"It's really, really official: Hillary will be named Obama's Secretary of State" (update 3) [View All]

[ProSense]

DONE DEAL

It's really, really official: Hillary will be named Obama's Secretary of State tomorrow in Chicago, a person close to Hillary confirms.

Updated to add:

Officials: Obama set to introduce Clinton Monday

By BETH FOUHY, Associated Press Writer Beth Fouhy, Associated Press Writer – 23 mins ago

A deal with Bill Clinton over his post-White House work helped clear the way for Hillary Rodham Clinton to join President-elect Barack Obama's national security team as secretary of state, reshaping a once-bitter rivalry into a high-profile strategic and diplomatic union.

Obama was to be joined by the New York senator at a Chicago news conference Monday, Democratic officials said, where he also planned to announce that Defense Secretary Robert Gates would remain in his job for a year or more and that retired Marine General James M. Jones would serve as national security adviser.

The officials requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly for the transition team.

To make it possible for his wife to become the top U.S. diplomat, the officials said, former President Clinton agreed:

_to disclose the names of every contributor to his foundation since its inception in 1997 and all contributors going forward.

_to refuse donations from foreign governments to the Clinton Global Initiative, his annual charitable conference.

_to cease holding CGI meetings overseas.

_to volunteer to step away from day-to-day management of the foundation while his wife is secretary of state.

_to submit his speaking schedule to review by the State Department and White House counsel.

_to submit any new sources of income to a similar ethical review.

Bill Clinton's business deals and global charitable endeavors had been to create problems for the former first lady's nomination. But in negotiations with the Obama transition team, the former president agreed to several measures designed to bring transparency to those activities.

The former president long had refused to disclose the identities of contributors to his foundation, saying many gave money on condition that they not be identified.

Obama's choice of Hillary Clinton was an extraordinary gesture of good will after a year in which the two rivals competed for the Democratic nomination in a long, bitter primary battle.

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Update 2:

BC HELPS CLEAR THE WAY FOR HRC....:

As for Bill Clinton's fundraising disclosures, a source familiar with the former president's work said the list "may include some embarrassing names, but nothing dramatic enough to scuttle his wife's chances to be Secretary of State. That the nomination is on track to go forward suggests that Obama sees no overly embarrassing revelations in the list either."

Update 3:

November 30, 2008, 9:36 am

Obama to Roll Out Team, Including Clinton

By Peter Baker

CHICAGO – President-elect Barack Obama will formally roll out his national security team at a news conference here on Monday morning, including his former primary rival, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, as his secretary of state, Democrats close to the process said.

Mrs. Clinton is flying to Chicago to appear beside the man who beat her for the Democratic nomination, a person close to Clinton said. Friends previously said she was prepared to join his cabinet in hopes of having more impact than she would in the Senate, but the person close to her said the decision is now official.

In addition to Mrs. Clinton, Democrats said, Mr. Obama plans to announce that he is keeping Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates, who has run the Pentagon for the last two years under President Bush. And they said Mr. Obama will appoint General James L. Jones, a retired Marine commandant and NATO supreme commander, as his national security adviser.

Rounding out his national security team, Mr. Obama will also name Eric J. Holder Jr., a former deputy attorney general, as his choice for attorney general and Gov. Janet Napolitano of Arizona as secretary of homeland security, one Democrat briefed on the plan said. Mr. Obama may also announce Susan E. Rice, a former assistant secretary of state, as ambassador to the United Nations, a job that will be given cabinet rank, as was the case under President Bill Clinton.

The Obama and Clinton teams have been preparing the ground for this announcement for days. Mr. Clinton, who has extensive business and philanthropic interests around the world, agreed to a nine-point plan covering disclosure, vetting and other areas to avoid potential conflicts of interest, including for the first time the release of more than 200,000 donors to his foundation by the end of the year. That goes beyond the requirements of existing law.

The Obama team has planned for a while to unveil the national security team after the Thanksgiving holiday, but the timing took on additional urgency after the terrorist attacks in Mumbai. The attacks, which killed at least 180, including six Americans, offered a tragic reminder that for all of Mr. Obama’s focus on fixing the economy, national security can capture a president’s attention at any moment.

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