Is there a designated memoir season in the book publishing industry? There seems to have been a lot of unsavory confessionals in print lately.

Perhaps it’s just those who are writing the memoirs are airing out some pretty interesting things lately. (Looking at YOU, Katie Couric.) But this time, it is former Hillary Clinton right-hand woman Huma Abedin who is grabbing the headlines.

Huma Abedin has a new memoir coming out next week, entitled “Both/And: A Life In Many Worlds,” which means it’s time to start sending out advance copies and generating stories so that people will buy the book.

Only 6 days until #BothAndMemoir is published! Have you pre-ordered your copy yet? (I have a few sitting around) https://t.co/scKbZkAPpI pic.twitter.com/Kecb40M9D7

— Huma Abedin (@HumaAbedin) October 27, 2021

The book’s description on Amazon claims that this is supposed to be Abedin’s chance to “take command of her own story.” Except that she wouldn’t even HAVE a story unless she could write about the two people who propelled her into the headlines – Hillary Clinton and Anthony Weiner. This comes from the Amazon description:

Abedin’s relationship with Hillary Clinton has seen both women through extraordinary personal and professional highs, as well as unimaginable lows. Here, for the first time, is a deeply personal account of Clinton as mentor, confidante, and role model. Abedin cuts through caricature, rumor, and misinformation to reveal a crystal clear portrait of Clinton as a brilliant and caring leader, a steadfast friend, generous, funny, hardworking, and dedicated.”

Both/And is a candid and heartbreaking chronicle of Abedin’s marriage to Anthony Weiner, what drew her to him, how much she wanted to believe in him, the devastation wrought by his betrayals—and their shared love for their son. It is also a timeless story of a young woman with aspirations and ideals coming into her own in high-pressure jobs and a testament to the potential for women in leadership to blaze a path forward while supporting those who follow in their footsteps.”

Yeah, is anyone else buying thinking that this book will be nothing more than a whitewashing (in the cleaning sense, like with a cloth) of Hillary Clinton’s fading image, and yet another chance for Huma Abedin to dunk on Anthony Weiner for being a pervert? We’re not supposed to question her judgment in actually MARRYING the slimy bastard, we’re supposed to feel SORRY for her because she “wanted to believe in him.” Barf. And speaking of her judgment, does everyone realize that legally, Huma Abedin and Anthony Weiner ARE STILL MARRIED, though publicly separated?

Remember, she “withdrew” the divorce proceeding from the New York courts in order to “keep it private.” But because a divorce is a matter of changing vital statistics records, something eventually does have to be filed in the courts to dissolve the marriage, even if the details are sealed from public view. Abedin’s publisher claims that she and Weiner are “finalizing” their divorce. Huma Abedin filed for divorce in 2017 and withdrew it from the court in 2018. It’s now 2021. What is she paying her lawyers for, if not to get a divorce done quickly and privately? Yes, that is a rhetorical question, but one worth considering.

However, the news that the memoir is making today has nothing to do with either Hillary Clinton or Anthony Weiner. The headlines today are asking who Huma Abedin is talking about in this anecdote from the book, where she accuses a senator of an aggressive physical advance towards her, which headlines are characterizing as a “sexual assault.”

Abedin — the estranged wife of serial pervert and ex-con former New York Congressman Anthony Weiner — said the assault happened after a dinner attended by “a few senators and their aides.” Clinton, for whom she served as a longtime right hand, was not there.”

“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,” Abedin writes. “Once inside, he told me to make myself comfortable on the couch.”

The senator then took off his blazer and rolled up his sleeves as he made coffee and chatted with her, she said.”

Then 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,” she said.”

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

After the senator apologized and told Abedin he had “misread” her, he asked if she wanted to stay, she said.”

“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.”

The former Clinton aide said she kept away from the senator “for a few days” but remained friendly with him.”

And what then made her bring this story up?

Abedin said she buried the incident in her memory until allegations of attempted sexual assault emerged against then-Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh in the fall of 2018.”

So, her husband sexting multiple women and being convicted of doing so with a minor didn’t unearth this memory, but Brett Kavanaugh did? Anyone else buying that excuse?

Let’s ignore that obvious joke of a reason and focus on the story. Apparently this is all the detail that Huma Abedin supplies in the book – we don’t have a name, or if the said senator is still currently in office. What we do know, we have to infer by omission. Which leads to this pretty obvious conclusion.

If it was a #Republican…..We'd know the name already. https://t.co/NeGMKjIpZv

— Andrew Wilkow (@WilkowMajority) October 27, 2021

There is just no way that Huma Abedin conceals a name in this story unless the senator involved is a Democrat. The question of which Democrat, then, is an open one. Abedin refers to herself as “twentysomething” when this incident occured. She is now 45, so this makes the story about twenty-some years old. Ed Morrisey of Hot Air poses the first question on people’s minds – was this Joe Biden??? – and concludes that if it had been Biden, she wouldn’t have included the story in the book. Your mileage may vary on that conclusion. In my mind, though, a more likely candidate is the late Senator Daniel Inouye of Hawaii. Being a war hero doesn’t mean that one leads an exemplary life when it comes to personal behaviors and actions. However, Inouye died in 2012. If it was him (still a very big if, as we are well in the realm of speculation), there is no benefit to Huma Abedin by naming and shaming a dead man who still has many defenders. There are still plenty of other names from 20 years ago that could be brought up – Chris Dodd and Ted Kennedy come to mind – but it is highly unlikely that Abedin ever reveals a name. I don’t doubt that it happened, but I do think she is concealing the identity of the senator involved because the man involved is a Democrat, and either dead or out of the Senate.

Does anyone see a huge market for a Huma Abedin memoir? Unless she spills some real dirt on Hillary Clinton (unlikely) or on Anthony Weiner (likely nothing we haven’t heard already), I can’t see Abedin herself being a huge draw unless she has some big confessionals about emails and laptops and servers in the bathroom. Nope, this book is designed to put Abedin back on TV for a while, and perhaps land her a commentator slot on CNN or MSNBC. If that’s all she’s after, then the book is going to be a success. After all, it’s made headlines already.

Welcome Instapundit Readers!

Featured image: Huma Abedin caricature via DonkeyHotey on Flickr, cropped, Attribution 2.0 Generic (CC BY 2.0)