|
LarsonsWorld | The Star Report
A Washington Post Special Report
The Starr Report
The following is the complete, unedited text of the final, corrected version of independent counsel Kenneth Starr's report to the House on President Clinton.
(It differs from the earlier version in the numbering and contents of some footnotes.)
The White House responses from September 11 and September 12 are also online.
Editor's Note: Some of the language in these documents is sexually explicit.
Referral
to the
United States House of Representatives
pursuant to
Title 28, United States Code, § 595(c)
Submitted by The Office of the Independent Counsel
September 9, 1998
Chronology
Table of Names
The Principals
The First Family
Presidential Aides/Advisors/Assistants
Other White House Personnel
Department of Defense Employees
Monica Lewinsky's Friends/Family/Acquaintances
Monica Lewinsky's New York Employment Contacts
Secret Service
Lawyers and Judges
Media
Foreign Dignitaries
Other
Introduction
Factual Background
The Investigation
The Significance of the Evidence of Wrongdoing
The Scope of the Referral
1. Background of the Investigation.
2. Current Status of the Investigation.
The Contents of the Referral
Narrative
I. Nature of President Clinton's Relationship with Monica Lewinsky
A. Introduction
B. Evidence Establishing Nature of Relationship
1. Physical Evidence
2. Ms. Lewinsky's Statements
3. Ms. Lewinsky's Confidants
4. Documents
5. Consistency and Corroboration
C. Sexual Contacts
1. The President's Accounts
a. Jones Testimony
b. Grand Jury Testimony
2. Ms. Lewinsky's Account
D. Emotional Attachment
E. Conversations and Phone Messages
F. Gifts
G. Messages
H. Secrecy
1. Mutual Understanding
2. Cover Stories
3. Steps to Avoid Being Seen or Heard
4. Ms. Lewinsky's Notes and Letters
5. Ms. Lewinsky's Evaluation of Their Secrecy Efforts
II. 1995: Initial Sexual Encounters
A. Overview of Monica Lewinsky's White House Employment
B. First Meetings with the President
C. November 15 Sexual Encounter
D. November 17 Sexual Encounter
E. December 31 Sexual Encounter
F. President's Account of 1995 Relationship
III. January-March 1996: Continued Sexual Encounters
A. January 7 Sexual Encounter
B. January 21 Sexual Encounter
C. February 4 Sexual Encounter and Subsequent Phone Calls
D. President's Day (February 19) Break-up
E. Continuing Contacts
F. March 31 Sexual Encounter
IV. April 1996: Ms. Lewinsky's Transfer to the Pentagon
A. Earlier Observations of Ms. Lewinsky in the West Wing
B. Decision to Transfer Ms. Lewinsky
C. Ms. Lewinsky's Notification of Her Transfer
D. Conversations with the President about Her Transfer
1. Easter Telephone Conversations and Sexual Encounter
2. April 12-13: Telephone Conversations
V. April-December 1996: No Private Meetings
A. Pentagon Job
B. No Physical Contact
C. Telephone Conversations
D. Public Encounters
E. Ms. Lewinsky's Frustrations
VI. Early 1997: Resumption of Sexual Encounters
A. Resumption of Meetings with the President
1. Role of Betty Currie
a. Arranging Meetings
b. Intermediary for Gifts
c. Secrecy
2. Observations by Secret Service Officers
B. Valentine's Day Advertisement
C. February 24 Message
D. February 28 Sexual Encounter
E. March 29 Sexual Encounter
F. Continuing Job Efforts
VII. May 1997: Termination of Sexual Relationship
A. Questions about Ms. Lewinsky's Discretion
B. May 24: Break-up
VIII. June-October 1997: Continuing Meetings and Calls
A. Continuing Job Efforts
B. July 3 Letter
C. July 4 Meeting
D. July 14-15 Discussions of Linda Tripp
E. July 16 Meeting with Marsha Scott
F. July 24 Meeting
G. Newsweek Article and Its Aftermath
H. August 16 Meeting
I. Continuing Job Efforts
J. Black Dog Gifts
K. Lucy Mercer Letter and Involvement of Chief of Staff
L. News of Job Search Failure
IX. October-November 1997: United Nations' Job Offer
A. October 10: Telephone Conversation
B. October 11 Meeting
C. October 16-17: The "Wish List
D. The President Creates Options
E. The U.N. Interview and Job Offer
F. The U.N. Job Offer Declined
X. November 1997: Growing Frustration
A. Interrogatories Answered
B. First Vernon Jordan Meeting
C. November 13: The Zedillo Visit
D. November 14-December 4: Inability to See the President
XI. December 5-18, 1997: The Witness List and Job Search
A. December 5: The Witness List
B. December 5: Christmas Party at the White House
C. December 6: The Northwest Gate Incident
1. Initial Visit and Rejection
2. Ms. Lewinsky Returns to the White House
3. "Whatever Just Happened Didn't Happen"
D. The President Confers with His Lawyers
E. Second Jordan Meeting
F. Early Morning Phone Call
G. Job Interviews
XII. December 19, 1997 - January 4, 1998: The Subpoena
A. December 19: Ms. Lewinsky Is Subpoenaed
B. December 22: Meeting with Vernon Jordan
C. December 22: First Meeting with Francis Carter
D. December 23: Clinton Denials to Paula Jones
E. December 28: Final Meeting with the President
E. December 28: Concealment of Gifts
D. December 31: Breakfast with Vernon Jordan
E. January 4: The Final Gift
XIII. January 5-January 16, 1998: The Affidavit
A. January 5: Francis Carter Meeting
B. January 5: Call from the President
C. January 6: The Draft Affidavit
D. January 7: Ms. Lewinsky Signs Affidavit
E. January 8: The Perelman Call
F. January 9: "Mission Accomplished"
G. January 12: Pre-Trial Hearing in Jones Case
H. January 13: References from the White House
I. January 13: Final Jordan Meeting
J. January 13-14: Lewinsky-Tripp Conversation and Talking Points
K. January 15: The Isikoff Call
L. January 15-16: Developments in the Jones Law Suit
XIV. January 17, 1998-Present: The Deposition and Afterward
A. January 17: The Deposition
B. The President Meets with Ms. Currie
C. January 18-19: Attempts to Reach Ms. Lewinsky
D. January 20-22: Lewinsky Story Breaks
1. "Clinton Accused"
2. Denials to Aides
3. Initial Denials to the American Public
4. "We Just Have To Win"
Grounds
There is Substantial and Credible Information that President Clinton Committed
Acts that May Constitute Grounds for an Impeachment
Introduction
I. There is substantial and credible information that President Clinton lied
under oath as a defendant in Jones v. Clinton regarding his sexual
relationship with Monica Lewinsky.
(1) He denied that he had a "sexual relationship" with
(2) He denied that he had a "sexual affair" with Monica
(3) He denied that he had "sexual relations" with Monica
(4) He denied that he engaged in or caused contact with the
(5) He denied that he made contact with Monica Lewinsky's
A. Evidence that President Clinton Lied Under Oath During the Civil Case
1. President Clinton's Statements Under Oath About Monica Lewinsky
2. Monica Lewinsky's Testimony
(i) Wednesday, November 15, 1995
(ii) Friday, November 17, 1995
(iii) Sunday, December 31, 1995
(iv) Sunday, January 7, 1996
(v) Sunday, January 21, 1996
(vi) Sunday, February 4, 1996
(vii) Sunday, March 31, 1996
(viii) Sunday, April 7, 1996
(ix) Friday, February 28, 1997
(x) Saturday, March 29, 1997
(xi) Two Subsequent Meetings
3. Phone Sex
4. Physical Evidence
5. Testimony of Ms. Lewinsky's Friends, Family Members, and Counselors
(i) Catherine Allday Davis
(ii) Neysa Erbland
(iii) Natalie Rose Ungvari
(iv) Ashley Raines
(v) Andrew Bleiler
(vi) Dr. Irene Kassorla
(vii) Linda Tripp
(viii) Debra Finerman
(ix) Dale Young
(x) Kathleen Estep
6. Summary
II. There is substantial and credible information that President Clinton
lied under oath to the grand jury about his sexual relationship with Monica
Lewinsky.
A. Background
B. The President's Grand Jury Testimony
C. Summary
III. There is substantial and credible information that President Clinton
lied under oath during his civil deposition when he stated that he could not
recall being alone with Monica Lewinsky and when he minimized the number of
gifts they had exchanged.
A. There is substantial and credible information that President Clinton
lied under oath when he testified that he could not specifically recall
instances in which he was alone with Monica Lewinsky.
1. The President's Civil Deposition Testimony
2. Evidence That Contradicts the President's Testimony
3. The President's Grand Jury Testimony
4. Summary
B. There is substantial and credible information that the President lied
under oath in his civil deposition about gifts he exchanged with Monica
Lewinsky.
1. The President's Civil Deposition Testimony About His Gifts to Monica
Lewinsky
2. Evidence that Contradicts the President's Civil Deposition Testimony
3. President's Civil Deposition Testimony About Gifts from Monica
Lewinsky to the President
4. Evidence that Contradicts the President's Testimony
(i) Monica Lewinsky's Testimony
5. Grand Jury Testimony of the President and Ms. Currie
6. Summary
IV. There is substantial and credible information that the President lied
under oath during his civil deposition concerning conversations he had with
Monica Lewinsky about her involvement in the Jones case.
A. Conversations with Ms. Lewinsky Regarding the Possibility of Her
Testifying in the Jones Case
1. President Clinton's Testimony in His Deposition
2. Evidence that Contradicts the President's Civil Deposition Testimony
(i) Ms. Lewinsky's Testimony
(ii) The President's Grand Jury Testimony
3. Summary
B. There is substantial and credible information that President Clinton
lied under oath in his civil deposition when he denied knowing that Ms.
Lewinsky had received her subpoena at the time he had last talked to her.
1. Evidence
2. Summary
V. There is substantial and credible information that President Clinton
endeavored to obstruct justice by engaging in a pattern of activity to
conceal evidence regarding his relationship with Monica Lewinsky from the
judicial process in the Jones case. The pattern included:
(i) concealment of gifts that the President had given Ms. Lewinsky and
that were subpoenaed from Ms. Lewinsky in the Jones case; and
ii) concealment of a note sent by Ms. Lewinsky to the President on
January 5, 1998.
A. Concealment of Gifts
1. Evidence Regarding Gifts
2. The President's Grand Jury Testimony
3. Summary of Gifts
B. January 5, 1998, Note to the President
1. Evidence Regarding the January 5, 1998 Note
2. President Clinton's Testimony
3. Summary on January 5, 1998, Note
VI. There is substantial and credible information that
(i) President Clinton and Ms. Lewinsky had an understanding that they
would lie under oath in the Jones case about their relationship; and
(ii) President Clinton endeavored to obstruct justice by suggesting
that Ms. Lewinsky file an affidavit so that she would not be deposed,
she would not contradict his testimony, and he could attempt to avoid
questions about Ms. Lewinsky at his deposition.
A. Evidence Regarding Affidavit and Use of Affidavit
B. Summary of President's Grand Jury Testimony
C. Evidence Regarding Cover Stories
D. The President's Grand Jury Testimony on Cover Stories
E. Summary
VII. There is substantial and credible information that President Clinton
endeavored to obstruct justice by helping Ms. Lewinsky obtain a job in New
York at a time when she would have been a witness against him were she to
tell the truth during the Jones case.
A. Evidence
B. Summary
VIII. There is substantial and credible information that the President lied
under oath in describing his conversations with Vernon Jordan about Ms.
Lewinsky.
A. President's Testimony in the Jones Case
B. Evidence That Contradicts the President's Civil Deposition
C. Summary
IX. There is substantial and credible information that President Clinton
endeavored to obstruct justice by attempting to influence the testimony of
Betty Currie.
A. Evidence
1. Saturday, January 17, 1998, Deposition
2. Sunday, January 18, 1998, Meeting with Ms. Currie
3. Conversation Between the President and Ms. Currie on Tuesday, January
20, 1998, or Wednesday, January 21, 1998.
