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Lawyers may ask government to help pay Clinton's legal feesFrom CNN White House Correspondent John KingDecember 18, 1999 WASHINGTON (CNN) -- President Clinton's lawyers have discussed the option of seeking government reimbursement for legal fees incurred in the independent counsel's investigation of the Whitewater and Monica Lewinsky cases, but no decision is imminent, sources tell CNN.
A reimbursement request is also an option for first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton, who was at the center of the Whitewater investigation. Such a request would not be unprecedented: Presidents Reagan and Bush sought and received reimbursement for legal costs incurred during the Iran-Contra investigation. Other lesser-known figures of the investigation or called as witnesses during myriad independent counsel investigations also have applied to have their legal costs reimbursed. But two sources familiar with the Clintons' legal strategy say any such discussion about the first family is premature: the independent counsel investigation is continuing. The office of Independent Counsel Robert Ray, who succeeded Ken Starr, is already researching legal arguments to oppose any such request by the Clintons, and White House advisers attributed a Washington Post story on the issue Saturday to an attempt by Clinton critics to create a political environment that would make any reimbursement application even more controversial. These advisers said the issue has come up in passing among the president's legal team -- and the political advisers who have helped raise money to pay the first family's legal bills over the years. But one noted that fund-raising for the legal trust is continuing. "And one would think that would be put on hold if they were about to ask for government reiumbursement," an adviser said. A key test in seeking reiumbursement for legal costs associated with an independent counsel investigation is whether the case would have been similarly investigated or prosecuted by federal prosecutors had it not been assigned under the independent counsel statute. As of the last filing of the legal trust fund, the first family had roughly $5 million in unpaid legal bills. |
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