As you have probably been trying to forget, the President was ordered to pay the expenses for Paula Jones' lawyers for additional time spent after the President's deposition (in which Judge Webber-Wright felt Mr. Clinton had allowed his lawyers comments to go unquestioned. The Judge dismissed the case and nothing in the remarks were grounds for reopening it, but she felt that the President should have corrected his lawyers statements rather than allow them to stand. So she said he was in "contempt" and had to pay the "reasonable" expenses that were incurred as a result. That included $1,202 for expenses she incurred in attending Clinton's deposition in Washington.
The Jones team wanted a lot more. The problem is that all the people who crawled out of the woodwork and from under rocks to support Paula Jones racked-up large legal bills in their attempt to "get" President Clinton. After they failed completely and miserably, they figured that at least they should get some money. So they submitted expenses for nearly half-a-million dollars! Heck, they even included a bill for $58,533.03 from the arch-Clinton-haters, the Rutherford Institute, even though they weren't included in the judges orders and had been replaced as Paula's lawyers.
The President's lawyers have responded, now we'll see what the Judge has to say. She's been pretty reasonable and evenhanded during this trial. If that's any indication, the President is not going to pay anywhere near $500,000. But we'll see. The American civil courts are a funny thing.
Links: