Bill Clinton shifts stance to help Hillary

by Frank James

Former President Bill Clinton is reportedly willing to accept limits on his charitable and money-making activities if that will clear the way for President-elect Sen. Barack Obama to nominate Hillary Clinton as secretary of state.

As the Associated Press reports:

CHICAGO (AP) 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.

Since Sen. Clinton has emerged as a top contender for the State job, her husband's international business deals and the fundraising he has done for his foundation and presidential library have come under careful review by Obama's transition team. The former president had indicated earlier that he would be willing to significantly increase the transparency of those activities if it would boost the former first lady's chances of getting the job.

What's interesting about this is that the former president has said in the past he wouldn't release donor names because such benefactors often gave to his foundation with the understanding that their names wouldn't be made public. His concern was that revealing contributors' names would result in losing some current or future donors.

That concern appears now to be overtaken by his desire to not be the obstacle that prevents from getting a top position in the Obama cabinet.

Meanwhile, Politico reports that the the former president would forgo his overseas income if that makes the difference in his wife getting the offer.

As a key part of satisfying Obama's vetting team, former President Bill Clinton is open to giving up foreign sources of income if she becomes secretary of State, according to a close friend.The friend said the former president is willing to make "changes" in his lucrative post-White House career.

"There'll be things that he did in the past that he won't do now," the friend said. "He's open to looking at what the Obama people think make sense. The Obama people will say, 'Here's what we're comfortable with you doing.' And President Clinton will look at it and most likely, say, 'OK, I can do that.' Like her, he wants the best for this country. My read of the situation is that he's open to working something out - that everybody's happy. It doesn't feel to me like that's going to be terribly difficult."