Jones' Lawyers Promise Aggressive Stance In Clinton Suit
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Jones, accompanied by her husband Stephen, arrives for the deposition on Saturday
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From CNN White House Correspondent John King
WASHINGTON (AllPolitics, Jan. 18) -- On the morning after submitting to a historic deposition in the Paula Jones sexual harassment lawsuit, President Bill Clinton, on his way to and from church, ignored questions shouted by reporters about the case.
His attorney, Robert Bennett, also wasn't commenting, But Jones' legal team fanned out on the Sunday TV talk shows, promising an aggressive -- and for Clinton, potentially embarrassing -- strategy should the case go to trial.
"What we're attempting to prove in this case is that he engaged in a pattern of sexual harassment, and that's what we intend to prove," said David Pyke, one of Jones' attorneys.
Their proof includes a sworn statement, taken under subpoena, from Kathleen Willey, a former White House aide who says Clinton tried to kiss her in his study just off the Oval Office. Bennett says that incident never happened.
The Jones team says it will also make the case that Clinton, as governor of Arkansas, rewarded women with whom he had sexual relations.
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Clinton and his wife Hillary leaving church on Sunday
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"I think at the end of the day that the American public should understand that the president has a zipper problem," said Susan Carpenter-McMillan, a spokeswoman for Jones. "I do not believe that Paula Jones is the only woman who has had to go through what she has gone through."
"We are not asking President Clinton to grovel or to admit every minute detail of our complaint," said Jim Fisher, another Jones attorney, on CBS' "Face The Nation." "But we think there should be some accountability."
But Clinton's supporters say all this tawdry talk is aimed at embarrassing Clinton into a financial settlement. Jones is reportedly asking for $2 million, in addition to an apology.
"People in America see through this," former Clinton adviser James Carville said on NBC's "Meet The Press." "This is nothing but a big money grab by Paula Jones."
Jones, a former clerical worker in Arkansas, claims that on May 8, 1991, while Clinton was Arkansas governor and she was a state employee, he invited her to a hotel room in Little Rock, exposed himself and asked that she perform oral sex. She said she rebuffed his request and subsequently suffered a hostile work environment.
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Pyke
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She was at the table Saturday as Clinton was questioned for more than five hours about her allegations and his sexual history. Afterward, she and her advisers had a celebratory dinner in a Washington restaurant, dogged by cameras.
Clinton went back to work, preparing for his State of the Union speech next week.
Neither side is ruling out the possibility of a settlement before the case goes to trial, which is scheduled to happen in May. But the president's refusal to apologize for something he says he never did has so far derailed settlement talks.
So all signs point to a trial that, whatever the verdict, could prove a political and personal embarrassment for the president.
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