Another Clinton confidant and surrogate: WSJ Opinion Journal: Cheryl Mills Double Dips 10/13/2015 1:50PM :cool2: Assistant Editorial Page Editor James Freeman on Hillary Clinton's former chief of staff and her financial arrangement with New York University. Opinion Journal: Cheryl Mills Double Dips
Federal employees are able to seek outside employment. That employment must occur away from their government work locations and times. The employment must not conflict with the employee's official duties. The employee must not leverage his/her government position in that private-sector employment. This sounds like it has the potential for being a conflict of interest because her duties involve engaging foreign governments, and foreign governments might be willing to pay handsomely for access to a highly placed government official, even though it is through a third party. But some caution here: we don't necessarily know if there is a conflict, and we don't know what permissions or clearances may have been obtained ahead of time.
As we both realize Rich … even the appearance of /potential for a COI should be categorically avoided. And ethical individuals will ensure they fully incorporate the commitment ... that their behaviors mirror that principle.
That's simple to say. Unfortunately, most things are not as simple as some would wish them to be. A phenomenon can appear--can be real, even--in different ways to different observers. As researchers know, positivistic reasoning breaks down quickly when applied in matters like these. Mix in personal and political biases and limit the matter with imperfect and incomplete information and what do you have? Discussion threads on the internet, of course.
NYU was not paying Clinton’s confidant Cheryl Mills—except to leverage her influence in behalf of the university. Now that’s pretty basic… There is no negating that, at minimum, the appearance of impropriety exists and quite likely that a conflict of interest is as well present… Ethical individuals will distance themselves from like scenarios.
