Report: Bill Clinton offers concessions

WASHINGTON, Nov. 19 (UPI) -- Former U.S. President Bill Clinton is offering concessions to enable the selection of his wife as the next U.S. secretary of state, sources say.

U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., is reportedly on U.S. President-elect Barack Obama's short list of choices for the post but her husband has allegedly resisted demands by transition team members to vet his post-presidential activities for possible conflicts of interest and ethical lapses, The New York Times reported Wednesday.

Now, however, Democrats close to the negotiations have told the newspaper that the former president is softening his position. For instance, he has reportedly agreed to release the names of some of the major donors to his charitable foundation and would subject its activities and paid speeches to an ethics review.

The Times said Clinton would hand off the day-to-day responsibilities of his William J. Clinton Foundation to someone else. The foundation includes both his presidential library and the Clinton Global Initiative, an effort that seeks to bring together foreign leaders to address major world challenges.

Speculation has been heavy that Obama would tap Hillary Clinton as secretary of state after meeting with her last week in Chicago.