Wrong. He was trying through his (permissibly) misleading answers to avoid the illegal leaks of any flat admission of an affair with Lewinsky that he was correctly sure (based on extensive prior experience) they would immediately leak to the national media.
Jones lawsuit was a bogus joke. Dismissed by the federal judge for failure to make any creditable showing of any damages whatsoever.
I mean, even if you believe Jones story she was at least flashed quickly and immediately left without restraint, or any consequence whatsoever.
Let me quickly say that I do not believe it whatsoever. What I believe actually happened is something very much like this. Paula Jones made eyes at the handsome, charismatic and famous Governor at that address in Arkansas. The Governor inquired of his trooper aide, who invited Jones up to his hotel room. The Pres. asked if she was interested in something oral, smiling and exuding charm. She asked what sort of juicy job promotion is in it for me? He said, if that's how it is, no thanks, it looks like I'm going to be very busy now. perhaps you should leave. She did. Had conflicting feelings, proud to have caught his interest, mad to be brushed off as a gold digging near hooker. She started complaining, and exaggerating, to herself and her friends. The right wing circle funded by Mellon-Scafe among others heard of her, wrote about her in the American Spectator (right wing mag) and it grew from there. They asked her questions that helped her mold a barely actionable story, involve crude flashing and groping amid protestations from her all along. (despite coercion not being his MO at all.)
She was a $15k/yr clerk with a extensively seedy sexual background (oh, that's not relevant, even as to psychological "damage" but everything the Pres. ever did is??). She never expressed any severe distress or sought counseling of any sort, until the very eve of the dismissal of her lawsuit for failure to demonstrate damages years later.
That's a serious suit? That's not a bogus lawsuit? That's a million dollar suit in any circumstance other than blackmail potential against the President?
Doug |
