Latest Documents Support Perjury: Clinton Story Contradicted in Testimony
Seper, Jerry, The Washington Times (Washington, DC)
President Clinton's closest friend and his personal secretary contradict his own sworn testimony about Monica Lewinsky in material released yesterday by the House Judiciary Committee.
Washington lawyer Vernon E. Jordan Jr. said he had "continuing dialogue" with Mr. Clinton about Miss Lewinsky's ties to the Paula Jones sexual harassment suit, despite claims to the contrary by the president.
Secretary Betty Currie said Mr. Clinton tried to get her to agree with him during two White House meetings that he and Miss Lewinsky had never been alone, even though she was aware they had been and he knew it.
Mrs. Currie's grand jury testimony shows Mr. Clinton warned her in a frantic midnight telephone call that a story about Miss Lewinsky was about to break, telling her it was "not good." Later, she told Miss Lewinsky, "You have got to get out of town, big time" - just before Mr. Jordan and others sought a job for the former intern in New York.
The suspected cover-up is outlined in 4,610 pages of documents made public by the House Judiciary Committee, including grand jury testimony, interviews by the FBI and independent counsel Kenneth W. Starr, transcripts of tapes of conversations between Miss Lewinsky and Pentagon colleague Linda R. Tripp, and White House records.
The documents are the second major release by the committee since the delivery last month of Mr. Starr's report to Congress outlining 11 grounds for the impeachment of Mr. Clinton. A vote on whether to hold impeachment hearings is scheduled next week.
In an angry response to the latest documents, the White House rebuked committee Republicans for what it called a political attack and restated earlier denials that Mr. Clinton's conduct rose to the level of an impeachable offense.
"The disclosure on now, almost a weekly basis, of raw grand jury material is the clearest indication that this is a partisan process designed for partisan gains," said White House spokesman Joe Lockhart. "We have made a strong case that there is nothing here that reaches the level of an impeachable offense."
Mr. Clinton has said he misled interrogators when he denied in a deposition in the Jones case a sexual relationship with Miss Lewinsky, but that his answers were "legally accurate." He also testified before the Lewinsky grand jury that he never told anyone to lie about the affair, and could not recall ever being alone with the young woman.
White House special counsel Gregory Craig said documents to be given to the House committee will show "evidentiary manipulation and misdirection employed by the independent counsel."
Mr. Starr, in a statement last night, disputed claims that evidence had been left out of his report to Congress, citing the pages on which the material could be found.
"Significantly, the White House today did not question Miss Lewinsky's credibility, or the factual underpinnings of nine of the eleven possible grounds for impeachment - including the president's perjury in his civil deposition and before the grand jury," the independent counsel said.
The documents released yesterday show what appears to be a pattern of deception by Mr. Clinton, including the testimony of Mr. Jordan, a friend of more than 20 years, and Mrs. Currie, who testified before the grand jury on five occasions.
They show Mrs. Currie testified that Miss Lewinsky and Mr. Clinton, contrary to his sworn testimony, were alone in the Oval Office and an adjoining study a number of times. She told the grand jury that after Mr. Clinton's Jan. 17 deposition in the Jones case, he called her to work on a Sunday, asking her several questions about Miss Lewinsky.
She quoted him as telling her: "You were always there when she was there, right? We were never really alone. You could see and hear everything. Monica came on to me, and I never touched her, right? …
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