B. The President's Grand Jury Testimony
C. Summary
X. There is substantial and credible information that President Clinton
endeavored to obstruct justice during the federal grand jury investigation.
While refusing to testify for seven months, he simultaneously lied to
potential grand jury witnesses knowing that they would relay the falsehoods
to the grand jury.
A. The Testimony of Current and Former Aides
1. John Podesta
2. Erskine Bowles
3. Sidney Blumenthal
4. Harold Ickes
B. The President's Grand Jury Testimony
C. Summary
XI. There is substantial and credible information that President Clinton's
actions since January 17, 1998, regarding his relationship with Monica
Lewinsky have been inconsistent with the President's constitutional duty to
faithfully execute the laws.
A. Beginning on January 21, 1998, the President misled the American people
and Congress regarding the truth of his relationship with Ms. Lewinsky.
B. The First Lady, the Cabinet, the President's staff, and the President's
associates relied on and publicly emphasized the President's denial.
C. The President repeatedly and unlawfully invoked the Executive Privilege
to conceal evidence of his personal misconduct from the grand jury.
D. The President refused six invitations to testify to the grand jury,
thereby delaying expeditious resolution of this matter, and then refused
to answer relevant questions before the grand jury when he testified in
August 1998.
E. The President misled the American people and the Congress in his public
statement on August 17, 1998, when he stated that his answers at his civil
deposition in January had been "legally accurate."
F. Summary
End Page
Key Dates
November 1992: William Jefferson Clinton elected President of the United States
May 1994: Paula Jones files lawsuit against President Clinton
July 1995: Monica S. Lewinsky begins White House internship
November 15, 1995: President begins sexual relationship with Lewinsky
April 5, 1996: Lewinsky transferred from White House to Pentagon
November 1996: President Clinton reelected
March 29, 1997: Last intimate contact between President and Monica Lewinsky
December 5, 1997 : Lewinsky appears on Jones Witness List
December 19, 1997: Lewinsky served with subpoena to appear at deposition and
produce gifts from President Clinton
December 24, 1998: Lewinsky's last day of work at the Pentagon
December 28, 1997: Lewinsky meets with the President and receives gifts; later
gives box of gifts from the President to Betty Currie.
January 7, 1998: Lewinsky signs affidavit intended for filing in Jones case.
January 13, 1998 : Lewinsky accepts job offer at Revlon in New York
January 16, 1998: Special Division appoints Independent Counsel Kenneth W. Starr
to investigate Lewinsky matter
January 17, 1998 : President deposed in Jones case
January 18, 1998: President meets with Betty Currie to discuss President's
deposition
January 21, 1998 : Lewinsky matter reported in press; President denies
allegations of a sexual relationship and of suborning perjury
April 1, 1998: Judge Wright grants summary judgment for President Clinton in the
Jones litigation
July 17, 1998: President served with grand jury subpoena, later withdrawn in
return for testimony
July 28, 1998 : Immunity/Cooperation Agreement reached between Lewinsky and OIC
August 17, 1998 : President testifies before the grand jury; later he publicly
acknowledges improper relationship
September 9, 1998: OIC submits Referral to Congress pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §
595(c)
Table of Names
The Principals
William Jefferson Clinton: President of the United States
Paula Corbin Jones: Plaintiff in a civil suit against President Clinton
Monica Lewinsky: Former White House Intern and Employee
Betty Currie: Personal Secretary to the President
Vernon Jordan: Friend of President Clinton, and Partner at Law Firm of Akin,
Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld
The First Family
Hillary Rodham Clinton: First Lady of the United States
Chelsea Clinton: Daughter of the President and First Lady
Presidential Aides/Advisors/Assistants
Madeline Albright: Secretary of State
Sidney Blumenthal: Assistant to the President
Erskine Bowles: White House Chief of Staff
Lanny Bruer: Special Counsel to the President
Stephen Goodin: Aide to President Clinton
Nancy Hernreich: Deputy Assistant to the President and Director of Oval Office
Operations
John Hilley: Assistant to the President and Director of Legislative Affairs;
Monica Lewinsky's Supervisor
Harold Ickes: Former Deputy Chief of Staff
Janis Kearney : Special Assistant to the President and Records Manager
Timothy Keating: Special Assistant to the President and Staff Director for
Legislative Affairs; Monica Lewinsky's Immediate Supervisor
Ann Lewis: Director, White House Communications
Evelyn Lieberman: Former Deputy Chief of Staff
Bruce Lindsey: Deputy White House Counsel
Sylvia Mathews: Deputy White House Chief of Staff
Thomas "Mack" McLarty: Former White House Chief of Staff
Cheryl Mills: Deputy White House Counsel
Dick Morris: Former Advisor to President Clinton
Bob Nash: Assistant to the President and Director of Presidential Personnel
Leon Panetta: Former White House Chief of Staff
John Podesta: Deputy White House Chief of Staff
Hon. Bill Richardson: U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations
Charles Ruff: White House Counsel
Marsha Scott: Deputy Director of Personnel
George Stephanopoulous: Former Senior Advisor for Policy and Strategy
Barry Toiv: Deputy White House Press Secretary
Other White House Personnel
Karin Joyce Abramson: Former Director of the White House Intern Program
Caroline Badinelli: Former White House Intern
Douglas Band: Former White House Intern
Tracy Anne Bobowick: Former White House Employee, Correspondence Office
Laura Capps: Former White House Intern
Jay Footlik: Former Employee of the Office of Presidential Personnel
Patrick Griffin: Former Assistant to the President and Director of Legislative
Affairs
George Hannie: White House Butler
Jocelyn Jolley: Former Director of Congressional Correspondence in the White
House
Maureen Lewis: Former White House Employee, Correspondence Office
Glen Maes: White House Steward to President Clinton
Bayani Nelvis: White House Steward to President Clinton
Charles O'Malley: White House Operations Deputy Chief
Jennifer Palmieri: Former Special Assistant to the Chief of Staff
Debra Schiff: Receptionist, West Wing Lobby
Jamie Beth Schwartz: Former Special Assistant to the Social Secretary in the
White House Social Office
Patsy Thomasson: Director of the Office ofAdministration, Executive Office of
the President
Kathleen Willey: Former White House Volunteer
Michael Williams: Former White House Intern
Department of Defense Employees
Kenneth Bacon: Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs; Monica
Lewinsky's Pentagon Supervisor
Elizabeth Bailey: Special Assistant to the Secretary of Defense for White House
Liaison
Clifford Bernath: Former Deputy to Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public
Affairs
Donna Boltz: Assistant in the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for
Public Affairs
Jeremy "Mike" Boorda: Admiral, United States Navy (deceased)
Richard Bridges: Colonel, Director for Defense Information
Rebecca Cooper: Chief of Staff, United States Mission to the United Nations
Monica Ramirez Cranick: Sergeant, Broadcast Engineer, Office of the Secretary of
Defense for Public Affairs
Marsha Dimel: Administrative Support Specialist for Personnel and Administration
in the National Security Council
Charles Duncan: Former Special Assistant to the Secretary of Defense for Public
Affairs
Kate Friedrich: Special Assistant, National Security Advisor
Jeff Gradick: Commander, Military Assistant to the Deputy Assistant to the
Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs
James Graybeal: Lt. Commander, Military Assistant to the Deputy Assistant to the
Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs
Mark Huffman: Office Manager, Office of Public Affairs, United States Department
of Defense
Jodi Kessinger: Former Administrative Assistant, Office of the National Security
Advisor, National Security Council
Janet Reno: Attorney General of the United States
Darby Ellen Stott: Special Assistant, White House Press Secretary
Mona Sutphen: Special Assistant to the United States Ambassador to the United
Nations
Robert Tyrer: Chief of Staff for the Secretary of Defense
Isabelle Watkins: Executive Assistant to Bill Richardson
Monica Lewinsky's Friends/Family/Acquaintances
Andrew Bleiler: Former Boyfriend of Monica Lewinsky
Catherine Allday Davis: Friend of Monica Lewinky
Kelly Lynn Davis: Friend of Monica Lewinsky
Neysa Erbland: Friend of Monica Lewinsky
Kathleen Estep: Counselor to Monica Lewinsky
Deborah Finerman: Aunt of Monica Lewinsky
David Grobanie: Owner of Briarwood Bookstore
Dr. Irene Kassorla: Therapist to Monica Lewinsky
Walter Kaye: Family friend of Monica Lewinsky
Marcia Lewis: Mother of Monica Lewinsky
Ashley Raines: Friend of Monica Lewinsky and White House Director of Office and
Policy Development Operations and Special Liaison
Peter Strauss: Husband of Marcia Lewis
Linda Tripp : Friend of Monica Lewinsky
Natalie Rose Ungvari: Friend of Monica Lewinsky
Dale Young: Family friend of Monica Lewinsky
Monica Lewinsky's New York Employment Contacts
Celia Berk: Managing Director of Human Resources at Burson-Marstellar
Ursula Fairbairn: Executive Vice President, Human Resources and Quality of
American Express
Peter Georgescu: Chairman and Chief Executive Officer at Young & Rubicam
Richard Halerpin: Executive Vice President and Special Counsel to the President
of Revlon
Barbara Naismith: Secretary at American Express
Ronald Perelman: Chairman of the Board of McAndrews & Forbes Holding
Incorporated
Thomas Schick: Executive Vice President, Corporate Affairs and Communications at
American Express
Douglas S. Willey: Vice President, Hecht-Spencer
Secret Service
William C. Bordley: Secret Service Uniformed Officer
Gary Byrne: Secret Service Uniformed Officer
Daniel Carbonetti: Secret Service Uniformed Officer
Brent Chinery: Secret Service Uniformed Officer
Larry Cockell: Special Agent In Charge, Secret Service Presidential Protective
Division
Douglas Dragotta: Secret Service Uniformed Officer
Robert C. Ferguson: Secret Service Uniformed Officer
Lewis Fox: Retired Secret Service Uniformed Officer
Mathew Fitsch: Lt., Secret Service Uniformed Division
Nelson Garabito: Secret Service Uniformed Officer
Bryan Hall: Secret Service Uniformed Officer
Brian Henderson: Secret Service Uniformed Officer
Reginald Hightower: Secret Service Uniformed Officer
Oliver Janney: Secret Service Uniformed Officer
Greg LaDow: Secret Service Uniformed Officer
William Ludtke III: Secret Service Uniformed Officer
Tim Lynn : Secret Service Uniformed Officer
Lewis Merletti: Director, Secret Service
John Muskett: Secret Service Uniformed Officer
Fremon Myles, Jr.: Secret Service Uniformed Officer
Robert Myrick: Secret Service Uniformed Officer
Gary Niedzwieki: Secret Service Uniformed Officer
Joe Overstreet: Secret Service Uniformed Officer
Steven Pape: Secret Service Uniformed Officer
Stacy Porter: Secret Service Uniformed Officer
Geoffrey Purdie: Secret Service Uniformed Officer, Captain
William Clair Shegogue: Secret Service Uniformed Officer
Barry Smith : Secret Service Uniformed Officer
William Tyler : Secret Service Uniformed Officer
Sandra Verna: Secret Service Uniformed Officer
Keith Williams: Secret Service Uniformed Officer, Sergeant
Michael Wilson: Secret Service Uniformed Officer
Bryant Withrow: Lt., Secret Service Uniformed Office Division
Lawyers and Judges
Kirbe Behre : Linda Tripp's former attorney
Robert Bennett: Attorney for President Clinton
Robert Bittman: Deputy Independent Counsel
Plato Cacheris: Attorney for Monica Lewinsky
Frank Carter: Monica Lewinsky's former attorney
Lloyd Cutler: Former White House Counsel
Mitchell Ettinger: Attorney for President Clinton
Vince Foster: Former Deputy White House Counsel
Hon. Norma Holloway Johnson: Chief Judge, U.S. District Court for the District
of Columbia
David Kendall: Attorney for President Clinton
Karl Metzner: Attorney for Betty Currie
Kathy Sexton: Attorney for President Clinton
Hon. Susan Webber Wright: U.S. District Judge presiding over Jones v. Clinton
civil suit
Hon. David Tatel: Judge, U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit
Media
Matt Drudge : Drudge Report
Kristen Ganong: Manager of Publications, The Heritage Foundation
Lucianne Goldberg: Literary Agent
Michael Isikoff: Reporter, Newsweek Magazine
Jim Lehrer: Television Journalist
Eleanor Mondale: Reporter, CBS News
Susan Schmidt: Correspondent, Washington Post
Foreign Dignitaries
Yitzak Rabin: Former Prime Minister of Israel
Ernesto Zedillo: President of Mexico
Other
Ron Brown : Former Commerce Secretary
Patrick Fallon: Special Agent, Federal Bureau of Investigation
Webster L. Hubbell: Former Associate Attorney General, Friend of the Clinton
Family
Introduction
As required by Section 595(c) of Title 28 of the United States Code, the Office
of the Independent Counsel ("OIC" or "Office") hereby submits substantial and
credible information that President William Jefferson Clinton committed acts
that may constitute grounds for an impeachment. (1)
The information reveals that President Clinton:
lied under oath at a civil deposition while he was a defendant in a sexual
harassment lawsuit;
lied under oath to a grand jury;
attempted to influence the testimony of a potential witness who had direct
knowledge of facts that would reveal the falsity of his deposition testimony;
attempted to obstruct justice by facilitating a witness's plan to refuse to
comply with a subpoena;
attempted to obstruct justice by encouraging a witness to file an affidavit
that the President knew would be false, and then by making use of that false
affidavit at his own deposition;
lied to potential grand jury witnesses, knowing that they would repeat those
lies before the grand jury; and
engaged in a pattern of conduct that was inconsistent with his constitutional
duty to faithfully execute the laws.
