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Published Date: November 20, 2008 WASHINGTON: Former President Bill Clinton has offered several concessions to help his wife, Sen Hillary Rodham Clinton, become secretary of state, people familiar with the presidential transition process said yesterday. Meanwhile, a source close to the process involving President-elect Barack Obama's selection of his team said Obama has "informally" offered the attorney general post to Washington lawyer Eric Holder, who has accepted, pending completion of the vetting process. Holder, 57, would be the country's first black attorney general. The person spoke on condition of anonymity yesterday because no announcement has been made, though it could be made as soon as this week. 
Also, Obama has chosen former US Senate Democratic leader Tom Daschle to be Health and Human Services secretary, news media reported yesterday, citing sources close to Obama's transition team. Daschle has reportedly accepted. Daschle, of South Dakota, was an early supporter of Obama's, encouraging the first-term senator from Illinois to make his presidential run. He currently serves as the head of Obama's healthcare policy group as the president-elect prepares to take office on Jan 20.
Bill Clinton reportedly has agreed to help his wife's vetting process for the US foreign minister position by releasing the names of several major donors to his charitable foundation. He also 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 to his speaking schedule an
d any new sources of income. 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, currently held by Condoleezza Rice, 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. Bill Clinton had indicated earlier that he would be willing to significantly increase the transparency of those activities if it would boost Hillary Clinton's chances of getting the job.
A team of attorneys is representing the Clintons in negotiations with Obama officials, in talks which have taken place this week at a law firm in Washington. Obama takes office on Jan 20. Aides familiar with the negotiations said the vetting has gone smoothly and both Clintons had been fully cooperative with the process. One Clinton adviser noted 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 or controversy about a possible conflict of interest.
Bill Clinton's network of business deals and charitable endeavors became an issue during Hillary Clinton's run for the Democratic presidential nomination. One Democrat who advised her campaign said few of her senior strategists knew anything about the former president's business arrangements and whether they would hold up under scrutiny if she won the nomination. The adviser spoke on background, not authorized to speak publicly for Hillary Clinton's political operation.
During his primary campaign against Hillary Clinton, Obama pressed the former president to name the donors to his library. Bill Clinton refused, saying many had given money on the condition that their names not be revealed. He promised to make the donors' names public going forward if his wife won the Democratic nomination. 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. Hillary Clinton declined to discuss any part of the selection process Tuesday. "I've said everything I have to say on Friday," she said.
Holder, meanwhile, met Obama only four years ago, but the affable Bronx-born son of a Barbados immigrant quickly won a seat in the Democrat's inner circle. Holder has made no public comment on the nomination, though an Obama official and two Democrats in touch with Obama's transition team on Tuesday confirmed that Holder is the top choice for attorney general. If he becomes the next chief US law enforcement officer, Holder will try to win back the public's confidence in the Justice Department - an agency
whose fiercely independent image was tarnished by Republican political meddling during the Bush administration.
Internally, there is a morale problem the likes of which I have never seen before," Holder said in an interview late last year. "Externally, there is a crisis of confidence that the nation has with regard to the department." During the nomination process though, Holder could run into some potential political problems over a 2001 pardon of a wealthy commodities dealer by Bill Clinton, whose administration Holder served as deputy attorney general. The trader, Marc Rich, had spent years running from tax charges.
On the last day of Clinton's term, Holder told the White House he was "neutral, leaning toward favorable" for a presidential pardon for Marc Rich, a wealthy commodities dealer who had spent years running from tax charges. However, the pardon provoked howls of protests and a congressional investigation over whether it was politically motivated. Holder later publicly apologized for what he called a snap decision.
Holder helped lead the team that selected Sen Joe Biden as Obama's running mate. Throughout his career as a judge, a prosecutor and a defense attorney for the prestigious law firm Covington & Burling, Holder's independence rarely has been questioned. Daschle served as the top Democrat in the Senate between 1994 and 2004, and was as majority leader when Democrats controlled the chamber between 2001 and 2003. He was elected to the Senate in 1986 and before that served eight years in the House of Representati
ves.
Since losing his re-electiion bid, Daschle has worked as a public-policy advisor for the law firm Alston and Bird. He was not immediately available for comment. Daschle was reported to be a candidate for Obama's chief of staff before that job went to Illinois Rep Rahm Emanuel. - Agencies
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