Former President Bill Clinton and his wife Hillary are asking the federal government to reimburse legal fees stemming from the investigation of their failed Whitewater land deal, the couple's attorney said on Friday.

David Kendall said in a statement that the Clintons were following a precedent set by previous presidents Ronald Reagan and George Bush, who were also investigated but not indicted by an independent counsel in what was known as the Iran-Contra scandal.

Kendall did not say how much money was involved, but ABC News' World News Tonight, which first reported the Kendall statement, said the Clintons were seeking the return of $3.5 million in legal fees.

Clinton and his wife Hillary, who is now a Democratic senator from New York, were never charged with any wrongdoing in the failed Arkansas land investment scheme.

"As explicitly authorised by the statute, and following the precedent set by presidents Reagan and Bush, the Clintons have applied for reimbursement of their legal fees incurred in connection with the independent counsel's Whitewater investigation," Kendall said in a statement.

Reagan was awarded $562,000 by a federal court in 1996, while Bush received $272,300 in reimbursed legal fees.

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