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WASHINGTON - February 24 - A searchable database of the newly released list of contributors to President Clinton's legal defense fund in the last half of 1998 has been posted today on the Center for Responsive Politcs' Website. The database is available at http://www.crp.org/legalfund/index.htm. During the second half of 1998, 39 donors contributed the maximum $10,000, bringing the total number of $10,000 donors for the year to 101.

Among those contributing the $10,000 maximum between July and December 1998 were singers Don Henley and Tony Bennett, former U.S. Rep. Tony Coehlo, Black Entertainment Television CEO Robert L. Johnson, investment banker Steven Rattner, and Universal Studios Chairman Emeritus Lew R. Wasserman. The $10,000 donors are listed below.

The Legal Expense Trust restricts donations to individual U.S. citizens who neither work for the federal government's executive branch or are employed as lobbyists.

Donations are limited to $10,000 annually. Of the more than 50,000 donors, nearly 95 percent gave $100 or less and more than one-half gave $25 or less, according to Executive Director Anthony Essaye.

Donors were required to fill in a form certifying that they met the criteria and listing their name, address, occupation, and employer. Trustees said careful efforts were taken to vet large donations. Yet, no occupations or employers were listed for several of the $10,000 donors, including some regular - and easily identified -- major political donors.

For example, the occupation and employer of $10,000 donors Farhad Azima of Kansas City and A. Huda Farouki of McLean, Va. were left blank. Both should have been familiar names. Azima, who heads Aviation Leasing Group Inc. attended three White House coffees before the 1996 election and let party officials use his private jet on several occasions. Farouki, chairman of American International Services, also attended a White House coffee. In fact, 12 of the 39 $10,000 donors in the last half of 1998 attended White House coffees during the 1996 campaign.

Essaye said the fund has raised more than $4.5 million toward the estimated $9 million in private legal bills that the president and first lady have accumulated since moving into the White House. Most of the fund-raising has been done with direct mail appeals, which Essaye said numbered some 600,000 letters during 1998.

The Center's Website at http://crp.org also provides searchable databases of federal campaign contributions and federal lobbying, detailed campaign finance profiles for all members of Congress, links to state campaign finance data, and a wide range of other information about money in politics. The Center is a non- partisan, non-profit research group that studies the role of money in federal politics. Its activities are funded by major foundation grants.

$10,000 DONORS TO THE CLINTON LEGAL EXPENSE TRUST, JULY-DECEMBER 1998:

2. Smith Bagley, Washington DC , Executive/ARCA

3. Leonard Barrack, Philadelphia PA, Attorney-At-Law/Barrack Rodos & Bacine

4. Jack C. Bendheim, Fort Lee NJ, Executive/Philipp Brothers Chemicals, Inc.

6. Neil G. Bluhm, Chicago IL, President, JMB Realty Corp.

7. Donald A. Brown, Washington DC, Investor, self-employed

8.Ely Callaway, Carlsbad CA, Executive/Callaway

9.Tony Coelho, Alexandria VA, Investor/self-employed

10.Ross M. Deutsch, Highland Park IL, Trader/Self

11. Jane G. Eskind, Nashville TN, Investor/Self

12. Richard J. Eskind, Nasville TN, Investment Broker/A.G. Edwards & Sons

17. Don Henley, Los Angeles CA, Recording Artist, Environmental Activist

18. Robert L. Johnson, Washington DC, President & CEO, Black Entertainment Television, Inc.

20. James H. Levin, Skokie IL, Chairman- Pres./J.H.L. Ent.

21. John P. Manning, Boston MA, President & Chief Exec. Officer, Boston Capital

23. David Miller, Daly City CA, Manufacturer/Rollamatic Roofs Inc.

24. Paul M. Montrone, Hampton Falls NH, CEO/Fisher Scientific International Inc.

25. Dean Ornish, Sausalito CA, Physician, Preventive Medicine Research Inst.

26. Sol Price, La Jolla CA, self- employed/investor

27. Steven Rattner, New York NY, Investment Banker/Lazard Freres & Co. Inc.

30. Betty Warner Sheinbaum, Los Angeles CA, Artist/Self-employed

31. Paul Simms, Beverly Hills CA, Producer at NBC

33. Earl B. Sloan, Jr, Walnut Ridge AR, Retired

36. Lew R. Wasserman, Beverly Hills CA, Chairman Emeritus/Universal Studios

37. Edith Wasserman, Beverly Hills CA, Housewife

39. Peg Yorkin, Los Angeles CA, Producer/Peg Yorkin Prod.