Bill Clinton in Talks to Smooth Wife's Path to Cabinet

[ProSense]

NOVEMBER 18, 2008, 11:26 P.M. ET

Bill Clinton in Talks to Smooth Wife's Path to Cabinet

By MONICA LANGLEY and JOHN R. EMSHWILLER

WASHINGTON -- Former President Bill Clinton has offered to submit future charitable and business activities to strict ethics reviews if his wife, New York Sen. Hillary Clinton, were nominated as secretary of state, according to Democrats familiar with the deliberations. He has also agreed for the first time to disclose many of the previous donors to his efforts.

Mrs. Clinton is on a short list of names for secretary of state. A small team of aides to President-elect Barack Obama and the Clintons has been negotiating for the past two days in Washington, say people involved in the talks. The goal is to try to overcome concerns that the former president's global business and philanthropic activities could appear to pose conflicts of interest between the Obama administration's foreign policy and the private financial interests of the family of the country's top diplomat.

Under the emerging agreement, Mr. Clinton would disclose the identities of all new donors to his charitable foundation. He would also make public "major" past contributors -- a term that has yet to be defined. The cloak of secrecy over the former president's foreign financial ties stirred widespread criticism when his wife was running for president.

Mr. Clinton would also seek clearance from two separate entities -- the White House counsel and the State Department's ethics chief -- on all donations to his charitable foundation, the William J. Clinton Foundation, which includes his presidential library and the Clinton Global Initiative. He would follow the same procedure before agreeing to any paid speeches, according to people close to the talks. Additionally, Mr. Clinton would step away from his foundation's daily operations -- all significant concessions for his wife, one person added.

"Bill Clinton will not be the obstacle to whether Hillary gets this job or not," said one Democrat familiar with the situation. Another person added: "He's willing to be as transparent as the Obama world wants."

Mr. Clinton wouldn't return any money already collected from foreign political and business leaders, even if it has stirred controversy, according to one person close to the talks, largely because those funds have been spent on programs such as campaigns to alleviate AIDS and hunger.

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State: HRC’s ticket to debt forgiveness?

By KENNETH P. VOGEL | 11/18/08 8:17 PM EST

If Hillary Rodham Clinton becomes Barack Obama’s secretary of state, she could wipe away her lingering $7.6 million presidential campaign debt.

As the nation’s top diplomat, she would be barred by tradition and ethics rules from partisan political activity, including raising cash to pay off debt from her unsuccessful bid for the Democratic presidential nomination.

And that could give her a powerful case to make to the Federal Election Commission about why it should forgive her campaign debt through a settlement process not unlike filing for bankruptcy.

“Her ability to raise money would be ended by going into the administration,” said former FEC chairman Michael Toner, who recently served as the top lawyer on Fred Thompson’s failed bid for the Republican presidential nomination.

In deciding whether to grant a so-called “debt settlement agreement” and close out a campaign committee, Toner explained that commissioners “look at whether you have ability to raise funds, the length of time that’s passed and whether you are otherwise eligible to terminate.”

That means ensuring that there are no pending FEC complaints against her campaign – which is tough to determine since the commission doesn’t publicly list complaints it’s investigating – and that the vendors still owed money agree to forgive their unpaid bills.

Clinton’s outstanding invoices are almost entirely with Washington-based allies and political firms less likely to clamor for cash than mom-and-pop businesses outside the Beltway.

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[GarbagemanLB]

1. He agreed to disclose 'many'? I'm sorry, but he needs to disclose all. I have no issues with Hillary

being Secretary of State, but they need to completely vet Bill.

[peace13]

2. Oh god...on all counts.

I actually sent Hill money after her great speech for Obama at the convention. I am sure that many more did the same. This article brings me to tears. Millions of Americans lost the right of bankruptcy under H. Clifton's reign and yet she can use it for political reasons. That figures. I admire this woman. She has....big balls!

[Eric J in MN]

3. Hillary Clinton owes '$5.3 million to pollster and strategist Mark Penn'

If the Mark Penn and the FEC say she doesn't have to pay, then Mark Penn will have given her a $5.3 million bribe.

[abumbyanyothername]

13. She paid him over $5 million to lose the campaign for her?

:rofl:

[KittyWampus]

4. Debt forgiveness? She several options open at the time of the primaries to not GET HERSELF into debt

And the fact she didn't manage her campaign's funds better, hire better staff or quit when it was obvious she had lost highlights how inappropriate it is to put her at head of State.

[catgirl]

5. Can Hillary pass the vetting test herself?

Forget Bill, Hillary has too much baggage herself. She has made deals that should
raise eyebrows- deals with Indian companies, companies that pollute, etc.

[ProSense]

6. Dem sources: Clinton to help Hillary get State job

Dem sources: Clinton to help Hillary get State job

By BETH FOUHY, Associated Press Writer Beth Fouhy, Associated Press Writer – 19 mins ago

CHICAGO – Former President Bill Clinton has offered several concessions to help Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, his wife, become secretary of state, people familiar with President-elect Barack Obama's transition vetting process said Wednesday.

