Reagan Tab Of $562,000 Approved

Taxpayers will pay former President Reagan more than $562,000 to cover the legal expenses he racked up during an independent-counsel investigation into the Iran-Contra scandal, a panel of federal judges said Tuesday.

Reagan’s attorneys, led by Theodore B. Olson, initially asked for nearly $754,500. But the panel refused to pay the expenses Reagan incurred preparing for independent counsel Lawrence E. Walsh’s final report on the investigation.

The panel, headed by Judge David B. Sentelle of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, also balked at having taxpayers foot the bill for the time defense attorneys spent talking to reporters during the investigation.

Under the independent-counsel law, government officials who are subjects of an investigation but not indicted are entitled to reimbursement for “reasonable” attorneys fees and expenses they incurred during the probe.

In all, the panel said Reagan’s lawyers will receive $562,111.