The evidence shows that these acts, and others, were part of a pattern that
began as an effort to prevent the disclosure of information about the
President's relationship with a former White House intern and employee, Monica
S. Lewinsky, and continued as an effort to prevent the information from being
disclosed in an ongoing criminal investigation.
Factual Background
In May 1994, Paula Corbin Jones filed a lawsuit against William Jefferson
Clinton in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of
Arkansas. (2) Ms. Jones alleged that while he was the Governor of Arkansas,
President Clinton sexually harassed her during an incident in a Little Rock
hotel room. (3) President Clinton denied the allegations. He also challenged the
ability of a private litigant to pursue a lawsuit against a sitting President.
In May 1997, the Supreme Court unanimously rejected the President's legal
argument. The Court concluded that Ms. Jones, "[l]ike every other citizen who
properly invokes [the District Court's] jurisdiction . . . has a right to an
orderly disposition of her claims," and that therefore Ms. Jones was entitled to
pursue her claims while the President was in office. (4) A few months later, the
pretrial discovery process began. (5)
One sharply disputed issue in the Jones litigation was the extent to which the
President would be required to disclose information about sexual relationships
he may have had with "other women." Ms. Jones's attorneys sought disclosure of
this information, arguing that it was relevant to proving that the President had
propositioned Ms. Jones. The President resisted the discovery requests, arguing
that evidence of relationships with other women (if any) was irrelevant.
In late 1997, the issue was presented to United States District Judge Susan
Webber Wright for resolution. Judge Wright's decision was unambiguous. For
purposes of pretrial discovery, President Clinton was required to provide
certain information about his alleged relationships with other women. In an
order dated December 11, 1997, for example, Judge Wright said: "The Court finds,
therefore, that the plaintiff is entitled to information regarding any
individuals with whom the President had sexual relations or proposed or sought
to have sexual relations and who were during the relevant time frame state or
federal employees." (6) Judge Wright left for another day the issue whether any
information of this type would be admissible were the case to go to trial. But
for purposes of answering the written questions served on the President, and for
purposes of answering questions at a deposition, the District Court ruled that
the President must respond.
In mid-December 1997, the President answered one of the written discovery
questions posed by Ms. Jones on this issue. When asked to identify all women who
were state or federal employees and with whom he had had "sexual relations"
since 1986, (7) the President answered under oath: "None." (8) For purposes of
this interrogatory, the term "sexual relations" was not defined.
On January 17, 1998, President Clinton was questioned under oath about his
relationships with other women in the workplace, this time at a deposition.
Judge Wright presided over the deposition. The President was asked numerous
questions about his relationship with Monica Lewinsky, by then a 24-year-old
former White House intern, White House employee, and Pentagon employee. Under
oath and in the presence of Judge Wright, the President denied that he had
engaged in a "sexual affair," a "sexual relationship," or "sexual relations"
with Ms. Lewinsky. The President also stated that he had no specific memory of
having been alone with Ms. Lewinsky, that he remembered few details of any gifts
they might have exchanged, and indicated that no one except his attorneys had
kept him informed of Ms. Lewinsky's status as a potential witness in the Jones
case.
The Investigation
On January 12, 1998, this Office received information that Monica Lewinsky was
attempting to influence the testimony of one of the witnesses in the Jones
litigation, and that Ms. Lewinsky herself was prepared to provide false
information under oath in that lawsuit. The OIC was also informed that Ms.
Lewinsky had spoken to the President and the President's close friend Vernon
Jordan about being subpoenaed to testify in the Jones suit, and that Vernon
Jordan and others were helping her find a job. The allegations with respect to
Mr. Jordan and the job search were similar to ones already under review in the
ongoing Whitewater investigation. (9)
After gathering preliminary evidence to test the information's reliability, the
OIC presented the evidence to Attorney General Janet Reno. Based on her review
of the information, the Attorney General determined that a further investigation
by the Independent Counsel was required.
On the following day, Attorney General Reno petitioned the Special Division of
the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, on an
expedited basis, to expand the jurisdiction of Independent Counsel Kenneth W.
Starr. On January 16, 1998, in response to the Attorney General's request, the
Special Division issued an order that provides in pertinent part:
The Independent Counsel shall have jurisdiction and authority to investigate to
the maximum extent authorized by the Independent Counsel Reauthorization Act of
1994 whether Monica Lewinsky or others suborned perjury, obstructed justice,
intimidated witnesses, or otherwise violated federal law other than a Class B or
C misdemeanor or infraction in dealing with witnesses, potential witnesses,
attorneys, or others concerning the civil case Jones v. Clinton. (10)
On January 28, 1998, after the allegations about the President's relationship
with Ms. Lewinsky became public, the OIC filed a Motion for Limited Intervention
and a Stay of Discovery in Jones v. Clinton. The OIC argued that the civil
discovery process should be halted because it was having a negative effect on
the criminal investigation. The OIC represented to the Court that numerous
individuals then under subpoena in Jones, including Monica Lewinsky, were
integral to the OIC's investigation, and that courts routinely stayed discovery
in such circumstances. (11)
The next day Judge Wright responded to the OIC's motion. The Court ruled that
discovery would be permitted to continue, except to the extent that it sought
information about Monica Lewinsky. The Court acknowledged that "evidence
concerning Monica Lewinsky might be relevant to the issues in [the Jones] case."
(12) It concluded, however, that this evidence was not "essential to the core
issues in this case," and that some of that evidence "might even be
inadmissible." (13) The Court found that the potential value of this evidence
was outweighed by the potential delay to the Jones case in continuing to seek
discovery about Ms. Lewinsky. (14) The Court also was concerned that the OIC's
investigation "could be impaired and prejudiced were the Court to permit inquiry
into the Lewinsky matter by the parties in this civil case." (15)
On March 9, 1998, Judge Wright denied Ms. Jones's motion for reconsideration of
the decision regarding Monica Lewinsky. The order states:
The Court readily acknowledges that evidence of the Lewinsky matter might have
been relevant to plaintiff's case and, as she argues, that such evidence might
possibly have helped her establish, among other things, intent, absence of
mistake, motive, and habit on the part of the President. . . . Nevertheless,
whatever relevance such evidence may otherwise have . . . it simply is not
essential to the core issues in this case . . . . (16)
On April 1, 1998, Judge Wright granted President Clinton's motion for summary
judgment, concluding that even if the facts alleged by Paula Jones were true,
her claims failed as a matter of law. (17) Ms. Jones has filed an appeal, and as
of the date of this Referral, the matter remains under consideration by the
United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit.
After the dismissal of Ms. Jones's lawsuit, the criminal investigation
continued. It was (and is) the view of this Office that any attempt to obstruct
the proper functioning of the judicial system, regardless of the perceived
merits of the underlying case, is a serious matter that warrants further
inquiry. After careful consideration of all the evidence, the OIC has concluded
that the evidence of wrongdoing is substantial and credible, and that the
wrongdoing is of sufficient gravity that it warrants referral to Congress. (18)
The Significance of the Evidence of Wrongdoing
It is not the role of this Office to determine whether the President's actions
warrant impeachment by the House and removal by the Senate; those judgments are,
of course, constitutionally entrusted to the legislative branch. (19) This
Office is authorized, rather, to conduct criminal investigations and to seek
criminal prosecutions for matters within its jurisdiction. (20) In carrying out
its investigation, however, this Office also has a statutory duty to disclose to
Congress information that "may constitute grounds for an impeachment," a task
that inevitably requires judgment about the seriousness of the acts revealed by
the evidence.
From the beginning, this phase of the OIC's investigation has been criticized as
an improper inquiry into the President's personal behavior; indeed, the
President himself suggested that specific inquiries into his conduct were part
of an effort to "criminalize my private life." (21) The regrettable fact that
the investigation has often required witnesses to discuss sensitive personal
matters has fueled this perception.
All Americans, including the President, are entitled to enjoy a private family
life, free from public or governmental scrutiny. But the privacy concerns raised
in this case are subject to limits, three of which we briefly set forth here.
First. The first limit was imposed when the President was sued in federal court
for alleged sexual harassment. The evidence in such litigation is often
personal. At times, that evidence is highly embarrassing for both plaintiff and
defendant. As Judge Wright noted at the President's January 1998 deposition, "I
have never had a sexual harassment case where there was not some embarrassment."
(22) Nevertheless, Congress and the Supreme Court have concluded that
embarrassment-related concerns must give way to the greater interest in allowing
aggrieved parties to pursue their claims. Courts have long recognized the
difficulties of proving sexual harassment in the workplace, inasmuch as improper
or unlawful behavior often takes place in private. (23) To excuse a party who
lied or concealed evidence on the ground that the evidence covered only
"personal" or "private" behavior would frustrate the goals that Congress and the
courts have sought to achieve in enacting and interpreting the Nation's sexual
harassment laws. That is particularly true when the conduct that is being
concealed -- sexual relations in the workplace between a high official and a
young subordinate employee -- itself conflicts with those goals.
Second. The second limit was imposed when Judge Wright required disclosure of
the precise information that is in part the subject of this Referral. A federal
judge specifically ordered the President, on more than one occasion, to provide
the requested information about relationships with other women, including Monica
Lewinsky. The fact that Judge Wright later determined that the evidence would
not be admissible at trial, and still later granted judgment in the President's
favor, does not change the President's legal duty at the time he testified. Like
every litigant, the President was entitled to object to the discovery questions,
and to seek guidance from the court if he thought those questions were improper.
But having failed to convince the court that his objections were well founded,
the President was duty bound to testify truthfully and fully. Perjury and
attempts to obstruct the gathering of evidence can never be an acceptable
response to a court order, regardless of the eventual course or outcome of the
litigation.
The Supreme Court has spoken forcefully about perjury and other forms of
obstruction of justice:
In this constitutional process of securing a witness' testimony, perjury simply
has no place whatever. Perjured testimony is an obvious and flagrant affront to
the basic concepts of judicial proceedings. Effective restraints against this
type of egregious offense are therefore imperative. (24)
The insidious effects of perjury occur whether the case is civil or criminal.
