts and education were awarded honorary degrees during Clinton's installation. Among them include Derry Girls creator Lisa McGee and international field hockey player Shirley McCay.

In 2018, Clinton received an honorary doctor of law degree from Queen's University Belfast. She was also awarded an honorary doctorate in civil law at Oxfordwhich former President Bill Clinton attended between 1968 and 1970the day before her 2021 ceremony in Belfast. Their daughter, Chelsea, graduated with a doctorate from the school in 2014.

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Hillary Clinton Booed, Called a War Criminal By Crowd ...

Falco did make choices in her portrayal of Hillary. In Tuesdays episode, Bill wakes up Hillary on the the morning of his grand jury testimony to reveal that he has lied to her about his relationship with Lewinsky. In the scene, Bill explains that he did have an affairand Falco decided to react with shock and fury.

I spoke to director Rachel Morrisonbut we were operating under the assumption that she believed what she believed at those moments. Its complicated psychologically, because who knows what she actually knew, even in a deeper place, and what she was willing to admit to herself. Nobody knows but Hillary. But based on the information I was given, and the views of the filmmakers, this is what went on.

To play Hillary, Falco was outfitted in the first ladys 90s fashionspainstaking recreations of oft photographed pants suits accessorized with headbands and gold broaches. Asked about the wardrobe, the Sopranos and Nurse Jackie star does not mince words.

I have absolutely no interest in the costumes, says the actor. I want to know that the people who have been hired have an obsessive interest in it. When I show up, I really am just like a mannequin. I never have ideas about wardrobe. I used to think that was a fault. And now I realize, no, I just do my job. I would not want them telling me how to do my job.

The actor similarly did not ask questions when it came to her costar, whom she met the first day of filming. Owen was already outfitted in full Bill Clinton prosthetics and costume.

I thought I knew what Clive Owen looked like, she remembers, laughing at her confusion. I just thought, He looks different. And then at one point I was pulling out of the parking lot and some attractive man is running towards my window saying, Hey, hold on, hold on. And I feel like, Oh, my God, thats Clive Owen. The whole time we were together, he looked like Bill.

It wasnt just with Clive, she adds. They were filming during the height of COVID restrictions, when myriad precautions were taken on set. I didnt know what anybody looked like between the masks and the plastic shields. I didnt ever know who the hell I was talking to. It was very strange.

The series highlights the unfair and cruel ways that the women in Clintons orbit were treatedinfuriating moments to revisit from a more evolved cultural standpoint. In Tuesdays episode, after Hillary appears alongside Bill during the 60 Minutes interviewa P.R. Hail Mary she reluctantly agrees tothe first lady is told that the television appearance bolstered Bills popularity, but somehow hurt hers.

Did those gender imbalances anger and shock Falco on behalf of Hillary?

I was doing it more from the point of view that those were how things were at the time,she says. I mean, I could compare this to the fucking Sopranos. To play Carmela on that series, which premiered in 1999, the actor had to arrive hours ahead of shooting so her characters appearance could be perfectedthe hair, the makeup, the nails, the jewelrythen Jim Gandolfini would come in and be on set two seconds later. But thats the show that I was doing, about a woman who liked to get dressed up. So you do the show that you do under the circumstances that you do it. So no, I wasnt shocked by any of it. That was the worldthe world is evolving, and thank God for that.

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Playing Hillary Clinton on Impeachment Was Edie Falcos Way of Protecting Her - Vanity Fair