Clinton has agreed to release the names of several major donors to his charitable foundation and will submit future foundation activities and paid speeches to a strict ethics review, said Democrats knowledgeable about the discussions.

They also said that Clinton would step away from day-to-day responsibility for his foundation while his wife serves and would alert the State Department any new sources of income and to his speechmaking. The Democrats spoke only on grounds of anonymity because of the private nature of the Cabinet-selection process.

<...>

The former president has engaged in other deals that could complicate his wife's work with foreign governments as secretary of state. Records show he raised money for his foundation from the Saudi royal family, Kuwait, Brunei and the Embassy of Qatar, and from a Chinese Internet company seeking information on Tibetan human rights activists.

While many people familiar with the New York senator's thinking say she is inclined to take the secretary of state's job if it is offered, others say she is also considering the consequences of leaving the Senate, where she had hoped to take a leading role on health care reform and other issues.

"Would she be willing to give up her independent stature in the U.S. Senate, Robert F. Kennedy's seat, to be in the Cabinet? It will be a considerable decision for her," said Lanny Davis, a former Clinton adviser not involved in the vetting. "It's a completely different life than you lead in the Senate, where you are your own spokesperson, your own advocate. When you join the Cabinet of the president of the United States, that is no longer the case."

Clinton declined to discuss any part of the selection process Tuesday. "I've said everything I have to say on Friday," she said.

At the State Department, the prospect of Clinton as secretary is creating some anxiety among career foreign service officers worried that she would install her own loyalists and exclude them from policy-making. Some at the State Department see her as a foreign policy lightweight, although there is grudging acknowledgment of her star power.

[ClarkUSA]

7. She could pay off the bulk of her debt by liquidating her Senate campaign committee account.

Because there's no way most Obama supporters are going to give money to pay off scumbags like Mark Penn, Harold Wolfson, etc.

[BootinUp]

9. Only if Obama hires her, right? lol.

[ClarkUSA]

11. It's a good way to neutralize external Clintonian threats to his overall agenda, doncha think?

Of course, I prefer Gov. Richardson. It'd be worth it just to see that asshole James Carville choke on the word "Judas"
one mo' time.

But if Barack thinks it's wise, then it'll be delicious to watch Hillary toe the Obama's "naive" foreign policy line or hit the
road back to Chappaqua. And it'll be fun to watch Bill cool his heels on Ron Burkle's Air **** One and passes up glittery
Davos and/or one shady deal after another with con men, despots and dictators. Can't wait, really. Hillaryland will have
to STFU with their PUMA whining about Obama "disrespecting" Hillary. It's brilliant in a delicious way.

And just imagine the landslide in 2012... ObamaIs44.

lol

[ProSense]

10. It only has $700K in it, but according to this report it can't be used

If Clinton became secretary of state, she’d also have to empty her leadership political action committee, which had nearly $700,000 in the bank in mid-October, and her Senate reelection committee. It had nearly $6 million on hand at the end of September – a lot of which was rolled over from general election contributions to her presidential campaign, which could not be used to pay back her debt. She could give the cash from both committees to the Democratic National Committee, charity or dole it out among candidates.

link

[ClarkUSA]

12. Thanks... but here's a source which said she can...

According to Bloomberg, Sen. Hillary Clinton "will face a financial decision if she is nominated as secretary of state: what to do
about the more than $7 million in debts left over from her presidential campaign."

"She could pay off the bulk of her debt by liquidating her Senate campaign committee account. She also could legally
continue to raise money, though that may present ethical concerns if she is serving in the Cabinet."

[ProSense]

14. She no longer has the $6.5 million stated in that article

link

Also, the FEC rules indicate that she cannot use funds donate for GE to pay off primary debt. Donors would have to agree to that. From the article you linked to indicated they were referring to the amount as of Sept.

Her Senate campaign committee, which had $6 million in the bank at the end of September, could agree to pay off her presidential campaign debts.

The Senate account received $6.5 million in donations from supporters who initially had given the money to finance Clinton's general-election campaign had she won the Democratic presidential nomination. They gave the money instead to her Senate campaign rather than request a refund.

Now it isn't clear why "they" gave the money to her Senate campaign instead of paying off her debt. It's possible they could give permission to use the $700K toward her debt.

[ErinBerin84]

8. Politico just posted ANOTHER gossip account

from a "friend" of Bill Clinton, saying that he would be willing to hold back on activities in the future that he has partaken in the past, in terms of deals....so, we have moved from the Politico citing "Democratic insiders", "people close to the campaign", "democratic officials", to "friend"....yeahhhh.

Well, if Hillary is secretary of state, can we send Mark Penn to gitmo until it closes? And get Samantha Power back?