Only a few years ago, the Supreme Court considered a false statement made in a
civil administrative proceeding: "False testimony in a formal proceeding is
intolerable. We must neither reward nor condone such a 'flagrant affront' to the
truth-seeking function of adversary proceedings. . . . Perjury should be
severely sanctioned in appropriate cases." (25) Stated more simply, "[p]erjury
is an obstruction of justice." (26)
Third. The third limit is unique to the President. "The Presidency is more than
an executive responsibility. It is the inspiring symbol of all that is highest
in American purpose and ideals." (27) When he took the Oath of Office in 1993
and again in 1997, President Clinton swore that he would "faithfully execute the
Office of President." (28) As the head of the Executive Branch, the President
has the constitutional duty to "take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed."
(29) The President gave his testimony in the Jones case under oath and in the
presence of a federal judge, a member of a co-equal branch of government; he
then testified before a federal grand jury, a body of citizens who had
themselves taken an oath to seek the truth. In view of the enormous trust and
responsibility attendant to his high Office, the President has a manifest duty
to ensure that his conduct at all times complies with the law of the land.
In sum, perjury and acts that obstruct justice by any citizen -- whether in a
criminal case, a grand jury investigation, a congressional hearing, a civil
trial, or civil discovery -- are profoundly serious matters. When such acts are
committed by the President of the United States, we believe those acts "may
constitute grounds for an impeachment."
The Scope of the Referral
1. Background of the Investigation. The link between the OIC's jurisdiction --
as it existed at the end of 1997 -- and the matters set forth in this Referral
is complex but direct. In January 1998, Linda Tripp, a witness in three ongoing
OIC investigations, came forward with allegations that: (i) Monica Lewinsky was
planning to commit perjury in Jones v. Clinton, and (ii) she had asked Ms. Tripp
to do the same. Ms. Tripp also stated that: (i) Vernon Jordan had counseled Ms.
Lewinsky and helped her obtain legal representation in the Jones case, and (ii)
at the same time, Mr. Jordan was helping Ms. Lewinsky obtain employment in the
private sector.
OIC investigators and prosecutors recognized parallels between Mr. Jordan's
relationship with Ms. Lewinsky and his earlier relationship with a pivotal
Whitewater-Madison figure, Webster L. Hubbell. Prior to January 1998, the OIC
possessed evidence that Vernon Jordan -- along with other high-level associates
of the President and First Lady -- helped Mr. Hubbell obtain lucrative
consulting contracts while he was a potential witness and/or subject in the
OIC's ongoing investigation. This assistance took place, moreover, while Mr.
Hubbell was a target of a separate criminal investigation into his own conduct.
The OIC also possessed evidence that the President and the First Lady knew and
approved of the Hubbell-focused assistance.
Specifically, in the wake of his April 1994 resignation from the Justice
Department, Mr. Hubbell launched a private consulting practice in Washington,
D.C. In the startup process, Mr. Hubbell received substantial aid from important
public and private figures. On the day prior to Mr. Hubbell announcing his
resignation, White House Chief of Staff Thomas "Mack" McLarty attended a meeting
at the White House with the President, First Lady, and others, where Mr.
Hubbell's resignation was a topic of discussion.
At some point after the White House meeting, Mr. McLarty spoke with Vernon
Jordan about Mr. Jordan's assistance to Mr. Hubbell. Mr. Jordan introduced Mr.
Hubbell to senior executives at New York-based MacAndrews & Forbes Holding Co.
Mr. Jordan is a director of Revlon, Inc., a company controlled by MacAndrews &
Forbes. The introduction was successful; MacAndrews & Forbes retained Mr.
Hubbell at a rate of $25,000 per quarter. Vernon Jordan informed President
Clinton that he was helping Mr. Hubbell. (30)
By late 1997, this Office was investigating whether a relationship existed
between consulting payments to Mr. Hubbell and his lack of cooperation
(specifically, his incomplete testimony) with the OIC's investigation. (31) In
particular, the OIC was investigating whether Mr. Hubbell concealed information
about certain core Arkansas matters, namely, the much-publicized Castle Grande
real estate project and related legal work by the Rose Law Firm, including the
First Lady.
Against this background, the OIC considered the January 1998 allegations that:
(i) Ms. Lewinsky was prepared to lie in order to benefit the President, and (ii)
Vernon Jordan was assisting Ms. Lewinsky in the Jones litigation, while
simultaneously helping her apply for a private-sector job with, among others,
Revlon, Inc.
Based in part on these similarities, the OIC undertook a preliminary
investigation. On January 15, 1998, this Office informed the Justice Department
of the results of our inquiry. The Attorney General immediately applied to the
Special Division of the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit
for an expansion of the OIC's jurisdiction. The Special Division granted this
request and authorized the OIC to determine whether Monica Lewinsky or others
had violated federal law in connection with the Jones v. Clinton case.
2. Current Status of the Investigation. When the OIC's jurisdiction was expanded
to cover the Lewinsky matter in January 1998, several matters remained under
active investigation by this Office. Evidence was being gathered and evaluated
on, among other things, events related to the Rose Law Firm's representation of
Madison Guaranty Savings & Loan Association; events related to the firings in
the White House Travel Office; and events related to the use of FBI files. Since
the current phase of the investigation began, additional events arising from the
Lewinsky matter have also come under scrutiny, including possible perjury and
obstruction of justice related to former White House volunteer Kathleen Willey,
and the possible misuse of the personnel records of Pentagon employee Linda
Tripp.
From the outset, it was our strong desire to complete all phases of the
investigation before deciding whether to submit to Congress information -- if
any -- that may constitute grounds for an impeachment. But events and the
statutory command of Section 595(c) have dictated otherwise. As the
investigation into the President's actions with respect to Ms. Lewinsky and the
Jones litigation progressed, it became apparent that there was a significant
body of substantial and credible information that met the Section 595(c)
threshold. As that phase of the investigation neared completion, it also became
apparent that a delay of this Referral until the evidence from all phases of the
investigation had been evaluated would be unwise. Although Section 595(c) does
not specify when information must be submitted, its text strongly suggests that
information of this type belongs in the hands of Congress as soon as the
Independent Counsel determines that the information is reliable and
substantially complete.
All phases of the investigation are now nearing completion. This Office will
soon make final decisions about what steps to take, if any, with respect to the
other information it has gathered. Those decisions will be made at the earliest
practical time, consistent with our statutory and ethical obligations.
The Contents of the Referral
The Referral consists of several parts. Part One is a Narrative. It begins with
an overview of the information relevant to this investigation, then sets forth
that information in chronological sequence. A large part of the Narrative is
devoted to a description of the President's relationship with Monica Lewinsky.
The nature of the relationship was the subject of many of the President's false
statements, and his desire to keep the relationship secret provides a motive for
many of his actions that apparently were designed to obstruct justice.
The Narrative is lengthy and detailed. It is the view of this Office that the
details are crucial to an informed evaluation of the testimony, the credibility
of witnesses, and the reliability of other evidence. Many of the details reveal
highly personal information; many are sexually explicit. This is unfortunate,
but it is essential. The President's defense to many of the allegations is based
on a close parsing of the definitions that were used to describe his conduct. We
have, after careful review, identified no manner of providing the information
that reveals the falsity of the President's statements other than to describe
his conduct with precision.
Part Two of the Referral is entitled "Information that May Constitute Grounds
for An Impeachment." This "Grounds" portion of the Referral summarizes the
specific evidence that the President lied under oath and attempted to obstruct
justice. This Part is designed to be understandable if read without the
Narrative, although the full context in which the potential grounds for
impeachment arise can best be understood if considered against the backdrop of
information set forth in Part One.
Several volumes accompany the Referral. The Appendix contains relevant court
orders, tables, a discussion of legal and evidentiary issues, background
information on the Jones litigation, a diagram of the Oval Office, and other
reference material. We next set forth a series of "Document Supplements," which
attempt to provide some of the most important support material in an accessible
format. Document Supplement A contains transcripts of the President's deposition
testimony and grand jury testimony; Document Supplement B contains transcripts
of Monica Lewinsky's testimony and interview statements. Document Supplements C,
D, and E set forth the full text of the documents cited in the Referral.
Although every effort has been made to provide full and accurate quotations of
witnesses in their proper context, we urge review of the full transcripts of the
testimony cited below.
1. Section 595(c) of Title 28 of the United States Code is part of the Ethics in
Government Act. The section provides:
(c) Information relating to impeachment. -- An independent counsel shall advise
the House of Representatives of any substantial and credible information which
such independent counsel receives, in carrying out the independent counsel's
responsibilities under this chapter, that may constitute grounds for an
impeachment. Nothing in this chapter or section 49 of this title [concerning the
assignment of judges to the Special Division that appoints an independent
counsel] shall prevent the Congress or either House thereof from obtaining
information in the course of an impeachment proceeding.
2. Ms. Jones also named Arkansas State Trooper Danny Ferguson as a defendant.
For a detailed background of the Jones v. Clinton lawsuit, see the accompanying
Appendix, Tab C.
3. In 1991, Ms. Jones was an employee of the Arkansas Industrial Development
Corporation. Ms. Jones alleged that while at work at a meeting at the Excelsior
Hotel that day, she was invited into a hotel room with Governor Clinton, and
that once she was there, the Governor exposed his genitals and asked her to
perform oral sex on him. Ms. Jones alleged that she suffered various job
detriments after refusing Governor Clinton's advances. This Referral expresses
no view on the factual or legal merit, or lack thereof, of Ms. Jones's claims.
4. Jones v. Clinton, 117 S. Ct. 1636, 1652 (1997).
5. The purpose of discovery in a civil lawsuit is "to allow a broad search for
facts, the names of witnesses, or any other matters which may aid a party in the
preparation or presentation of his case." Fed. R. Civ. P. 26 advisory committee
notes (1946). The discovery process allows the parties to obtain from their
respective opponents written answers to interrogatories, oral testimony in
depositions under oath, documents, and other tangible items so long as the
information sought "appears reasonably calculated to lead to the discovery of
admissible evidence." Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(b)(1).
6. 921-DC-00000461 (Dec. 11, 1997 Order at 3). Similarly, in a December 18, 1997
Order, Judge Wright noted that "the issue [was] one of discovery, not
admissibility of evidence at trial. Discovery, as all counsel know, by its very
nature takes unforeseen twists and turns and goes down numerous paths, and
whether those paths lead to the discovery of admissible evidence often simply
cannot be predetermined." 1414-DC-00001012-13 (Dec. 18, 1997 Order at 7-8).
7. V002-DC-00000020 (President Clinton's Responses to Plaintiff's Second Set of
Interrogatories at 5).
8. V002-DC-00000053 (President Clinton's Supplemental Responses to Plaintiff's
Second Set of Interrogatories at 2). During discovery in a civil lawsuit, the
parties must answer written questions ("interrogatories") that are served on
them by their opponent. Fed. R. Civ. P. 33. The answering party must sign a
statement under penalty of perjury attesting to the truthfulness of the answers.
Id.
9. For a brief discussion of the scope of the OIC's jurisdiction, see "The Scope
of the Referral," below.
10. The full text of the Special Division's Order is set forth in the Appendix,
Tab A.
11. Jones v. Clinton, Motion of the United States for Limited Intervention and a
Stay of Discovery, at 6. The overlap in the proceedings was significant.
Witnesses called before the grand jury in the criminal investigation had been
subpoenaed by both parties to the civil case; defendant's counsel had subpoenaed
information from the OIC; and the plaintiff's attorneys had subpoenaed documents
directly related to the criminal matter.
12. Jones v. Clinton, Order, Jan. 29, 1998, at 2.
13. Id.
14. Id. at 2-3.
15. Id. at 3.
16. Jones v. Clinton, 993 F. Supp. 1217, 1222 (E.D. Ark. 1998) (footnote and
emphasis omitted).
17. Jones v. Clinton, 990 F. Supp. 657, 679 (E.D. Ark. 1998).
18. In the course of its investigation, the OIC gathered information from a
variety of sources, including the testimony of witnesses before the grand jury.
Normally a federal prosecutor is prohibited by Rule 6(e) of the Federal Rules of
Criminal Procedure from disclosing grand jury material, unless it obtains
permission from a court or is otherwise authorized by law to do so. This Office
concluded that the statutory obligation of disclosure imposed on an Independent
Counsel by 28 U.S.C. §595(c) grants such authority. Nevertheless, out of an
abundance of caution, the OIC obtained permission from the Special Division to
disclose grand jury material as appropriate in carrying out its statutory duty.
