Bill Clinton gets $9.2 million for speeches, but still owes leg

WASHINGTON -- Former President Clinton raked in $9.2 million in speaking fees in his first year out of office, and wife Hillary Rodham Clinton did well, too, with a $2.85 million advance for her memoirs.

But they still owe millions of dollars in legal bills dating from a string of costly White House investigations, according to financial disclosure forms released Friday.

The filing by the junior senator from New York provided a rare peek into the earning potential of ex-presidents, most of whom are not required to disclose their finances after leaving the White House. As a senator's spouse, Bill Clinton had to detail the income from his 60 speeches.

"It's just a huge heap of money for one year," said Brookings Institution presidential expert Stephen Hess. "In cold hard cash it is almost certainly the most ever."

The Clintons have yet to pay off legal bills to three Washington firms, the disclosure forms showed. Those bills are for between $1.75 million and $6.5 million. The largest debt was to Williams and Connolly, home to Clinton impeachment lawyer David Kendall. Kendall's firm is owed $1 million to $5 million.