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.
SCANDAL’S PRICETAG
Clinton scandal players seeking money from Uncle Sam to cover their lawyers’ fees:
Bill and Hillary Clinton – $3,549,561
Monica Lewinsky – $1,165,390 – former intern at center of Sexgate
Vernon Jordan – – $302,719 – Clinton pal helped Lewinsky find lawyer and job
Susan McDougal – $345,412 – Whitewater partner
Bruce Lindsey – $245,023 – Clinton trouble fixer
Ken Bacon – $10,780 – Pentagon spokesman dished dirt on Linda Tripp
Cliff Bernath – $6,093 – Bacon’s deputy
Bennie Beard – $7,500 – involved in appraisal of investigated land deal
Gloria Cabe – $28,135 – Clinton campaign manager in 1990
Glenda Cooper – $6,300 – involved in Branscum trial, an offshoot of Whitewater
Harry Denton – $1,451 – Arkansas banker and Whitewater bit player
Kevin Fornshill – $11,560 – cop who discovered Vince Foster’s body
Bill Henley – $7,500 – Susan McDougal’s brother
Robert Hill – $5,000 – banker accused of illegally funneling money to Clinton
Ellen Kulka – $862 – general counsel in Resolution Trust Corp. probe of Whitewater
Dan Lasater – $863,095 – never charged in drug-trafficking investigation
Craig Livingstone – $235,299 – White House security man ordered up FBI files on GOPers
Anthony Marceca – $189,968 – also investigated in FBI-files probe
Matthew Moore – $84,790 – junior White House staffer worked for Clinton travel chief William Watkins
Bayani Nelvis – $18,850 – White House usher pressed to talk about Clinton-Lewinsky
Michael Schaufele – $242,438 – Accountant for Clinton friend Webster Hubbell
Nicholas Stonnington – $47,419 – Merrill Lynch consultant hired Hubbell
Ginny Terzano – $528 – Former press aide to Bill Clinton and Al Gore
Patsy Thomasson – $31,273 – Watkins’ deputy at time of Travel Office firings
William Watkins – $129,583 – Travel chief said Hillary pressured him to fire workers
William Watt – $72,229 – one-time target in Whitewater
Betsey Wright – $166,581 – custodian of records in Clinton’s 1990 campaign
TOTAL: $7,775,339