Bill Clinton, Obama transition team reach agreement Nick Cargo

Published: Sunday November 30, 2008





Print This Email This Former President Bill Clinton will stay true to his word on doing "whatever it takes" to ease the appointment of his wife, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, to the post of Secretary of State under President-elect Barack Obama. The Senator's elevation is expected to be officially announced at a Chicago hotel during a news conference starting at 10:40am Eastern.



"It speaks to President Clinton's willingness to do more than what's asked of him," a Democratic official familiar with the negotiations said.



Mr. Clinton, the New York Times reported, has agreed with the Obama transition team to nine conditions that include publicly disclosing the names of 208,000 donors to the William J. Clinton Foundation, which include Saudi royals, the king of Morocco, and the governments of Qatar and Kuwait. Future donors will also be disclosed during Sen. Clinton's term.



The William J. Clinton Foundation has raised over $500 million since its creation in 1997. The funds have gone towards charitable programs and building a presidential library. Mr. Clinton made $10.1 million from 54 speeches in 2007.



The other conditions agreed to include separating the Clinton Global Initiative from the main foundation to reduce Mr. Clinton's direct involvement. The Initiative will no longer hold its annual meetings outside the United States and will not accept new contributions from foreign governments.



The Clinton Foundation's HIV/AIDS Initiative will, however, be allowed to continue its work with governments such France, Great Britain, Norway and Sweden. If new countries or entities enter into agreements with, or an existing country increases its contribution to, the Initiative, the State Department will be notified, and if necessary, White House counsel will review the changes.



None of the nine conditions is required by law, and "all of them go above and beyond the requirements of the law to avoid even the appearance of a conflict of interest."



