Donations are now being accepted for the first fund created to pay the legal bills of a U.S. president and his wife.

        The fund, with President Clinton and Hillary Rodham Clinton as beneficiaries, is expected to pay legal fees from:

        -- Allegations arising from the Whitewater land deal.

        -- A sexual harassment suit against the president.

        Clinton "will be faced with potentially large legal bills," White House spokeswoman Dee Dee Myers said Tuesday.

        Some estimate the Clintons' legal fees at $ 2 million a year. Their 1993 income: $ 293,000.

        A 10-member, bipartisan board of trustees will oversee the fund to deflect criticism that a president should not ask the public to pay his bills.

        Donations will be limited to $ 1,000 a year per individual, and none will be accepted from special interest groups. Donors' names will be disclosed two times a year.

        "Twice a year is stretching it," says Charles Lewis of the Center for Public Integrity. "Ideally, it should be $ 100 or $ 200 per person and . . . disclosed every month or two."

        The Clintons each gave $ 1,000 to start the fund, and will turn over excess funds to charity or the government.