BY BETH FOUHY
CHICAGO, Nov. 19: Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton has engaged three prominent lawyers to help President-elect Barack Obama vet her candidacy for secretary of state. Friends of the former First Lady said she was weighing whether to take the job if Mr Obama offered it. Attorneys Cheryl Mills, David Kendall and Robert Barnett are working with the Obama transition team to review information about the Clintons’ background and finances, including Bill Clinton’s post-presidential business deals and relationships with foreign governments. All three represented the Clintons on legal matters in the White House, including President Clinton’s dalliance with White House intern Monica Lewinsky that led to his impeachment in 1998. Officials knowledgeable about the vetting said it has gone smoothly and that both Clintons were cooperating fully. Mr Clinton already has appeared to take an important step towards smoothing his wife’s path to the job.
Democrats familiar with the negotiations said the former President has suggested he would step away from day-to-day responsibility for his charitable foundation while his wife served and would alert the state department to his speaking schedule and any new sources of income. A top aide involved in the vetting said there was nothing obvious in the former President’s dealings that would torpedo his wife’s prospects for the job. The aide was not authorised to discuss the matter, and would speak only on background.
The aide pointed out that former President George H.W. Bush has given paid speeches and participated in international business ventures since his son, George W. Bush, has been President without stirring public complaints about a conflict of interest. But another Democrat who advised Ms Clinton’s presidential campaign warned that Mr Clinton’s business arrangements were more complicated than many people realised. —AP
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Bill offers to give data on foundation activities
New York, Nov. 19: Former US President Bill Clinton has offered to submit future charitable and business activities of his "Clinton foundation" for close scrutiny if his wife Hillary Clinton was nominated as secretary of state.
Mr Clinton also agreed for the first time to disclose many of the previous donors to his foundation, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday quoting Democrats closed to him. Ms Clinton is on a short list of names for top diplomatic post in next administration. A small team of aides to President-elect Barack Obama and the Clintons has been negotiating for the past two days in Washington, the Journal said, citing people involved in the talks.
—PTI