A copy of the disclosure order entered by the Special Division is set forth in
the Appendix, Tab B. We also advised Chief Judge Norma Holloway Johnson, who
supervises the principal grand jury in this matter, of our determination on that
issue.
19. U.S. Const., art. I, § 2, cl. 5; art. I, § 3, cl. 6.
20. 28 U.S.C. § 594(a).
21. Before the grand jury, the President refused to answer certain questions
about his conduct with Ms. Lewinsky on the ground that he believed the inquiries
were unnecessary "and . . . I think, frankly, go too far in trying to
criminalize my private life." Clinton 8/17/98 GJ at 94.
Others have argued that alleged "lies about sex" have nothing to do with the
President's performance in office, and thus, are inconsequential. Former White
House Counsel Jack Quinn articulated this view:
This is a matter of sex between consenting adults, and the question of whether
or not one or the other was truthful about it. . . . This doesn't go to the
question of his conduct in office. And, in that sense, it's trivial.
John F. Harris, "In Political Washington, A Confession Consensus," Washington
Post, Aug. 4, 1998, at A1 (quoting Quinn's statement on CBS's "Face the
Nation").
The President echoed this theme in his address to the Nation on August 17, 1998,
following his grand jury testimony:
. . . I intend to reclaim my family life for my family. It's nobody's business
but ours. Even Presidents have private lives. It is time to stop the pursuit of
personal destruction and the prying into private lives and get on with our
national life.
Testing of a President: In His Own Words, Last Night's Address, The New York
Times, Aug. 18, 1998, at A12.
22. Clinton 1/17/98 Depo. at 9. As two commentators have noted: "[T]o the extent
that discovery is permitted with respect to the sexual activities of either the
complainant or the alleged harasser, courts likely will freely entertain motions
to limit the availability of such information to the parties and their counsel
and to prohibit general dissemination of such sensitive data to third parties."
See Barbara Lindeman & David D. Kadue, Sexual Harassment in Employment Law 563
(1992).
23. A sexual harassment case can sometimes boil down to a credibility battle
between the parties, in which "the existence of corroborative evidence or the
lack thereof is likely to be crucial." Henson v. City of Dundee, 682 F.2d 897,
912 n.25 (11th Cir. 1982). If there are no eyewitnesses, it can be critical for
a plaintiff to learn in discovery whether the defendant has committed the same
kind of acts before or since. Thus, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
explained in a 1990 policy statement that the plaintiff's allegations of an
incident of sexual harassment "would be further buttressed if other employees
testified that the supervisor propositioned them as well." EEOC Policy Guidance
(1990). The rules of evidence establish that such corroboration may be used to
show the defendant's "motive, opportunity, intent, preparation, plan, knowledge,
identity, or absence of mistake or accident." Fed. R. Evid. 404(b). In short, a
defendant's sexual history, at least with respect to other employees, is
ordinarily discoverable in a sexual harassment suit.
24. United States v. Mandujano, 425 U.S. 564, 576 (1975) (plurality opinion).
25. ABF Freight Sys., Inc. v. NLRB, 510 U.S. 317, 323 (1994).
26. United States v. Norris, 300 U.S. 564, 574 (1937). There is occasional
misunderstanding to the effect that perjury is somehow distinct from
"obstruction of justice." While the crimes are distinct, they are in fact
variations on a single theme: preventing a court, the parties, and the public
from discovering the truth. Perjury, subornation of perjury, concealment of
subpoenaed documents, and witness tampering are all forms of obstruction of
justice.
27. See Eugene Lyons, Herbert Hoover: A Biography 337 (1964) (quoting Hoover).
28. U.S. Const., art. II, § 1, cl. 8.
29. U.S. Const., art. II, § 3; see also George Washington, Second Inaugural
Address, March 4, 1793:
Previous to the execution of any official act of the President the Constitution
requires an oath of office. This oath I am now about to take, and in your
presence: That if it shall be found during my administration of the Government I
have in any instance violated willingly or knowingly the injunctions thereof, I
may (besides incurring constitutional punishment) be subject to the upbraidings
of all who are now witnesses of the present solemn ceremony.
Inaugural Addresses of the Presidents of the United States, H.R. Doc. No.
82-540, at 4 (1954).
30. Jordan, House Testimony, 7/24/97, at 46.
31. From April through November 1994, 17 different persons or entities retained
Mr. Hubbell as a consultant. In 1994, he collected $450,010 for this work. In
1995, he collected $91,750, despite beginning a 28-month prison term in August
of that year.
Narrative
I. Nature of President Clinton's
Relationship with Monica Lewinsky
A. Introduction
This Referral presents substantial and credible information that President
Clinton criminally obstructed the judicial process, first in a sexual harassment
lawsuit in which he was the defendant and then in a grand jury investigation.
The opening section of the Narrative provides an overview of the object of the
President's cover-up, the sexual relationship between the President and Ms.
Lewinsky. Subsequent sections recount the evolution of the relationship
chronologically, including the sexual contacts, the President's efforts to get
Ms. Lewinsky a job, Ms. Lewinsky's subpoena in Jones v. Clinton, the role of
Vernon Jordan, the President's discussions with Ms. Lewinsky about her affidavit
and deposition, the President's deposition testimony in Jones, the President's
attempts to coach a potential witness in the harassment case, the President's
false and misleading statements to aides and to the American public after the
Lewinsky story became public, and, finally, the President's testimony before a
federal grand jury.
B. Evidence Establishing Nature of Relationship
1. Physical Evidence
Physical evidence conclusively establishes that the President and Ms. Lewinsky
had a sexual relationship. After reaching an immunity and cooperation agreement
with the Office of the Independent Counsel on July 28, 1998, Ms. Lewinsky turned
over a navy blue dress that she said she had worn during a sexual encounter with
the President on February 28, 1997. According to Ms. Lewinsky, she noticed
stains on the garment the next time she took it from her closet. From their
location, she surmised that the stains were the President's semen. (1)
Initial tests revealed that the stains are in fact semen. (2) Based on that
result, the OIC asked the President for a blood sample. (3) After requesting and
being given assurances that the OIC had an evidentiary basis for making the
request, the President agreed. (4) In the White House Map Room on August 3,
1998, the White House Physician drew a vial of blood from the President in the
presence of an FBI agent and an OIC attorney. (5) By conducting the two standard
DNA comparison tests, the FBI Laboratory concluded that the President was the
source of the DNA obtained from the dress. (6) According to the more sensitive
RFLP test, the genetic markers on the semen, which match the President's DNA,
are characteristic of one out of 7.87 trillion Caucasians. (7)
In addition to the dress, Ms. Lewinsky provided what she said were answering
machine tapes containing brief messages from the President, as well as several
gifts that the President had given her.
2. Ms. Lewinsky's Statements
Ms. Lewinsky was extensively debriefed about her relationship with the
President. For the initial evaluation of her credibility, she submitted to a
detailed "proffer" interview on July 27, 1998. (8) After entering into a
cooperation agreement, she was questioned over the course of approximately 15
days. She also provided testimony under oath on three occasions: twice before
the grand jury, and, because of the personal and sensitive nature of particular
topics, once in a deposition. In addition, Ms. Lewinsky worked with prosecutors
and investigators to create an 11-page chart that chronologically lists her
contacts with President Clinton, including meetings, phone calls, gifts, and
messages. (9) Ms. Lewinsky twice verified the accuracy of the chart under oath.
(10)
In the evaluation of experienced prosecutors and investigators, Ms. Lewinsky has
provided truthful information. She has not falsely inculpated the President.
Harming him, she has testified, is "the last thing in the world I want to do."
(11)
Moreover, the OIC's immunity and cooperation agreement with Ms. Lewinsky
includes safeguards crafted to ensure that she tells the truth. Court-ordered
immunity and written immunity agreements often provide that the witness can be
prosecuted only for false statements made during the period of cooperation, and
not for the underlying offense. The OIC's agreement goes further, providing that
Ms. Lewinsky will lose her immunity altogether if the government can prove to a
federal district judge -- by a preponderance of the evidence, not the higher
standard of beyond a reasonable doubt -- that she lied. Moreover, the agreement
provides that, in the course of such a prosecution, the United States could
introduce into evidence the statements made by Ms. Lewinsky during her
cooperation. Since Ms. Lewinsky acknowledged in her proffer interview and in
debriefings that she violated the law, she has a strong incentive to tell the
truth: If she did not, it would be relatively straightforward to void the
immunity agreement and prosecute her, using her own admissions against her.
3. Ms. Lewinsky's Confidants
Between 1995 and 1998, Ms. Lewinsky confided in 11 people about her relationship
with the President. All have been questioned by the OIC, most before a federal
grand jury: Andrew Bleiler, Catherine Allday Davis, Neysa Erbland, Kathleen
Estep, Deborah Finerman, Dr. Irene Kassorla, Marcia Lewis, Ashley Raines, Linda
Tripp, Natalie Ungvari, and Dale Young. (12) Ms. Lewinsky told most of these
confidants about events in her relationship with the President as they occurred,
sometimes in considerable detail.
Some of Ms. Lewinsky's statements about the relationship were contemporaneously
memorialized. These include deleted email recovered from her home computer and
her Pentagon computer, email messages retained by two of the recipients, tape
recordings of some of Ms. Lewinsky's conversations with Ms. Tripp, and notes
taken by Ms. Tripp during some of their conversations. The Tripp notes, which
have been extensively corroborated, refer specifically to places, dates, and
times of physical contacts between the President and Ms. Lewinsky. (13)
Everyone in whom Ms. Lewinsky confided in detail believed she was telling the
truth about her relationship with the President. Ms. Lewinsky told her
psychologist, Dr. Irene Kassorla, about the affair shortly after it began.
Thereafter, she related details of sexual encounters soon after they occurred
(sometimes calling from her White House office). (14) Ms. Lewinsky showed no
indications of delusional thinking, according to Dr. Kassorla, and Dr. Kassorla
had no doubts whatsoever about the truth of what Ms. Lewinsky told her. (15) Ms.
Lewinsky's friend Catherine Allday Davis testified that she believed Ms.
Lewinsky's accounts of the sexual relationship with the President because "I
trusted in the way she had confided in me on other things in her life. . . . I
just trusted the relationship, so I trusted her." (16) Dale Young, a friend in
whom Ms. Lewinsky confided starting in mid-1996, testified:
[I]f she was going to lie to me, she would have said to me, "Oh, he calls me all
the time. He does wonderful things. He can't wait to see me." . . . [S]he would
have embellished the story. You know, she wouldn't be telling me, "He told me
he'd call me, I waited home all weekend and I didn't do anything and he didn't
call and then he didn't call for two weeks." (17)
4. Documents
In addition to her remarks and email to friends, Ms. Lewinsky wrote a number of
documents, including letters and draft letters to the President. Among these
documents are (i) papers found in a consensual search of her apartment; (ii)
papers that Ms. Lewinsky turned over pursuant to her cooperation agreement,
including a calendar with dates circled when she met or talked by telephone with
the President in 1996 and 1997; and (iii) files recovered from Ms. Lewinsky's
computers at home and at the Pentagon.
5. Consistency and Corroboration
The details of Ms. Lewinsky's many statements have been checked, cross-checked,
and corroborated. When negotiations with Ms. Lewinsky in January and February
1998 did not culminate in an agreement, the OIC proceeded with a comprehensive
investigation, which generated a great deal of probative evidence.
In July and August 1998, circumstances brought more direct and compelling
evidence to the investigation. After the courts rejected a novel privilege
claim, Secret Service officers and agents testified about their observations of
the President and Ms. Lewinsky in the White House. Ms. Lewinsky agreed to submit
to a proffer interview (previous negotiations had deadlocked over her refusal to
do so), and, after assessing her credibility in that session, the OIC entered
into a cooperation agreement with her. Pursuant to the cooperation agreement,
Ms. Lewinsky turned over the dress that proved to bear traces of the President's
semen. And the President, who had spurned six invitations to testify, finally
agreed to provide his account to the grand jury. In that sworn testimony, he
acknowledged "inappropriate intimate contact" with Ms. Lewinsky.
