Vetting of Bill Clinton's finances could cost Hillary her Cabinet post

New York, Nov.18 : Aides to U.S. Presidential-elect Barack Obama are reported to becoming exasperated by the Clinton camp's pokey response to queries on former President Bill Clinton's finances.

According to Politico, so high is the exasperation, that it could cost Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton her potential job of being the next Secretary of State of the United States.

However, there are signs that the Clintons may move decisively to satisfy the vetting requests in coming days, clearing the way for a "Team of Rivals" Cabinet that would bring the president-elect's opponent for the Democratic nomination into his historic administration.

Democratic officials make it sound as if the job has been all but offered to Hillary Clinton. But the ball is in her court to show that the former president's many foreign and financial entanglements would not pose huge conflicts of interest if she were the nation's chief diplomat, the officials said.

Obama isn't likely to formally offer the post to Clinton unless he's given assurances that Bill Clinton's global charitable foundation won't create future conflicts of interest with foreign governments, according to a person familiar with the situation.

The Clinton Global Initiative has earned widespread plaudits for its efforts to eradicate AIDS, malaria and poverty in Africa.

But it could prove problematic for Obama if the former president continues to arrange donations from foreign countries at the same time that his wife, as Secretary of State, is asking them for diplomatic concessions.

The Clinton Global Initiative, which has raised more than 30 billion dollars since 2005, has matched several foreign governments with projects, including a billion dollar pledge from Norway in 2007.

Obama's vetting team expressed similar worries about Bill Clinton's overseas fundraising when Hillary Clinton was briefly considered for the vice-presidency, former Clinton aides say."

ANI