May 7, 1999
Web posted at: 6:41 p.m. EDT (2241 GMT)

WASHINGTON (AllPolitics, May 7) -- President Bill Clinton will contest a nearly $500,000 reimbursement request filed by Paula Jones' legal team Friday as part of the president's contempt of court penalty.

Last month, U.S. District Court Judge Susan Webber Wright held the president in contempt, ruling that Clinton intentionally gave false testimony during his deposition in Jones' sexual harassment lawsuit. The judge ordered him to repay Jones' lawyers any "reasonable expenses" they incurred as a result of the misleading deposition.

CNN has learned that Jones' Dallas-based attorneys Friday submitted expenses of $437,000 dollars while an additional $58,500 in expenses was submitted by the Rutherford Institute, a conservative group that paid some of Jones' legal bills.

Defending the total to the court, Jones' team wrote: The president "must be sanctioned not only to redress his contemptuous misconduct but also to deter other litigants who might ... harbor the impression that a party to a federal lawsuit may willfully disregard" court orders.

But Clinton's lawyer are calling the sum "unreasonable," stressing that Clinton does not intend to contest the judge's contempt ruling -- only the amount of money Jones' requested.

In a letter to Judge Wright, obtained by CNN, the president's private attorney, Robert Bennett, advises the court that the president will "exercise our right" to respond to Jones' request for fees and expenses. In particular, Bennett writes, "we will object to the amount of the claim by Ms. Jones attorneys, which is unreasonable and inconsistent with" the court's order.

Before filing with the judge, Jones' legal team approached the president's attorneys seeking $300,000 to settle the historic contempt ruling. The president's attorney rejected the offer calling the amount "outrageous and greedy."

John Whitehead, one of Jones' lawyers, said the attorneys did not receive adequate payment for their work when they received part of the $850,000 settlement Clinton paid to Jones earlier this year.

"As far as being greedy, everyone took far less than what they put in," said Whitehead.

Bob Bennett, Clinton's private attorney, said Tuesday that the president would contest any amount that approached $300,000.

"That's what they suggested and it is outrageous and greedy and, I think, a gross misunderstanding of the court's order," Bennett said.

Any payments Clinton will make are in addition to the $850,000 he paid Jones earlier this year to settle her lawsuit which alleged that he made an unwanted sexual advance at a Little Rock hotel in 1991. At the time, Clinton was Arkansas governor and Jones was a state employee.

Clinton denies any wrongdoing in the lawsuit, which was filed after he was elected president. He said he settled the sexual harassment case, which led to the disclosure of his affair with former White House intern Monica Lewinsky and his subsequent impeachment proceedings, simply to bring an end to a public crisis.

Shortly after Wright issued her contempt ruling, Jones' lawyers estimated they would seek reimbursement for "tens of thousands" of dollars in legal expenses. Those expenses included their efforts to disprove Clinton's sworn denial of an affair with Lewinsky.

Wright ruled April 12 that Clinton gave "false, misleading and evasive answers" in the January 1998 deposition in which he denied having sexual relations with Lewinsky.

Wright ordered Clinton to pay "any reasonable expenses," including legal fees incurred by Jones as a result of the false testimony. The judge also directed Clinton to reimburse the court $1,202 for her travel to Washington to preside over the taking of the deposition.

Wright also referred the matter to the Arkansas Supreme Court's Professional Conduct Committee, which could revoke Clinton's law license or impose other sanctions.

CNN's John King and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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