Because of the fashion in which the investigation had unfolded, in sum, a
massive quantity of evidence was available to test and verify Ms. Lewinsky's
statements during her proffer interview and her later cooperation. Consequently,
Ms. Lewinsky's statements have been corroborated to a remarkable degree. Her
detailed statements to the grand jury and the OIC in 1998 are consistent with
statements to her confidants dating back to 1995, documents that she created,
and physical evidence. (18) Moreover, her accounts generally match the testimony
of White House staff members; the testimony of Secret Service agents and
officers; and White House records showing Ms. Lewinsky's entries and exits, the
President's whereabouts, and the President's telephone calls.
C. Sexual Contacts
1. The President's Accounts
a. Jones Testimony
In the Jones deposition on January 17, 1998, the President denied having had "a
sexual affair," "sexual relations," or "a sexual relationship" with Ms.
Lewinsky. (19) He noted that "[t]here are no curtains on the Oval Office, there
are no curtains on my private office, there are no curtains or blinds that can
close [on] the windows in my private dining room," and added: "I have done
everything I could to avoid the kind of questions you are asking me here today.
. . ." (20)
During the deposition, the President's attorney, Robert Bennett, sought to limit
questioning about Ms. Lewinsky. Mr. Bennett told Judge Susan Webber Wright that
Ms. Lewinsky had executed "an affidavit which [Ms. Jones's lawyers] are in
possession of saying that there is absolutely no sex of any kind in any manner,
shape or form, with President Clinton." In a subsequent colloquy with Judge
Wright, Mr. Bennett declared that as a result of "preparation of [President
Clinton] for this deposition, the witness is fully aware of Ms. Lewinsky's
affidavit." (21) The President did not dispute his legal representative's
assertion that the President and Ms. Lewinsky had had "absolutely no sex of any
kind in any manner, shape or form," nor did he dispute the implication that Ms.
Lewinsky's affidavit, in denying "a sexual relationship," meant that there was
"absolutely no sex of any kind in any manner, shape or form." In subsequent
questioning by his attorney, President Clinton testified under oath that Ms.
Lewinsky's affidavit was "absolutely true." (22)
b. Grand Jury Testimony
Testifying before the grand jury on August 17, 1998, seven months after his
Jones deposition, the President acknowledged "inappropriate intimate contact"
with Ms. Lewinsky but maintained that his January deposition testimony was
accurate. (23) In his account, "what began as a friendship [with Ms. Lewinsky]
came to include this conduct." (24) He said he remembered "meeting her, or
having my first real conversation with her during the government shutdown in
November of '95." According to the President, the inappropriate contact occurred
later (after Ms. Lewinsky's internship had ended), "in early 1996 and once in
early 1997." (25)
The President refused to answer questions about the precise nature of his
intimate contacts with Ms. Lewinsky, but he did explain his earlier denials.
(26) As to his denial in the Jones deposition that he and Ms. Lewinsky had had a
"sexual relationship," the President maintained that there can be no sexual
relationship without sexual intercourse, regardless of what other sexual
activities may transpire. He stated that "most ordinary Americans" would embrace
this distinction. (27)
The President also maintained that none of his sexual contacts with Ms. Lewinsky
constituted "sexual relations" within a specific definition used in the Jones
deposition. (28) Under that definition:
[A] person engages in "sexual relations" when the person knowingly engages in or
causes -- (1) contact with the genitalia, anus, groin, breast, inner thigh, or
buttocks of any person with an intent to arouse or gratify the sexual desire of
any person . . . . "Contact" means intentional touching, either directly or
through clothing. (29)
According to what the President testified was his understanding, this definition
"covers contact by the person being deposed with the enumerated areas, if the
contact is done with an intent to arouse or gratify," but it does not cover oral
sex performed on the person being deposed. (30) He testified:
[I]f the deponent is the person who has oral sex performed on him, then the
contact is with -- not with anything on that list, but with the lips of another
person. It seems to be self-evident that that's what it is. . . . Let me remind
you, sir, I read this carefully. (31)
In the President's view, "any person, reasonable person" would recognize that
oral sex performed on the deponent falls outside the definition. (32)
If Ms. Lewinsky performed oral sex on the President, then -- under this
interpretation -- she engaged in sexual relations but he did not. The President
refused to answer whether Ms. Lewinsky in fact had performed oral sex on him.
(33) He did testify that direct contact with Ms. Lewinsky's breasts or genitalia
would fall within the definition, and he denied having had any such contact.
(34)
2. Ms. Lewinsky's Account
In his grand jury testimony, the President relied heavily on a particular
interpretation of "sexual relations" as defined in the Jones deposition. Beyond
insisting that his conduct did not fall within the Jones definition, he refused
to answer questions about the nature of his physical contact with Ms. Lewinsky,
thus placing the grand jury in the position of having to accept his conclusion
without being able to explore the underlying facts. This strategy -- evidently
an effort to account for possible traces of the President's semen on Ms.
Lewinsky's clothing without undermining his position that he did not lie in the
Jones deposition -- mandates that this Referral set forth evidence of an
explicit nature that otherwise would be omitted.
In light of the President's testimony, Ms. Lewinsky's accounts of their sexual
encounters are indispensable for two reasons. First, the detail and consistency
of these accounts tend to bolster Ms. Lewinsky's credibility. Second, and
particularly important, Ms. Lewinsky contradicts the President on a key issue.
According to Ms. Lewinsky, the President touched her breasts and genitalia --
which means that his conduct met the Jones definition of sexual relations even
under his theory. On these matters, the evidence of the President's perjury
cannot be presented without specific, explicit, and possibly offensive
descriptions of sexual encounters.
According to Ms. Lewinsky, she and the President had ten sexual encounters,
eight while she worked at the White House and two thereafter. (35) The sexual
encounters generally occurred in or near the private study off the Oval Office
-- most often in the windowless hallway outside the study. (36) During many of
their sexual encounters, the President stood leaning against the doorway of the
bathroom across from the study, which, he told Ms. Lewinsky, eased his sore
back. (37)
Ms. Lewinsky testified that her physical relationship with the President
included oral sex but not sexual intercourse. (38) According to Ms. Lewinsky,
she performed oral sex on the President; he never performed oral sex on her.
(39) Initially, according to Ms. Lewinsky, the President would not let her
perform oral sex to completion. In Ms. Lewinsky's understanding, his refusal was
related to "trust and not knowing me well enough." (40) During their last two
sexual encounters, both in 1997, he did ejaculate. (41)
According to Ms. Lewinsky, she performed oral sex on the President on nine
occasions. On all nine of those occasions, the President fondled and kissed her
bare breasts. He touched her genitals, both through her underwear and directly,
bringing her to orgasm on two occasions. On one occasion, the President inserted
a cigar into her vagina. On another occasion, she and the President had brief
genital-to-genital contact. (42)
Whereas the President testified that "what began as a friendship came to include
[intimate contact]," Ms. Lewinsky explained that the relationship moved in the
opposite direction: "[T]he emotional and friendship aspects . . . developed
after the beginning of our sexual relationship." (43)
D. Emotional Attachment
As the relationship developed over time, Ms. Lewinsky grew emotionally attached
to President Clinton. She testified: "I never expected to fall in love with the
President. I was surprised that I did." (44) Ms. Lewinsky told him of her
feelings. (45) At times, she believed that he loved her too. (46) They were
physically affectionate: "A lot of hugging, holding hands sometimes. He always
used to push the hair out of my face." (47) She called him "Handsome"; on
occasion, he called her "Sweetie," "Baby," or sometimes "Dear." (48) He told her
that he enjoyed talking to her -- she recalled his saying that the two of them
were "emotive and full of fire," and she made him feel young. (49) He said he
wished he could spend more time with her. (50)
Ms. Lewinsky told confidants of the emotional underpinnings of the relationship
as it evolved. According to her mother, Marcia Lewis, the President once told
Ms. Lewinsky that she "had been hurt a lot or something by different men and
that he would be her friend or he would help her, not hurt her." (51) According
to Ms. Lewinsky's friend Neysa Erbland, President Clinton once confided in Ms.
Lewinsky that he was uncertain whether he would remain married after he left the
White House. He said in essence, "[W]ho knows what will happen four years from
now when I am out of office?" Ms. Lewinsky thought, according to Ms. Erbland,
that "maybe she will be his wife." (52)
E. Conversations and Phone Messages
Ms. Lewinsky testified that she and the President "enjoyed talking to each other
and being with each other." In her recollection, "We would tell jokes. We would
talk about our childhoods. Talk about current events. I was always giving him my
stupid ideas about what I thought should be done in the administration or
different views on things." (53) One of Ms. Lewinsky's friends testified that,
in her understanding, "[The President] would talk about his childhood and
growing up, and [Ms. Lewinsky] would relay stories about her childhood and
growing up. I guess normal conversations that you would have with someone that
you're getting to know." (54)
The longer conversations often occurred after their sexual contact. Ms. Lewinsky
testified: "[W]hen I was working there [at the White House] . . . we'd start in
the back [in or near the private study] and we'd talk and that was where we were
physically intimate, and we'd usually end up, kind of the pillow talk of it, I
guess, . . . sitting in the Oval Office . . . ." (55) During several meetings
when they were not sexually intimate, they talked in the Oval Office or in the
area of the study. (56)
Along with face-to-face meetings, according to Ms. Lewinsky, she spoke on the
telephone with the President approximately 50 times, often after 10 p.m. and
sometimes well after midnight. (57) The President placed the calls himself or,
during working hours, had his secretary, Betty Currie, do so; Ms. Lewinsky could
not telephone him directly, though she sometimes reached him through Ms. Currie.
(58) Ms. Lewinsky testified: "[W]e spent hours on the phone talking." (59) Their
telephone conversations were "[s]imilar to what we discussed in person, just how
we were doing. A lot of discussions about my job, when I was trying to come back
to the White House and then once I decided to move to New York. . . . We talked
about everything under the sun." (60) On 10 to 15 occasions, she and the
President had phone sex. (61) After phone sex late one night, the President fell
asleep mid-conversation. (62)
On four occasions, the President left very brief messages on Ms. Lewinsky's
answering machine, though he told her that he did not like doing so because (in
her recollection) he "felt it was a little unsafe." (63) She saved his messages
and played the tapes for several confidants, who said they believed that the
voice was the President's. (64)
By phone and in person, according to Ms. Lewinsky, she and the President
sometimes had arguments. On a number of occasions in 1997, she complained that
he had not brought her back from the Pentagon to work in the White House, as he
had promised to do after the election. (65) In a face-to-face meeting on July 4,
1997, the President reprimanded her for a letter she had sent him that obliquely
threatened to disclose their relationship. (66) During an argument on December
6, 1997, according to Ms. Lewinsky, the President said that "he had never been
treated as poorly by anyone else as I treated him," and added that "he spent
more time with me than anyone else in the world, aside from his family, friends
and staff, which I don't know exactly which category that put me in." (67)
Testifying before the grand jury, the President confirmed that he and Ms.
