Posted on 06/21/2002 3:17:37 PM PDT by Alissa
Clinton Pays Kendall But Stiffs Bob Bennett
Not all legal bills are created equal—at least in the view of Bill and Hillary Clinton. The high-powered couple are paying off their seven-figure debt to Williams & Connolly lawyer David Kendall but still owe Skadden, Arps lawyer Bob Bennett more than $1 million.
The Clintons have been making monthly payments to Williams & Connolly with income from book deals and speech fees. They had no choice: The firm told the former president that he couldn't continue to use the services of W&C attorney Bob Barnett, who handles Bill Clinton's business deals, unless he started paying off the nearly $3 million in debt to Kendall.
"No law firm will let a client get new services without insisting that they do something about unpaid bills," one legal expert says.
Clinton did make a $125,000 payment to Bennett before shutting down the Clinton Legal Trust, which was closed so Clinton financial backers could be directed to the Clinton Library Fund, which is struggling. Clinton and Bennett did not end up on speaking terms, with each blaming the other for the legal events that led to Clinton's impeachment—and the edge of the political abyss, from which Williams & Connolly ultimately saved him.
The breakdown in their relationship—Bennett has no ongoing business with Clinton—gives him no leverage to collect, and Bennett is not likely to sue Clinton for the cash.
Battling Georges: Will the Wasp Smile at the Greek?
Will it be a battle of the Georges? Or just a test of Wills? With Sam Donaldson and Cokie Roberts leaving ABC's Sunday-morning This Week show, insiders are wondering who will be on the set to keep new host George Stephanopoulos and commentator George Will from tearing each other's hair out.
Over the years, Will has never made any secret of his contempt for Stephanopoulos, a frequent guest during the early years of the Clinton administration. Sources say that on most days Will was "licking his chops" at the opportunity to cut the young, confident Clinton aide down to size.
On one broadcast, Will referred to Stephanopoulos, pollster Stan Greenberg, and strategist Paul Begala as the administration's "architects of calamity."
During the FBI-files controversy, Will was contemptuous of Stephanopoulos's defense of White House personnel security chief Craig Livingstone. "Supervision of Craig Livingstone?" Will sneered. "That's an oxymoron, surely."
On another occasion, Will excused Stephanopoulos's role in tearing down Justice Clarence Thomas by suggesting that this was something that "you may be a premature prodigy at."
And on several occasions, one with Barbara Walters, Will derided the haircut and boyish looks of young George.
Sources say that ABC executives may not be displeased if some of that natural friction emerges on the air. It may be the spark the show needs.
According to recent sweeps data on Washington TV viewers, This Week is the only one of the four major network Sunday-morning shows to lose viewers in the past year. In 2001, This Week was a solid second place behind Tim Russert's Meet the Press.
But the latest ratings showed that from February to May 2002, This Week lost nearly 35 percent of its viewers, while Bob Schieffer's Face the Nation moved into second place behind Russert.
Network rivals say they can't wait for the young Stephanopoulos to take over as host, pointing out that the ABC show's free fall seems to track his expanded role on the show.
I like Will.
That should say "at the Geek".
It figures they would break it down to a matter of race when a conservative is involved.
Anything for an advantage...should we have expected less?
I love George Will, but at this point he's like an enabler. He should leave. Is he bound by contract for a lengthy period?
Oh, come on, Bob - do it!
Yeah, Stepopoloswatsit is not only the spark, he's the gasoline that will burn that show and ABC News down.
As long as George Will is on This Week I'll keep watching. I think he should be host or at least co-host but whatever. I'm not surprised at the biased pick and Stephanopoulos isn't even half as sharp as Will so it's not even a contest as far as I am concerned. Of course they'll pack the round table with more liberals probably. If they want to be fair they'd better get another conservative on the round table discussions. Fat chance.
To this day I get a queasy feeling recalling the time Gary Aldrich was on----This Week was the only show to not cancel his appearance--------and George Will joined in the piling on. I couldn't believe the way he treated Aldrich.
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