The vetting of Hillary Clinton is ongoing, delicate, sensitive and private -- but not, according to people with direct knowledge of the work, acrimonious.
Despite press reports about former President Bill Clinton's resistance to turn over information about his income sources, international business dealings and foundation donors, he has instructed Cheryl Mills, the long-time Clinton lawyer overseeing the liaison with Obama's team, to collect and turn over everything requested by Obama's vetters.
Bill Clinton has also indicated, according to sources, that he would be willing to step down as the functional leader of his foundation for the duration of his wife's tenure in the Obama administration. He would readily agree, these sources say, to disclose any new sources of income and submit his speaking schedule -- and his speeches -- to State Department officials in advance.
A team of lawyers supervises the vetting of more than a dozen candidates for top administration jobs. Todd Stern, an attorney at Wilmer Hale and a close associate of John Podesta's, is an informal liaison between the Clinton and Obama teams. Stern is also supervising the transition team's review of the structure of the White House and executive orders.
As Politico's Glenn Thrush reports, Clinton is keeping her counsel, limiting updates on her thinking to a small circle of advisers who are known to be particularly discreet. Clinton's larger circle of political aides are eager to portray the Clintons as cooperative and transparent -- see this post from Clinton adviser Howard Wolfson on the couple's financial disclosures to date -- but sources involved in the vetting and others close to Obama concur: the two teams are working well together and there have been "no bumps in the road." Lawyers working on the vet are prohibited by their professional ethos, as well as signed non-disclosure agreements, from discussing the work.
Without being privy to Clinton's interior thinking, here is some informed speculation about the choice she faces. She would be Secretary of State in an administration dominated by other foreign policy heavyweights. She will wonder where Joe Biden fits in to all of this; the two senators are collegial and competitive. There is some angst with Joe Biden's circle of confidants about Clinton's serving as Secretary of State. It is not clear whether Biden himself shares the angst.
Clinton's every utterance would have to be prescreened; she would not be able to pick and choose her battles; she might be delimited by the State Department's bureaucratic imperatives. On the other hand, it is conceivable that President Obama would hand Sen. Clinton a ticket with the words "Middle East Peace" printed on it, and say: "Go," giving Clinton the flexibility and transitive authority to secure her place in history.
Obama, in his conversations with Sen. Clinton over the course of the campaign and after, has told Clinton that he wants her to play a key role in the various big-ticket proposals that he'll send to Congress, including health care. Clinton takes Obama at his word, even as other senators maneuver around and ahead of her. If Obama designates Clinton as the lead on a subject, she'll probably be the lead on that subject.
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