Burford May Recover $198,101 of Legal Fees
The government plans to reimburse former EPA chief Anne McGill Burford for nearly $200,000 of the legal expenses she incurred defending herself from charges of mismanagement at the agency, a Justice Department official said Friday night.
Burford has complained bitterly that she agreed to resign in 1983 with the understanding from then-White House counsel Edwin Meese III that the government would pick up her legal bills.
The government will reimburse Burford for the $198,101 she ran up defending herself before Congress, said the Justice Department official, who asked not to be identified.
The official said that the payments will not extend to any fees for criminal proceedings, however. “We will not cover legal expenses of any criminal investigation.”
Burford was cited for contempt of Congress in December, 1982, after she refused to turn over subpoenaed documents on the EPA toxic-waste cleanup program.
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