Memo Outlines Restrictions Bill Clinton Will Face After Wife's Confirmation
This post was written by CBS News director of political coverage Steve Chaggaris and producer Michelle Levi.
CBS News has obtained a "Memorandum of Understanding" between the William J. Clinton Foundation and the Obama transition team that outlines precisely what restrictions former President Bill Clinton and the Clinton Foundation will have on them if Hillary Clinton is confirmed as Secretary of State.
The five-page memo was sent to the incoming Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., and the Committee's Ranking Member, Sen. Richard Lugar, R-Indiana. The memo was then forwarded by Kerry and Lugar to members of the committee in advance of next month's confirmation hearings for Hillary Clinton. CBS News obtained this memo from the office of a Foreign Relations Committee member.
One of the most interesting portions of the memo is the restrictions Bill Clinton has agreed to regarding his annual Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) meetings. Should his wife be confirmed as Secretary of State, the CGI would be spun off into its own entity and former President Clinton will remove himself from the leadership of the CGI as well as stop fund-raising or even sending out invitations for the annual meeting. In essence, he has agreed to limit his participation to being just the emcee of the event.
"President Clinton will continue in his role as principal host and be identified as CGI's Founding Chairman, but he will not serve as an officer or director of the newly established entity or otherwise serve as a fiduciary on behalf of CGI," the memo states.
In addition, the agreement states that the new CGI spinoff won't take money from foreign governments.
The memo, dated Wednesday, noted that the Clinton Foundation would release the entire list of its donors (which it did today) and as long as Hillary Clinton is Secretary of State, it will release its future donors annually.
Meanwhile, CBS News correspondent Sharyl Attkisson reports that thousands of people who gave to victims of Hurricane Katrina appear on the list of donors to the Clinton Foundation.
Katrina donors ended up on the list of Clinton supporters when donations poured in before the Bush-Clinton Katrina Fund was fully set up, so the former presidents held the money in two other charities: the Greater Houston Community Foundation and the Clinton Foundation, Attkisson reports.
CBS News has obtained a "Memorandum of Understanding" between the William J. Clinton Foundation and the Obama transition team that outlines precisely what restrictions former President Bill Clinton and the Clinton Foundation will have on them if Hillary Clinton is confirmed as Secretary of State.
The five-page memo was sent to the incoming Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., and the Committee's Ranking Member, Sen. Richard Lugar, R-Indiana. The memo was then forwarded by Kerry and Lugar to members of the committee in advance of next month's confirmation hearings for Hillary Clinton. CBS News obtained this memo from the office of a Foreign Relations Committee member.
One of the most interesting portions of the memo is the restrictions Bill Clinton has agreed to regarding his annual Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) meetings. Should his wife be confirmed as Secretary of State, the CGI would be spun off into its own entity and former President Clinton will remove himself from the leadership of the CGI as well as stop fund-raising or even sending out invitations for the annual meeting. In essence, he has agreed to limit his participation to being just the emcee of the event.
"President Clinton will continue in his role as principal host and be identified as CGI's Founding Chairman, but he will not serve as an officer or director of the newly established entity or otherwise serve as a fiduciary on behalf of CGI," the memo states.
In addition, the agreement states that the new CGI spinoff won't take money from foreign governments.
The memo, dated Wednesday, noted that the Clinton Foundation would release the entire list of its donors (which it did today) and as long as Hillary Clinton is Secretary of State, it will release its future donors annually.
Meanwhile, CBS News correspondent Sharyl Attkisson reports that thousands of people who gave to victims of Hurricane Katrina appear on the list of donors to the Clinton Foundation.
Katrina donors ended up on the list of Clinton supporters when donations poured in before the Bush-Clinton Katrina Fund was fully set up, so the former presidents held the money in two other charities: the Greater Houston Community Foundation and the Clinton Foundation, Attkisson reports.
