PAGE SIX
CLINTON MESS GETS EVEN MESSIER
ANOTHER woman has surfaced in the Clinton
Scandals who has even more trouble than Monica
Lewinsky in keeping her stories straight.
Jaunita Broaddrick, 54, apparently had told friends in
Arkansas that Bill Clinton had raped her in 1978,
when he was state attorney general and she was a
volunteer in his campaign for governor.
Dick Morris, during an appearance Monday on
Hannity & Colmes' Fox News show, said he doubted
a 20-year-old allegation would cause Clinton any
further difficulty.
Rape trials are very problematic, Morris said. It was
date rape if it was anything. He didn't jump out of the
bushes with a knife. Look at Willie Kennedy Smith.
The difficulty in proving that stuff is enormous -
especially after 10 years.
In addition, Broaddrick has lost her credibility as a
witness, having changed her story at least twice.
Tracked down by Paula Jones' lawyers, she gave an
affadavit in January denying Clinton had made
unwelcome sexual advances toward me in the late
'70s. The White House dismissed the rape story at
that time as false and outrageous.
But documents released a week ago Monday by the
House Judiciary Committee indicate Broaddrick, who
is described only as Jane Doe No. 5, told Ken Starr's
office on April 8 that she had filed a false affidavit.
There was no elaboration, but if Broaddrick lied when
she denied Clinton had sexually asaulted her, that
means she now claims the story is true.
NBC News correspondent Lisa Myers has reported
the alleged encounter took place in a Little Rock hotel,
the Camelot.
Court documents filed by Jones' lawyers claim Clinton
forcibly raped and sexually assaulted Broaddrick, then
bribed or intimidated her to remain silent.
But Broaddrick was uncooperative, telling Jones'
lawyers she didn't want to have to relive such a
horrible thing.
Broaddrick also refused to go public in 1992, when a
political opponent of Clinton, Phillip Yoakum, pressed
her to tell her story.
In an unsigned letter to Broaddrick at that time, a copy
of which was obtained by The Post, Yoakum says he
is distraught by her account of the assault, which he
recounts in detail.
Yoakum claims Broaddrick had told him in 1981 that
Clinton had invited himself to her hotel room with the
stated purpose of discussing her nursing home
business. NBC News corroborated the story by
interviewing four people who say Broaddrick told
them of such an assault years ago.
Another friend of Broaddrick's, nurse Norma Rogers,
said Broaddrick was distraught after her meeting with
Clinton, and said her lips were swollen at least double
in size. White House spokesman Jim Kennedy told
PAGE SIX: We're not going to be commenting on a
20-year-old story.
nypost.com |
