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Clinton lawyers vetting her for secretary of state
(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-11-19 14:31 CHICAGO – Hillary Rodham Clinton has engaged three prominent lawyers to help US President-elect Barack Obama vet her candidacy for secretary of state even as some insiders criticized the pick and advisers to the former first lady said she was weighing whether to take the job if 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 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. Bill Clinton already has appeared to take an important step toward 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 authorized 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 Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign warned that Bill Clinton's business arrangements were more complicated than many people realized. During the campaign, few of her senior strategists knew anything about the former president's business deals and whether they would hold up under scrutiny if she won the nomination, this person said. The adviser spoke on background, not authorized to speak publicly for Hillary Clinton's political operation. It was unclear whether Bill Clinton has agreed to submit financial information to the transition team that has not been made public through Hillary Clinton's Senate disclosure requirements or during her campaign, when the couple released several years of joint tax returns. |