Lewinsky had had personal conversations, and he acknowledged that their
telephone conversations sometimes included "inappropriate sexual banter." (68)
The President said that Ms. Lewinsky told him about "her personal life," "her
upbringing," and "her job ambitions." (69) After terminating their intimate
relationship in 1997, he said, he tried "to be a friend to Ms. Lewinsky, to be a
counselor to her, to give her good advice, and to help her." (70)
F. Gifts
Ms. Lewinsky and the President exchanged numerous gifts. By her estimate, she
gave him about 30 items, and he gave her about 18. (71) Ms. Lewinsky's first
gift to him was a matted poem given by her and other White House interns to
commemorate "National Boss Day," October 24, 1995. (72) This was the only item
reflected in White House records that Ms. Lewinsky gave the President before (in
her account) the sexual relationship began, and the only item that he sent to
the archives instead of keeping. (73) On November 20 -- five days after the
intimate relationship began, according to Ms. Lewinsky -- she gave him a
necktie, which he chose to keep rather than send to the archives. (74) According
to Ms. Lewinsky, the President telephoned the night she gave him the tie, then
sent her a photo of himself wearing it. (75) The tie was logged pursuant to
White House procedures for gifts to the President. (76)
In a draft note to the President in December 1997, Ms. Lewinsky wrote that she
was "very particular about presents and could never give them to anyone else --
they were all bought with you in mind." (77) Many of the 30 or so gifts that she
gave the President reflected his interests in history, antiques, cigars, and
frogs. Ms. Lewinsky gave him, among other things, six neckties, an antique
paperweight showing the White House, a silver tabletop holder for cigars or
cigarettes, a pair of sunglasses, a casual shirt, a mug emblazoned "Santa
Monica," a frog figurine, a letter opener depicting a frog, several novels, a
humorous book of quotations, and several antique books. (78) He gave her, among
other things, a hat pin, two brooches, a blanket, a marble bear figurine, and a
special edition of Walt Whitman's Leaves of Grass. (79)
Ms. Lewinsky construed it as a sign of affection when the President wore a
necktie or other item of clothing she had given him. She testified: "I used to
say to him that 'I like it when you wear my ties because then I know I'm close
to your heart.' So -- literally and figuratively." (80) The President was aware
of her reaction, according to Ms. Lewinsky, and he would sometimes wear one of
the items to reassure her -- occasionally on the day they were scheduled to meet
or the day after they had met in person or talked by telephone. (81) The
President would sometimes say to her, "Did you see I wore your tie the other
day?" (82)
In his grand jury testimony, the President acknowledged that he had exchanged a
number of gifts with Ms. Lewinsky. After their intimate relationship ended in
1997, he testified, "[S]he continued to give me gifts. And I felt that it was a
right thing to do to give her gifts back." (83)
G. Messages
According to Ms. Lewinsky, she sent the President a number of cards and letters.
In some, she expressed anger that he was "not paying enough attention to me"; in
others, she said she missed him; in still others, she just sent "a funny card
that I saw." (84) In early January 1998, she sent him, along with an antique
book about American presidents, "[a]n embarrassing mushy note." (85) She
testified that the President never sent her any cards or notes other than formal
thank-you letters. (86)
Testifying before the grand jury, the President acknowledged having received
cards and notes from Ms. Lewinsky that were "somewhat intimate" and "quite
affectionate," even after the intimate relationship ended. (87)
H. Secrecy
1. Mutual Understanding
Both Ms. Lewinsky and the President testified that they took steps to maintain
the secrecy of the relationship. According to Ms. Lewinsky, the President from
the outset stressed the importance of keeping the relationship secret. In her
handwritten statement to this Office, Ms. Lewinsky wrote that "the President
told Ms. L to deny a relationship, if ever asked about it. He also said
something to the effect of if the two people who are involved say it didn't
happen -- it didn't happen." (88) According to Ms. Lewinsky, the President
sometimes asked if she had told anyone about their sexual relationship or about
the gifts they had exchanged; she (falsely) assured him that she had not. (89)
She told him that "I would always deny it, I would always protect him," and he
responded approvingly. (90) The two of them had, in her words, "a mutual
understanding" that they would "keep this private, so that meant deny it and . .
. take whatever appropriate steps needed to be taken." (91) When she and the
President both were subpoenaed to testify in the Jones case, Ms. Lewinsky
anticipated that "as we had on every other occasion and every other instance of
this relationship, we would deny it." (92)
In his grand jury testimony, the President confirmed his efforts to keep their
liaisons secret. (93) He said he did not want the facts of their relationship to
be disclosed "in any context," and added: "I certainly didn't want this to come
out, if I could help it. And I was concerned about that. I was embarrassed about
it. I knew it was wrong." (94) Asked if he wanted to avoid having the facts come
out through Ms. Lewinsky's testimony in Jones, he said: "Well, I did not want
her to have to testify and go through that. And, of course, I didn't want her to
do that, of course not." (95)
2. Cover Stories
For her visits to see the President, according to Ms. Lewinsky, "[T]here was
always some sort of a cover." (96) When visiting the President while she worked
at the White House, she generally planned to tell anyone who asked (including
Secret Service officers and agents) that she was delivering papers to the
President. (97) Ms. Lewinsky explained that this artifice may have originated
when "I got there kind of saying, 'Oh, gee, here are your letters,' wink, wink,
wink, and him saying, 'Okay, that's good.'" (98) To back up her stories, she
generally carried a folder on these visits. (99) (In truth, according to Ms.
Lewinsky, her job never required her to deliver papers to the President. (100) )
On a few occasions during her White House employment, Ms. Lewinsky and the
President arranged to bump into each other in the hallway; he then would invite
her to accompany him to the Oval Office. (101) Later, after she left the White
House and started working at the Pentagon, Ms. Lewinsky relied on Ms. Currie to
arrange times when she could see the President. The cover story for those visits
was that Ms. Lewinsky was coming to see Ms. Currie, not the President. (102)
While the President did not expressly instruct her to lie, according to Ms.
Lewinsky, he did suggest misleading cover stories. (103) And, when she assured
him that she planned to lie about the relationship, he responded approvingly. On
the frequent occasions when Ms. Lewinsky promised that she would "always deny"
the relationship and "always protect him," for example, the President responded,
in her recollection, "'That's good,' or -- something affirmative. . . . [N]ot --
'Don't deny it.'" (104)
Once she was named as a possible witness in the Jones case, according to Ms.
Lewinsky, the President reminded her of the cover stories. After telling her
that she was a potential witness, the President suggested that, if she were
subpoenaed, she could file an affidavit to avoid being deposed. He also told her
she could say that, when working at the White House, she had sometimes delivered
letters to him, and, after leaving her White House job, she had sometimes
returned to visit Ms. Currie. (105) (The President's own testimony in the Jones
case mirrors the recommendations he made to Ms. Lewinsky for her testimony. In
his deposition, the President testified that he saw Ms. Lewinsky "on two or
three occasions" during the November 1995 government furlough, "one or two other
times when she brought some documents to me," and "sometime before Christmas"
when Ms. Lewinsky "came by to see Betty." (106) )
In his grand jury testimony, the President acknowledged that he and Ms. Lewinsky
"might have talked about what to do in a nonlegal context" to hide their
relationship, and that he "might well have said" that Ms. Lewinsky should tell
people that she was bringing letters to him or coming to visit Ms. Currie. (107)
But he also stated that "I never asked Ms. Lewinsky to lie." (108)
3. Steps to Avoid Being Seen or Heard
After their first two sexual encounters during the November 1995 government
shutdown, according to Ms. Lewinsky, her encounters with the President generally
occurred on weekends, when fewer people were in the West Wing. (109) Ms.
Lewinsky testified:
He had told me . . . that he was usually around on the weekends and that it was
okay to come see him on the weekends. So he would call and we would arrange
either to bump into each other in the hall or that I would bring papers to the
office. (110)
From some of the President's comments, Ms. Lewinsky gathered that she should try
to avoid being seen by several White House employees, including Nancy Hernreich,
Deputy Assistant to the President and Director of Oval Office Operations, and
Stephen Goodin, the President's personal aide. (111)
Out of concern about being seen, the sexual encounters most often occurred in
the windowless hallway outside the study. (112) According to Ms. Lewinsky, the
President was concerned that the two of them might be spotted through a White
House window. When they were in the study together in the evenings, he sometimes
turned out the light. (113) Once, when she spotted a gardener outside the study
window, they left the room. (114) Ms. Lewinsky testified that, on December 28,
1997, "when I was getting my Christmas kiss" in the doorway to the study, the
President was "looking out the window with his eyes wide open while he was
kissing me and then I got mad because it wasn't very romantic." He responded,
"Well, I was just looking to see to make sure no one was out there." (115)
Fear of discovery constrained their sexual encounters in several respects,
according to Ms. Lewinsky. The President ordinarily kept the door between the
private hallway and the Oval Office several inches ajar during their encounters,
both so that he could hear if anyone approached and so that anyone who did
approach would be less likely to suspect impropriety. (116) During their sexual
encounters, Ms. Lewinsky testified, "[W]e were both aware of the volume and
sometimes . . . I bit my hand -- so that I wouldn't make any noise." (117) On
one occasion, according to Ms. Lewinsky, the President put his hand over her
mouth during a sexual encounter to keep her quiet. (118) Concerned that they
might be interrupted abruptly, according to Ms. Lewinsky, the two of them never
fully undressed. (119)
While noting that "the door to the hallway was always somewhat open," the
President testified that he did try to keep the intimate relationship secret: "I
did what people do when they do the wrong thing. I tried to do it where nobody
else was looking at it." (120)
4. Ms. Lewinsky's Notes and Letters
The President expressed concern about documents that might hint at an improper
relationship between them, according to Ms. Lewinsky. He cautioned her about
messages she sent:
There were . . . some occasions when I sent him cards or notes that I wrote
things that he deemed too personal to put on paper just in case something ever
happened, if it got lost getting there or someone else opened it. So there were
several times when he remarked to me, you know, you shouldn't put that on paper.
(121)
She said that the President made this point to her in their last conversation,
on January 5, 1998, in reference to what she characterized as "[a]n embarrassing
mushy note" she had sent him. (122) In addition, according to Ms. Lewinsky, the
President expressed concerns about official records that could establish aspects
of their relationship. She said that on two occasions she asked the President if
she could go upstairs to the Residence with him. No, he said, because a record
is kept of everyone who accompanies him there. (123)
The President testified before the grand jury: "I remember telling her she
should be careful what she wrote, because a lot of it was clearly inappropriate
and would be embarrassing if somebody else read it." (124)
5. Ms. Lewinsky's Evaluation of Their Secrecy Efforts
In two conversations recorded after she was subpoenaed in the Jones case, Ms.
Lewinsky expressed confidence that her relationship with the President would
never be discovered. (125) She believed that no records showed her and the
President alone in the area of the study. (126) Regardless of the evidence, in
any event, she would continue denying the relationship. "If someone looked in
the study window, it's not me," she said. (127) If someone produced tapes of her
telephone calls with the President, she would say they were fakes. (128)
In another recorded conversation, Ms. Lewinsky said she was especially comforted
by the fact that the President, like her, would be swearing under oath that
"nothing happened." (129) She said:
[T]o tell you the truth, I'm not concerned all that much anymore because I know
I'm not going to get in trouble. I will not get in trouble because you know
what? The story I've signed under -- under oath is what someone else is saying
under oath. (130)
II. 1995: Initial Sexual Encounters
Monica Lewinsky began her White House employment as an intern in the Chief of
Staff's office in July 1995. At White House functions in the following months,
she made eye contact with the President. During the November 1995 government
shutdown, the President invited her to his private study, where they kissed.
Later that evening, they had a more intimate sexual encounter. They had another
sexual encounter two days later, and a third one on New Year's Eve.
A. Overview of Monica Lewinsky's White House Employment
Monica Lewinsky worked at the White House, first as an intern and then as an
employee, from July 1995 to April 1996. With the assistance of family friend
Walter Kaye, a prominent contributor to political causes, she obtained an
internship starting in early July, when she was 21 years old. (131) She was
assigned to work on correspondence in the office of Chief of Staff Leon Panetta
in the Old Executive Office Building. (132)
As her internship was winding down, Ms. Lewinsky applied for a paying job on the
White House staff. She interviewed with Timothy Keating, Special Assistant to
the President and Staff Director for Legislative Affairs. (133) Ms. Lewinsky
accepted a position dealing with correspondence in the Office of Legislative
Affairs on November 13, 1995, but did not start the job (and, thus, continued
her internship) until November 26. (134) She remained a White House employee
until April 1996, when -- in her view, because of her intimate relationship with
the President -- she was dismissed from the White House and transferred to the
Pentagon. (135)
B. First Meetings with the President
The month after her White House internship began, Ms. Lewinsky and the President
began what she characterized as "intense flirting." (136) At departure
ceremonies and other events, she made eye contact with him, shook hands, and
introduced herself. (137) When she ran into the President in the West Wing
basement and introduced herself again, according to Ms. Lewinsky, he responded
that he already knew who she was. (138) Ms. Lewinsky told her aunt that the
President "seemed attracted to her or interested in her or something," and told
a visiting friend that "she was attracted to [President Clinton], she had a big
crush on him, and I think she told me she at some point had gotten his
attention, that there was some mutual eye contact and recognition, mutual
acknowledgment." (139)
In the autumn of 1995, an impasse over the budget forced the federal government
to shut down for one week, from Tuesday, November 14, to Monday, November 20.
