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SALT LAKE CITY — Hillary Clinton's chief antagonist during his time in the U.S. House apparently didn't make much of an impression on her.
In her forthcoming book, "What Happened," the former Democratic presidential nominee writes that she thought she was shaking hands with Reince Priebus on Inauguration Day but figured out later it was Jason Chaffetz.
Chaffetz, the former Utah GOP congressman who headed the House Oversight Committee, took a lot of flak on social media for his Instagram post of the handshake with the caption, "So pleased she is not the president. I thanked her for her service and wished her luck. The investigation continues."
Clinton recalls the moment in her book and takes a swipe at Chaffetz in the process.
"We headed up the stairs to leave the platform and go back inside the Capitol, shaking hands along the way. I saw a man off to the side who I thought was Reince Priebus, head of the Republican National Committee and incoming White House chief of staff. As I passed by, we shook hands and exchanged small talk," she writes.
"Later I realized it hadn’t been Priebus at all. It was Jason Chaffetz, the then-Utah congressman and wannabe Javert who made endless political hay out of my emails and the 2012 tragedy in Benghazi, Libya."
Javert is a police inspector in "Les Miserables" who becomes obsessed with the pursuit and punishment of the escaped convict Jean Valjean over the course of the novel.
Chaffetz doggedly went after Clinton as head of the oversight committee until resigning from Congress in June. He now works as a Fox News contributor.
Clinton, he said, must have been confused during the exchange at the inauguration because she had just shaken Priebus' hands further down the platform.
"Nobody has ever, ever taken me for Reince Priebus. He must be ticked," Chaffetz said. Email: romboy@deseretnews.com Twitter: dennisromboy; DNewsPolitics
