By PETER BAKER and HELENE COOPER
Published in the NY Times: November 16, 2008
WASHINGTON — President-elect Barack Obama’s advisers have begun reviewing former President Bill Clinton’s finances and activities to see whether they would preclude the appointment of his wife, Hillary Rodham Clinton, as secretary of state, Democrats close to the situation said Sunday.
The examination of the former president suggests how seriously Mr. Obama is considering bringing his onetime rival for the Democratic presidential nomination into his cabinet. He met with Mrs. Clinton in Chicago on Thursday to talk about the prospect and word quickly filtered out. Many Democrats close to both camps said Sunday that it seemed likely that Mr. Obama would ask her to take the job, assuming they could work something out regarding Mr. Clinton’s role.
A team of lawyers trying to facilitate the potential nomination spent the weekend looking into Mr. Clinton’s philanthropic organization, interactions with foreign governments and ties to pharmaceutical companies, a Democrat close to both camps said. While Mr. Clinton has used his foundation to champion efforts to fight AIDS, poverty and climate change around the world, he has also taken millions in speaking fees and contributions from foreign officials and businesses with interests in American governmental policies.
Obama advisers are discussing what Mr. Clinton would need to do to avoid a conflict of interest with the duties of his wife, who is said to be interested in the post. “That’s the first and most important hurdle,” said a senior adviser to Mr. Obama. “He does good work. No one wants it to stop, but a structure to avoid conflicts must be thought of.”
More than a dozen advisers to both sides said Sunday that although they did not have firm information, they considered it improbable that Mr. Obama would have opened the door to Mrs. Clinton’s appointment without having decided, at least in principle, that he would like to make it happen. Rejecting her after letting the possibility become so public would risk a new rupture in a party that spent much of the year divided between Mr. Obama and the Clintons.
The possibility of Mrs. Clinton’s nomination generated positive response on Sunday, even from across the aisle. “She is a lady of great intelligence, demonstrated enormous determination and would be an outstanding appointment,” former Secretary of State Henry A. Kissinger told a forum in New Delhi, according to news services.
Senator Jon Kyl of Arizona, the No. 2 Republican in the Senate, said on “Fox News Sunday”: “It seems to me she’s got the experience. She’s got the temperament for it. I think she would be well received around the world. So my own initial reaction is it would be a very good selection.”
Speaking at an economic conference in Kuwait, Mr. Clinton openly acknowledged the possibility. “If he decided to ask her and they did it together, I think she’ll be really great as a secretary of state,” he said. “She worked very hard for his election after the primary fight with him, and so did I, and we were very glad that he won.”
One sign that many said pointed to Mrs. Clinton’s possible selection was the news that Gregory B. Craig would be White House counsel instead of national security adviser or deputy secretary of state, as some had expected. A law school friend of the Clintons who represented Mr. Clinton during impeachment, Mr. Craig backed Mr. Obama from the start of the campaign and was a scathing critic of Mrs. Clinton’s claims to foreign policy experience. Although some advisers saw no connection, others said putting him in a foreign policy job would be untenable if Mrs. Clinton were secretary of state.
Mr. Obama and Mrs. Clinton have kept their conversations tightly held, but that silence has only convinced some associates that the prospect is serious. “No one has called to say, ‘Don’t get too far on this,’ ” said James Carville, a longtime Clinton friend and adviser. “A silent phone’s sometimes as much of an indication as a ringing phone.”
A former adviser to Mrs. Clinton who spoke on condition of anonymity said, “If it’s a trial balloon, it certainly seems to be floating.” Another said, “I can’t believe they would have her schlep out there with all this publicity unless they were real about it.”
Over the last week at his transition offices in Chicago, Mr. Obama has interviewed at least a half-dozen prospective cabinet members, focusing on secretary of state and Treasury secretary. His team initially planned to name the first cabinet officer this week, but advisers said Sunday that no decisions had been made.
In an interview broadcast Sunday on “60 Minutes,” Mr. Obama said that the first members of his cabinet would be announced soon but declined to expound on his conversation with Mrs. Clinton. “She is somebody who I needed advice and counsel from,” he said.
Democrats said he was also considering Gov. Bill Richardson of New Mexico and at least one other candidate, perhaps Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts.
Mrs. Clinton largely shares Mr. Obama’s approach to foreign policy, but they quarreled sharply at times in the primaries. She accused him of being unprepared for the complexities of the world and characterized him as naïve for saying he would talk with Iran without preconditions and authorize strikes against terrorists in Pakistan even without permission. He attacked her initial support for the Iraq war and accused her of overstating her foreign policy credentials.
While Mrs. Clinton would bring exceptional political wattage to the Obama cabinet, it would be an open question how her role would intersect that of Vice President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr., who has a strong interest in foreign policy. It may also scramble the choices for other positions, like national security adviser or defense secretary, as Mr. Obama tries to find a mix of personalities that makes sense, advisers said.
But with Mr. Clinton apparently the most important stumbling block, lawyers are trying to scour all aspects of his postpresidency as quickly as possible, one Democratic adviser said. The adviser said the examination was being overseen by the Obama team’s personnel counsel, Christine A. Varney, a former Clinton White House aide who is now on leave from Hogan & Hartson.
It was unclear whether the review extended beyond publicly available records or whether Mr. Clinton had opened his private records. But he has powerful incentive to do so. “For the first time in 16 years,” one Democratic adviser said, “he has to cooperate with someone else since it has become clear she wants the job.”
While looking for potential problems, Obama advisers also said that Mr. Clinton would bring enormous assets as a popular figure around the world who would effectively serve as an unpaid ambassador for Obama policies. They expressed cautious optimism that the two sides could develop guidelines for what would be appropriate for him to do.
Since leaving the White House, Mr. Clinton has amassed a personal fortune through speeches, book writing and business dealings while also building a philanthropic organization that helps to expand global education, health care and nutrition. He travels the world as an elder statesman rallying world leaders to support his goals.
At the same time, he has also accepted millions of dollars from foreign officials and businesses without disclosing many details. Since its formation in 1998, Mr. Clinton’s foundation has raised more than $500 million, allowing him to build a state-of-the-art presidential library while burnishing an image as a philanthropic giant. He is not required by law to identify the donors and has steadfastly refused to do so.
Among the known Clinton Foundation donors are the Saudi royal family, the king of Morocco, a foundation linked to the United Arab Emirates, the governments of Kuwait and Qatar, and a tycoon who was the son-in-law of Ukraine’s ousted authoritarian president.
No donor to the Clinton foundation has raised more persistent questions than Frank Giustra, a Canadian mining executive. Mr. Clinton and Mr. Giustra shared a midnight banquet in September 2005 with Kazakhstan’s authoritarian president, Nursultan A. Nazarbayev. Mr. Clinton praised Mr. Nazarbayev’s bid to head an international election-monitoring organization, undercutting American foreign policy and his wife’s sharp criticism of Kazakhstan’s human rights record.
Two days after the trip, Mr. Giustra’s company signed preliminary agreements giving it the right to buy into three uranium projects controlled by Kazakhstan. Spokesmen for both men said there was no connection between the trip and the deal. Months later, a foundation controlled by Mr. Giustra gave $31.3 million to the Clinton foundation, its largest known donation.