(140) Only essential federal employees were permitted to work during the
furlough, and the White House staff of 430 shrank to about 90 people for the
week. White House interns could continue working because of their unpaid status,
and they took on a wide range of additional duties. (141)
During the shutdown, Ms. Lewinsky worked in Chief of Staff Panetta's West Wing
office, where she answered phones and ran errands. (142) The President came to
Mr. Panetta's office frequently because of the shutdown, and he sometimes talked
with Ms. Lewinsky. (143) She characterized these encounters as "continued
flirtation." (144) According to Ms. Lewinsky, a Senior Adviser to the Chief of
Staff, Barry Toiv, remarked to her that she was getting a great deal of "face
time" with the President. (145)
C. November 15 Sexual Encounter
Ms. Lewinsky testified that Wednesday, November 15, 1995 -- the second day of
the government shutdown -- marked the beginning of her sexual relationship with
the President. (146) On that date, she entered the White House at 1:30 p.m.,
left sometime thereafter (White House records do not show the time), reentered
at 5:07 p.m., and departed at 12:18 a.m. on November 16. (147) The President was
in the Oval Office or the Chief of Staff's office (where Ms. Lewinsky worked
during the furlough) for almost the identical period that Ms. Lewinsky was in
the White House that evening, from 5:01 p.m. on November 15 to 12:35 a.m. on
November 16. (148)
According to Ms. Lewinsky, she and the President made eye contact when he came
to the West Wing to see Mr. Panetta and Deputy Chief of Staff Harold Ickes, then
again later at an informal birthday party for Jennifer Palmieri, Special
Assistant to the Chief of Staff. (149) At one point, Ms. Lewinsky and the
President talked alone in the Chief of Staff's office. In the course of flirting
with him, she raised her jacket in the back and showed him the straps of her
thong underwear, which extended above her pants. (150)
En route to the restroom at about 8 p.m., she passed George Stephanopoulos's
office. The President was inside alone, and he beckoned her to enter. (151) She
told him that she had a crush on him. He laughed, then asked if she would like
to see his private office. (152) Through a connecting door in Mr.
Stephanopoulos's office, they went through the President's private dining room
toward the study off the Oval Office. Ms. Lewinsky testified: "We talked briefly
and sort of acknowledged that there had been a chemistry that was there before
and that we were both attracted to each other and then he asked me if he could
kiss me." Ms. Lewinsky said yes. In the windowless hallway adjacent to the
study, they kissed. (153) Before returning to her desk, Ms. Lewinsky wrote down
her name and telephone number for the President. (154)
At about 10 p.m., in Ms. Lewinsky's recollection, she was alone in the Chief of
Staff's office and the President approached. (155) He invited her to rendezvous
again in Mr. Stephanopoulos's office in a few minutes, and she agreed. (156)
(Asked if she knew why the President wanted to meet with her, Ms. Lewinsky
testified: "I had an idea." (157) ) They met in Mr. Stephanopoulos's office and
went again to the area of the private study. (158) This time the lights in the
study were off. (159)
According to Ms. Lewinsky, she and the President kissed. She unbuttoned her
jacket; either she unhooked her bra or he lifted her bra up; and he touched her
breasts with his hands and mouth. (160) Ms. Lewinsky testified: "I believe he
took a phone call . . . and so we moved from the hallway into the back office .
. . . [H]e put his hand down my pants and stimulated me manually in the genital
area." (161) While the President continued talking on the phone (Ms. Lewinsky
understood that the caller was a Member of Congress or a Senator), she performed
oral sex on him. (162) He finished his call, and, a moment later, told Ms.
Lewinsky to stop. In her recollection: "I told him that I wanted . . . to
complete that. And he said . . . that he needed to wait until he trusted me
more. And then I think he made a joke . . . that he hadn't had that in a long
time." (163)
Both before and after their sexual contact during that encounter, Ms. Lewinsky
and the President talked. (164) At one point during the conversation, the
President tugged on the pink intern pass hanging from her neck and said that it
might be a problem. Ms. Lewinsky thought that he was talking about access --
interns were not supposed to be in the West Wing without an escort -- and, in
addition, that he might have discerned some "impropriety" in a sexual
relationship with a White House intern. (165)
White House records corroborate details of Ms. Lewinsky's account. She testified
that her November 15 encounters with the President occurred at about 8 p.m. and
10 p.m., and that in each case the two of them went from the Chief of Staff's
office to the Oval Office area. (166) Records show that the President visited
the Chief of Staff's office for one minute at 8:12 p.m. and for two minutes at
9:23 p.m., in each case returning to the Oval Office. (167) She recalled that
the President took a telephone call during their sexual encounter, and she
believed that the caller was a Member of Congress or a Senator. (168) White
House records show that after returning to the Oval Office from the Chief of
Staff's office, the President talked to two Members of Congress: Rep. Jim
Chapman from 9:25 p.m. to 9:30 p.m., and Rep. John Tanner from 9:31 p.m. to 9:35
p.m. (169)
D. November 17 Sexual Encounter
According to Ms. Lewinsky, she and the President had a second sexual encounter
two days later (still during the government furlough), on Friday, November 17.
She was at the White House until 8:56 p.m., then returned from 9:38 to 10:39
p.m. (170) At 9:45 p.m., a few minutes after Ms. Lewinsky's reentry, the
President went from the Oval Office to the Chief of Staff's office (where Ms.
Lewinsky worked during the furlough) for one minute, then returned to the Oval
Office for 30 minutes. From there, he went back to the Chief of Staff's office
until 10:34 p.m. (approximately when Ms. Lewinsky left the White House), then
went by the Oval Office and the Ground Floor before retiring to the Residence at
10:40 p.m. (171)
Ms. Lewinsky testified:
We were again working late because it was during the furlough and Jennifer
Palmieri . . . had ordered pizza along with Ms. Currie and Ms. Hernreich. And
when the pizza came, I went down to let them know that the pizza was there and
it was at that point when I walked into Ms. Currie's office that the President
was standing there with some other people discussing something.
And they all came back to the office and Mr. -- I think it was Mr. Toiv,
somebody accidentally knocked pizza on my jacket, so I went to go use the
restroom to wash it off and as I was coming out of the restroom, the President
was standing in Ms. Currie's doorway and said, "You can come out this way."
(172)
Ms. Lewinsky and the President went into the area of the private study,
according to Ms. Lewinsky. There, either in the hallway or the bathroom, she and
the President kissed. After a few minutes, in Ms. Lewinsky's recollection, she
told him that she needed to get back to her desk. The President suggested that
she bring him some slices of pizza. (173)
A few minutes later, she returned to the Oval Office area with pizza and told
Ms. Currie that the President had requested it. Ms. Lewinsky testified: "[Ms.
Currie] opened the door and said, 'Sir, the girl's here with the pizza.' He told
me to come in. Ms. Currie went back into her office and then we went into the
back study area again." (174) Several witnesses confirm that when Ms. Lewinsky
delivered pizza to the President that night, the two of them were briefly alone.
(175)
Ms. Lewinsky testified that she and the President had a sexual encounter during
this visit. (176) They kissed, and the President touched Ms. Lewinsky's bare
breasts with his hands and mouth. (177) At some point, Ms. Currie approached the
door leading to the hallway, which was ajar, and said that the President had a
telephone call. (178) Ms. Lewinsky recalled that the caller was a Member of
Congress with a nickname. (179) While the President was on the telephone,
according to Ms. Lewinsky, "he unzipped his pants and exposed himself," and she
performed oral sex. (180) Again, he stopped her before he ejaculated. (181)
During this visit, according to Ms. Lewinsky, the President told her that he
liked her smile and her energy. He also said: "I'm usually around on weekends,
no one else is around, and you can come and see me." (182)
Records corroborate Ms. Lewinsky's recollection that the President took a call
from a Member of Congress with a nickname. While Ms. Lewinsky was at the White
House that evening (9:38 to 10:39 p.m.), the President had one telephone
conversation with a Member of Congress: From 9:53 to 10:14 p.m., he spoke with
Rep. H.L. "Sonny" Callahan. (183)
In his Jones deposition on January 17, 1998, President Clinton -- who said he
was unable to recall most of his encounters with Ms. Lewinsky -- did remember
her "back there with a pizza" during the government shutdown. He said, however,
that he did not believe that the two of them were alone. (184) Testifying before
the grand jury on August 17, 1998, the President said that his first "real
conversation" with Ms. Lewinsky occurred during the November 1995 furlough. He
testified: "One night she brought me some pizza. We had some remarks." (185)
E. December 31 Sexual Encounter
According to Ms. Lewinsky, she and the President had their third sexual
encounter on New Year's Eve. Ms. Lewinsky -- by then a member of the staff of
the Office of Legislative Affairs
-- was at the White House on Sunday, December 31, 1995, until 1:16 p.m.; her
time of arrival is not shown. (186) The President was in the Oval Office area
from 12:11 p.m. until about the time that Ms. Lewinsky left, 1:15 p.m., when he
went to the Residence. (187)
Sometime between noon and 1 p.m., in Ms. Lewinsky's recollection, she was in the
pantry area of the President's private dining room talking with a White House
steward, Bayani Nelvis. She told Mr. Nelvis that she had recently smoked her
first cigar, and he offered to give her one of the President's cigars. Just
then, the President came down the hallway from the Oval Office and saw Ms.
Lewinsky. The President dispatched Mr. Nelvis to deliver something to Mr.
Panetta. (188)
According to Ms. Lewinsky, she told the President that Mr. Nelvis had promised
her a cigar, and the President gave her one. (189) She told him her name -- she
had the impression that he had forgotten it in the six weeks since their
furlough encounters because, when passing her in the hallway, he had called her
"Kiddo." (190) The President replied that he knew her name; in fact, he added,
having lost the phone number she had given him, he had tried to find her in the
phonebook. (191)
According to Ms. Lewinsky, they moved to the study. "And then . . . we were
kissing and he lifted my sweater and exposed my breasts and was fondling them
with his hands and with his mouth." (192) She performed oral sex. (193) Once
again, he stopped her before he ejaculated because, Ms. Lewinsky testified, "he
didn't know me well enough or he didn't trust me yet." (194)
According to Ms. Lewinsky, a Secret Service officer named Sandy was on duty in
the West Wing that day. (195) Records show that Sandra Verna was on duty outside
the Oval Office from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. (196)
F. President's Account of 1995 Relationship
As noted, the President testified before the grand jury that on November 17,
1995, Ms. Lewinsky delivered pizza and exchanged "some remarks" with him, but he
never indicated that anything sexual occurred then or at any other point in
1995. (197) Testifying under oath before the grand jury, the President said that
he engaged in "conduct that was wrong" involving "inappropriate intimate
contact" with Ms. Lewinsky "on certain occasions in early 1996 and once in early
1997." (198) By implicitly denying any sexual contact in 1995, the President
indicated that he and Ms. Lewinsky had no sexual involvement while she was an
intern. (199) In the President's testimony, his relationship with Ms. Lewinsky
"began as a friendship," then later "came to include this conduct." (200)
III. January-March 1996: Continued Sexual Encounters
President Clinton and Ms. Lewinsky had additional sexual encounters near the
Oval Office in 1996. After their sixth sexual encounter, the President and Ms.
Lewinsky had their first lengthy conversation. On President's Day, February 19,
the Pres |