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Politics : Politics for Pros- moderated -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Nadine Carroll who wrote (3440)	7/15/2003 4:37:52 PM
From: LindyBill	Respond to of 793759

Ahh, what the hell. A few extra speeches by Bubba will pay for it. :>) CBS NEWS Court Stiffs Clintons On Legal Bills WASHINGTON, July 15, 2003 The federal government does not have to pay for the bulk of former President Clinton and Hillary Rodham Clinton's legal fees arising out of an independent counsel investigation into a failed Arkansas land deal, an appeals court ruled Tuesday. The Clintons had sought reimbursement for more than $3.5 million in lawyer costs stemming from the Whitewater probe, which lasted more than seven years and cost taxpayers $70 million. The Clintons were never indicted, but a 14-page decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia notes the independent investigation into Whitewater and other matters ultimately resulted in 24 indictments, at least 16 convictions and the president's impeachment. The special appeals panel was the same one that appointed Kenneth Starr to take over the investigation in 1994 and then authorized him to investigate matters surrounding White House intern Monica Lewinsky. The couple's lawyer, David Kendall, issued a statement saying that former President Reagan was reimbursed for 72 percent of his legal costs stemming from the Iran-Contra investigation, and his vice president George Bush was reimbursed for 59 percent of his costs in the same matter. The Clintons, Kendall said, were reimbursed for only 2 percent of their request for Whitewater costs. "The facts and the numbers speak for themselves," said Kendall. "The good news is that the partisan Whitewater smoke-and-mirrors investigation is finally over." Sen. Clinton's most recent financial disclosure forms show the couple owed between $1.7 million and $6.5 million in outstanding legal bills. The same filing indicated Mr. Clinton earned $9.5 million last year making speeches around the globe for as much as $400,000 apiece, while his wife received $1.15 million as partial payment for her White House memoir. The Clintons had asked to be reimbursed for the costs of responding to the Whitewater probe, arguing they would never have faced such an expensive, lengthy process if not for their positions as president and first lady. The appeals court rejected that argument, ruling the Clintons would have been investigated with or without the appointment of an independent counsel, and therefore should pay the overwhelming majority of those legal costs. "We harbor no doubt that in the absence of the independent counsel statute the allegations surrounding the Clintons, Madison Guaranty, and Whitewater would have been similarly investigated and prosecuted by the Department of Justice," the panel wrote. Among those convicted as a result of the Whitewater investigation were Susan McDougal, Jim McDougal and former Arkansas Gov. Jim Guy Tucker. The Clintons can be reimbursed for $85,312.01 in legal fees relating to the review and response to the counsel's final report, because a federal prosecutor normally does not issue such a report, the judges ruled. The ruling also found the independent counsel law was designed so that reimbursement for fees "should be difficult; that such fees will not be a common thing." In 1996, Mr. Reagan was awarded $562,111 in legal fees after an appeals court said he had reason to believe he faced a "realistic possibility" of being indicted in the Iran-Contra investigation, which was led by an independent counsel. Reagan had sought over $777,000. Mr. Bush was reimbursed $272,352 for his costs connected to the probe. Mr. Clinton was impeached on Dec. 19, 1998 on two counts, perjury and obstruction of justice, and acquitted by the Senate on Feb. 12, 1999. cbsnews.com