Hillary Clinton doubles down on 'dead broke' claim to say legal bills from 'relentless persecution' of philandering husband Bill put them 'deeply in debt'

Former secretary of state told Der Spiegel that 'legal bills that we owed because of the relentless persecution of my husband and myself' left them 'deeply in debt'

Hillary has made foot-in-mouth claims that she and the former president were 'dead broke'

She earns $200,000 per speech but told the magazine that income inequality is a threat to American democracy



She also parried criticism about a possible Clinton dynasty, saying America 'had two Roosevelts. We had two Adams'



Former secretary of state Hillary Clinton told the German magazine Der Spiegel on Tuesday that she and her husband Bill were indeed 'deeply in debt' when they left the White House and blamed 'relentless persecution' by Republicans for her legal bills after his presidency.

The claim has added fuel to the fire Clinton herself touched off last month when she claimed they were 'dead broke' after their time in the White House.

The former first lady earns $200,000 or more every time she makes a public speech. The former president has earned a reported $104 million in speaking fees since he left the Oval Office behind him.



The power couple has also raised more than $1 billion in political contributions for Democrats and their own foundation in the last two decades.

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Stormy weather: Hillary Clinton met with French President Francois Hollande on Tuesday in Paris, as her Der Spiegel interview caused new headaches in Germany and the U.S.

Hillary claimed that 'relentless persecution' by Republicans left her and her husband deep in debt to lawyers after he left the White House

Mrs. Clinton seemed tone deaf on Tuesday, taking a detour from her initial 'dead broke' claim and her subsequently softened claim that she was 'not truly well off.'



'You recently described your financial situation during the presidency of your husband Bill Clinton as dead broke,' Der Spiegel's Marc Hujer and Holger Stark reminded her.

'Well,' Clinton responded. when we came out of the White House, we were deeply in debt because of all the legal bills that we owed because of the relentless persecution of my husband and myself, and he had to work unbelievably hard to pay off every single penny of every debt we owed. And we did.'

That 'persecution' was related to President Clinton's impeachment for lying under oath as an independent prosecutor probed his extramarital affair with a White House intern.



But today, the interviewers said, 'you are multimillionaires. Your husband has earned $104 million with his speeches since 2001.'

'We are very grateful for where we are today,' she responded. 'But if you were to go back and look at the amount of money that we owed, we couldn't even get a mortgage on a house by ourselves. In our system he had to make double what he needed in order just to pay off the debt, and then to finance a house and continue to pay for our daughter's education.'



Today the Clintons own a sprawling home in Chappaqua, New York and a lavish apartment in New York City, and summer in the tony Hamptons.

Yet Mrs. Clinton said 'I do agree' with the magazine's premise that 'the growing gap between the rich and the poor is threatening democracy.'

'The average annual income of an American household is $22,296 (€16,397),' Der Spiegel told her. 'You earn up to $200,000 an hour for a speech. Can you understand if people are bothered by that?'

'Well, certainly, I can understand that,' she responded, 'but that's never been the crux of the concern in our country, because we've always had people who did better than other people. That's just accepted.'



Hillary also parried America's national unease about sending a second Clinton to the White House, following two Bushes and a possible third in Jeb Bush.

Dynasty? Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush could be the third Bush in the White House, and Hillary could be the second Clinton -- but she insists that Teddy Roosevelt and FDR didn't lead to an American monarchy

Republicans and Democrats alike have expressed concerns about the wisdom of formalizing a political dynasty that already exists in practice.

' Will the American democracy turn into a monarchy?' she was asked.



'We had two Roosevelts. We had two Adams,' she responded.

'It may be that certain families just have a sense of commitment or even a predisposition to want to be in politics. I ran for president, as you remember. I lost to somebody named Barack Obama, so I don't think there is any guarantee in American politics. My last name did not help me in the end.'

'Our system is open to everyone,' she added. 'It is not a monarchy in which I wake up in the morning and abdicate in favor of my son.'

Clinton is already a presumptive favorite for Democrats in 2016. A Quinnipiac University poll published Tuesday showed her with the backing of 58 per cent of voters in a hypothetical Democratic primary race.

Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren came was a distant second with 11 per cent.