Hillary Clinton would face tough questions about Bill's finances if chosen for Secretary of State

[babylonsister]

Hillary Clinton would face tough questions about Bill's finances if chosen for Secretary of State

Hillary Clinton will face awkward questions about her husband's financial ties with Arab sheikhs and Central Asian oligarchs if Barack Obama nominates her as Secretary of State.


By Philip Sherwell, US Editor, in New York
Last Updated: 1:50PM GMT 16 Nov 2008


Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton have had talks about her becoming his Secretary of State
Photo: GETTY


The President-Elect has reportedly sounded out his former bitter rival to be the international face for his new administration - just months after she mocked his foreign policy inexperience and criticised his plans to talk to America's enemies.

But the ex-First Lady would first have to go through a gruelling confirmation process on Capitol Hill at which, The Sunday Telegraph has learned, Republican senators will raise her husband's secrecy-shrouded business deals and fund-raising for his glitzy presidential library and foundation.

Former President Bill Clinton has consistently refused to provide the names of the donors, but newspaper investigations have identified a slew of foreign contributors, many from oil-rich Gulf states. His lucrative consultancy work for a friend's investment group has also involved dealings with Arab partners.

Republican strategists are dusting off plans to expose Mr Clinton's financial ties, which they will argue represent a serious conflict of interest for his wife as the country's top diplomat.

"Bill's multi-million dollar deals to fund his foundation and make the family rich were always going to be a profitable source of attack for us if Hillary was the candidate," said a Republican strategist. "Now it looks like we're going to get the chance to have a go at her over this, thanks to President-Elect Obama. How can Hillary represent our interests when Bill is said to have close financial ties with some oil sheikhs?"

more...

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/barackobama/3464473/Hillary-Clinton-would-face-tough-questions-about-Bills-finances-if-chosen-for-Secretary-of-State.html

[aquart]

1. Okay, is this an Onion piece?

Since when does this country get upset with close ties to oil money?

[DJ13]

2. Since when does this country get upset with close ties to oil money?

Since when do Democrats accept the idea that having ties to big oil isnt a bad thing?

[babylonsister]

3. Not just that; you obviously failed to read the rest of it, so allow me...

snip//

Some of their themes will echo persistent lines of attack by the Obama campaign during the tough primary battle.

His aides consistently urged Sen Clinton to provide full details of financial transactions which made the couple rich after they left the White House in debt - and separately helped turn the Clinton Foundation into one of the world's leading philanthropic organisations. Mr Obama's campaign manager David Plouffe once dubbed Mrs Clinton "one of the most secretive politicians in America today".

The Democrats' new strength in Congress means that in the absence of a political bombshell her confirmation should not be in doubt. But to satisfy the transparency rules laid down by the Obama transition team, Mr Clinton would first have to provide more information about his finances than he has previously supplied. The couple's wealth is in the band between $10m and $50m, according to her most recent Senate fianancial disclosure filings.

Such hearings would also be a reminder of the last team a Clinton faced a grilling by Congress - the impeachment proceedings against the then president over his affair with the White House intern, Monica Lewinsky.

[ixion]

4. interesting... and yet nary a mention of the BFEE and the House of Saud, or the bin Ladens

nice double standard, that.

[babylonsister]

5. This wasn't about them, or Bill really. Double standards have

nothing to do with it. Hillary has a mountain to climb thanks to Bill.