the washington post reports long-time clinton adviser and high-power lawyer cheryl mills began as chief of staff while privately negotiating with a foreign government. during her first four months at the state department, mills also part part-time at new york university negotiating with officials in abu dhabi to build a campus in the persian gulf city. mills was unpaid at the state department during the period in which they designated a temporary export consultant, a status that allowed her to receive outside income. she was paid nearly $200,000 in 2009, the year in which her work overlapped $333,000 in vacation and receive answer payments in 2009. mills disclosed the arrangement in a new interview with the paper in which she rejected the suggestion of a conflict.