Bill seeks 3.5M for legal fees

By TIMOTHY J. BURGER and OWEN MORITZ DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITERS Bill and Hillary Clinton want the government to reimburse them $3.5 million in legal fees they ran up during the Whitewater investigation, their attorney said yesterday. Clinton lawyer David Kendall said the couple has "applied for reimbursement incurred in connection with the independent counsel's Whitewater investigation."

He said the Clintons are "following the precedent set by [former] Presidents Reagan and Bush."

The Clintons had $11 million in legal bills resulting from various probes. Their defunct defense fund has paid more than $7 million.

They owe Kendall's firm $1 million to $5 million.

If they get any cash back, it will likely be a fraction of what they're seeking, given legal precedents. Their ability to collect also may be limited because they have become wealthy since leaving the White House.

The Daily News reported in May that despite their vast income from book deals and Bill Clinton's speeches, they still had not paid off legal bills from the Whitewater, Paula Jones and Monica Lewinsky matters, as well as the ex-President's impeachment battle.

He has agreed not to ask for reimbursement in the Lewinsky matter, while Jones' action was a civil suit.

Bill Clinton earned $9.2 million in 2001 for speaking engagements alone, according to his wife's Senate disclosure statement.

Hillary Clinton received a $2.85 million advance on her memoirs.

Ex-Presidents Ronald Reagan and George Bush received legal fees from the Iran-Contra investigation.

-- Anonymous, July 27, 2002

Answers

Isn't there a difference of legal battles here?

The Iran-contra thing was something to do with actions as government employees, the Clinton cases were mostly to do with Bill's dick and Hill's personal investments.

We didn't vote Bill's dick into the whitehouse, it just sort of came along as part of the packaging and then took over.

-- Anonymous, July 27, 2002

The Clintons had $11 million in legal bills resulting from various probes.

The dumbass shouda kept his probe where it belonged.

Ya', I'm outraged to hear this. . .but what else is new?

Disgusting world we live in, where a former POTUS has the low-life gall to request "assistance" for his legal troubles that resulted from his weenie wagging.

Perhaps even more disgusting is that people are paying this jerk the sums of money they are.

Yes, I'm getting crabbier.

-- Anonymous, July 27, 2002

I think the organizers of the Democrat's convention in 2004 will face a big problem. Clinton will probably think it's his due to be able to speak at great length during prime time, and the organizers will feel that politically it will be quite a bad thing.

-- Anonymous, July 29, 2002

Yes, and with luck he'll be horribly late, as he usually is, and that won't help. I keep reading articles about how the Dem attacks on Bush are not only not working, they're doing damage to the Dems. Hope that's not just wishful thinking.

-- Anonymous, July 29, 2002

"We didn't vote Bill's dick into the whitehouse, it just sort of came along as part of the packaging and then took over."

Well, yes, sort of, LOL. He made it very clear that Hillary was part of his "package" if he were to be elected, so I have never agreed with the comments that "we" didn't vote for her as well. I don't think anyone ever suggested that he put his dick in trust for his period of service to his country (blech!).

-- Anonymous, July 30, 2002