During yesterday’s Democratic debate on NPR, Hillary Clinton said something striking: she claimed that as first lady in her husband’s administration, she traveled with officials of the Central Intelligence Agency.

Her exact words, from the transcript:

NORRIS: Just a quick follow. When you traveled to China and then when you returned to the White House, did you advise your husband on Chinese foreign policy or on foreign policy in regard to any other countries that you traveled to? And conversely, if you were elected president, would he advise you?
SEN. CLINTON: I certainly did. I not only advised; I often met with he and his advisers, both in preparation for, during and after. I traveled with representatives from the Security Council, the State Department, occasionally the Defense Department, and even the CIA. So I was deeply involved in being part of the Clinton team in the first Clinton administration. And I am someone who want the best possible advice from as many different sources as possible, and that would certainly include my husband.

The idea of CIA representatives traveling with the first lady on overseas trips that did not include the president — what were, in most cases, ceremonial visits — sounds a little unusual. Outside of the health care initiative, did Hillary Clinton have any formal role in setting policy in the Clinton White House? (Obviously, despite her health care initiative’s secrecy, there was little need for a health care policy wonk to be interacting with the CIA.) Why would she need to travel with CIA personnel?

The Agency defines its mission as: “Producing timely analysis that provides insight, warning and opportunity to the President and decisionmakers charged with protecting and advancing America’s interests.” Is the first lady “a decisionmaker charged with protecting and advancing America’s interest”? Does Laura Bush travel with CIA representatives? Did Barbara Bush or Nancy Reagan?

UPDATE: I’m told a guy who worked in a couple of administrations that CIA travels with the First Lady routinely. “They know stuff about the world. They’re supposed to be our foremost experts on what’s happening in foreign nations. When she goes, they go. They often go in ahead of her and stay a little after.”

I revised the headline from “claims” to “mentions” in the headline.