YOU MAY GET $3.5M TAB FOR BILL-HILL SCANDAL FEES

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By BRIAN BLOMQUIST

BILL and HILLARY CLINTON

September 18, 2002 -- EXCLUSIVE NYPost

WASHINGTON - Bill and Hillary Clinton - seeking a taxpayer bailout of more than $3.5 million - and a host of other scandal players are asking for a total of $7.8 million to cover legal bills stemming from the independent counsel's probe, The Post has learned.

Ex-White House intern Monica Lewinsky wants $1.2 million, and Clinton pal Vernon Jordan, who helped Lewinsky find a New York City job, has put in for a $303,000 reimbursement.

The figures were revealed in papers unsealed by a special U.S. appeals court after a request by The Post.

The motions show for the first time the fees sought by 27 players in Clinton scandals, including minor ones like the cop who found Vince Foster's body and the White House usher who reportedly cleaned up after Clinton's trysts.

The billing records also provide details about the surprising degree of cooperation between Clinton, Lewinsky and Jordan - even after Lewinsky struck a deal to cooperate with Independent Counsel Ken Starr.

Phone records submitted by Jordan's lawyer, Bill Hundley, show that lawyers for the three defendants talked almost every day in late July 1998, at least six days in August and a few more times in September.

That was the hottest period in the special prosecutor's investigation.

Lewinsky struck a deal with Starr on July 28, in which she agreed to testify against Clinton in exchange for criminal immunity for her and her mother. And Clinton testified to the grand jury on Aug. 17.

"This is further proof that right up until the end, Miss Lewinsky was doing everything possible to protect the president and Vernon Jordan," said former Starr investigator Solomon Wisenberg, who added that Lewinsky's frequent contact with Clinton and Jordan - through their lawyers - didn't violate her immunity deal.

Under the law, any "subject" or "target" of an independent counsel investigation can apply for their legal fees to be reimbursed, so long as that person wasn't convicted and can show that the money is deserved.

The current independent counsel, Julie Thomas, is now preparing a response to all the petitions for money - which add up to a grand total of $7.8 million.

A federal three-judge panel will make the final decision about who gets how much. The money awarded will come out of the Justice Department's budget.

One factor that's not considered by the court is the ability of applicants to pay their legal bills. The Clintons, Jordan and Lewinsky are wealthy by almost any standard.

The Clintons still have more than $2 million in outstanding legal bills, and their petition to the court doesn't cover legal costs related to the Paula Jones sex-harassment lawsuit or the Lewinsky investigation.

Clinton agreed not to seek reimbursement from the Lewinsky probe when he cut a deal with Starr's successor, Robert Ray, before leaving office.

-- Anonymous, September 18, 2002

Answers

Clintons, Lewinsky Seek Legal Fees Wed Sep 18, 5:06 PM ET

WASHINGTON (AP) - Monica Lewinsky, Vernon Jordan and others ensnared in various White House independent counsel investigations have joined former President Clinton ( news - web sites) and Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton ( news - web sites) in seeking taxpayer reimbursement for their legal bills.

The bills could total up to $7.8 million, according to a report in Wednesday's editions of the New York Post. The figures were revealed in court papers unsealed by a special federal appeals court in Washington.

Twenty-seven people involved in various Clinton-related investigations — some of them minor players — have sought reimbursement of their legal expenses, the Post reported. The independent counsel law allows for such reimbursement as long as the probe did not result in the applicant's indictment.

The newly unsealed filings reveal that ex-intern Lewinsky wants $1.2 million and Clinton pal Jordan has applied for $303,000, according to the newspaper. Both were caught up in independent counsel Kenneth Starr's perjury investigation against President Clinton.

Through their lawyer David Kendall, the Clintons said last month they were seeking taxpayer reimbursement for legal bills stemming from the Whitewater investigation. Kendall would not say how much they sought but a required disclosure form filed by Sen. Clinton, D-N.Y., listed outstanding legal bills for the couple of between $1.75 million and $6.5 million. The forms only require disclosure in broad ranges and it was also unknown which of the remaining bills date back to Whitewater, the Clintons' failed Arkansas land deal.

Under his plea deal with independent counsel Robert Ray, the former president agreed not to seek reimbursement for bills related to the Lewinsky probe.

A special three-judge panel will ultimately decide who gets how much.

If taxpayers foot the Clintons' bills it wouldn't be the first time for an ex-president. Former Presidents Reagan and Bush were reimbursed for bills related to the Iran-Contra probe.

-- Anonymous, September 19, 2002


greedy bastards.

-- Anonymous, September 19, 2002

Talk about short and to the point, lol!

-- Anonymous, September 19, 2002

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