Appeals Court Denies Vernon Jordan Reimbursement for Lewinsky Investigation
WASHINGTON (AP) - Vernon Jordan, the prominent Washington attorney who helped Monica Lewinsky find a job after she left the White House, will not be reimbursed for most of his legal bills arising from an investigation of then-President Bill Clinton's relationship with Lewinsky, a federal appeals court ruled Tuesday.
Jordan asked the federal government to pay the $302,719 in fees he spent to defend himself during the investigation by the independent counsel's office. But the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit said he was entitled to only $1,215.
The special three-judge panel rejected Jordan's argument that no other prosecutor would have conducted such an extensive investigation of his conduct and dismissed his assertion that he would never would have faced such an expensive, lengthy process if not for his position as a prominent lawyer and friend of the president.
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The special appeals panel was the same one that appointed Kenneth Starr to take over the investigation of the Clintons' failed Arkansas land deal, known as Whitewater, and then authorized him to investigate allegations of perjury and obstruction of justice concerning Clinton's relationship with Lewinsky, a White House intern.
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In July, the same appeals panel rejected a request by Bill and Hillary Rodham Clinton for reimbursement of more than $3.5 million in lawyer costs stemming from the Whitewater probe. The panel said they were entitled only to about $85,000 in legal fees for reviewing Starr's final report.
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