Washington, D.C.: Clintons ask taxpayers to reimburse Whitewater bills

Former President Clinton and his wife have asked a court to have taxpayers reimburse them for legal costs related to the Whitewater investigation, their lawyer said in a statement late Friday.

The Clintons raked in millions of dollars last year after leaving the White House. The former president earned $9.2 million on the lecture circuit, and Hillary Clinton now New York’s junior senator received a $2.85 million advance on her memoirs.

But they still have legal bills totaling between $1.75 million and $6.5 million, according to the financial disclosure form Mrs. Clinton was required to file as a member of the Senate. It is unknown how much of the outstanding bills are related to the probe into the failed Arkansas land deal. The Clintons were never charged in connection with the Whitewater probe.

In a statement, first reported by ABC News, Clinton lawyer David Kendall said he was seeking reimbursement under the independent counsel statute and was following the precedent set by ex-presidents Ronald Reagan and George Bush, both Republicans.

Arkansas: Military plane crashes; pilot parachutes into tree

A fighter jet practicing aerial maneuvers crashed Friday in north-central Arkansas and its pilot was hurt after parachuting into a tree, authorities said.

A witness said the jet was “running wide open” in air space set aside for military pilots to practice when it went down in a field.

The pilot, the only person on board, was found dangling from a tree by his parachute shrouds and flown to a hospital, said State Emergency Management Department spokeswoman Jennifer Gordon. Witnesses said it appeared he suffered leg injuries.

“It was just running wide open,” farmer Tracy Versa said. “It happened within five seconds. When it hit, the sky filled with smoke.”

The FA-18 jet was assigned to the Beaufort Marine Corps Air Station in South Carolina, officials said.

Canada: Son of prime minister charged with sexual assault

A son of Prime Minister Jean Chretien has been charged with sexually assaulting an 18-year-old girl, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police said.

Michel Charles Chretien, 33, was arrested and charged with one count of sexual assault Friday after a woman complained to police that her daughter had been assaulted at an apartment after a night of heavy drinking, the police said in a news release.

Michel Chretien, who lives in Yellowknife, appeared before a Northwest Territories Justice of the Peace and was released under terms that were not released, the police statement said.

A spokesman for the prime minister’s office said Friday night he would have no comment on his son’s latest arrest.

Ten years ago, Michel Chretien was convicted and sentenced to three years in prison for assaulting a woman he met in a Montreal bar. He said she agreed to have sex with him but she said he took her home, cut off her clothes, tied her up and forced her to have sex. He began serving his prison term in 1995 after an appeal failed.