New Woman, New Charges
Sexgate was supposed to be over,
but a Clinton acquaintance now
alleges he once assaulted her
BY ADAM COHEN
Time
Just when the air was clearing in
Washington--when politicians were finally putting
aside the presidential sex scandal and moving on
to Social Security and tax cuts--another woman
has come forward alleging sexual misconduct by
Bill Clinton. Corroboration is scant, the White
House denials are emphatic, but this tale has an
unpleasant new twist: it is a charge of sexual
assault.
In a report published last week, Juanita
Broaddrick, an Arkansas nursing-home operator,
clarified rumors that have been circulating for
years. She contends that in 1978 Bill Clinton,
who was then the Arkansas attorney general,
forced himself on her. At the time, she was a
35-year-old volunteer in his campaign for
Governor. She finally broke her silence, she told
TIME, "because of all the misinformation" that
was being spread about her, not because of
Clinton's just-concluded impeachment trial. "I
could care less what happens to the man," she
says. "I just did this for myself and for my
family."
Reporters have been chasing her story at least
since the 1992 presidential campaign, but
Broaddrick has always refused to talk. In March
1998 she was referred to as Jane Doe No. 5 in
Paula Jones' sexual-harassment case, having
earlier submitted an affidavit denying the "rumors
and stories" surrounding herself and Clinton.
(She now says she wanted to avoid the glare of
publicity.) She recanted that affidavit in an
interview last year with Ken Starr's investigators,
but would not describe details of the alleged
attack. Starr made little mention of her in his
report to Congress, saying her account was
inconclusive. But during impeachment
proceedings, her story was made available to
Congress for private inspection. Last week the
precise details of the allegation were published in
the Wall Street Journal's vociferously
conservative opinion pages, and other media
outlets quickly followed with their own stories.
Broaddrick's accusations are sordid. On a
business trip to Little Rock, she and Clinton
planned to meet in a hotel coffee shop to talk. To
avoid reporters, he suggested they talk in her
room. After a brief conversation, she claims, he
pulled her onto the bed and forced her to have
sex, biting her upper lip and causing it to bruise
and swell. Clinton then told her not to worry
because, as a result of childhood mumps, he
was sterile. The last thing Clinton said as he put
on his sunglasses and walked out, according to
Broaddrick, was that she should get some ice for
her swollen mouth.
Broaddrick told TIME that she's speaking out to
set the record straight. She was particularly
upset when the Jones camp made public a letter
alleging that there was a "pay off" to keep her
silent and when the Jones attorneys said on TV
that she had been "bribed and intimidated." The
Star newspaper repeated these charges,
Broaddrick says, and then "I see this crazy
Lucianne Goldberg on TV saying that I was
profusely bleeding and had to be rushed to the
hospital." That didn't happen, she says, and
there was never any hospital record. She never
reported the alleged crime to police because, she
says, given the circumstances she did not think
she would be believed. "I felt very responsible for
allowing him to come to my room," she says.
After the incident, Broaddrick says, Clinton made
several attempts to make amends. In 1984, when
her nursing home was named best in the state,
Governor Clinton scrawled "I admire you very
much" on the official letter. In 1991 she was
called out of a conference to find Clinton waiting
for her and asking what he could do to make
things right. She rebuffed him.
After turning away legions of reporters,
Broaddrick decided to sit down for a taped
interview with NBC's Lisa Myers on Jan. 20. The
network's delay in airing it angered Broaddrick,
so she turned to Journal editorial-board member
Dorothy Rabinowitz to tell her story. NBC insists
that it has not killed the story but is just trying to
confirm Broaddrick's charges to its satisfaction.
"The story is not dead," an NBC executive told
TIME. "We're working it hard."
The White House last week issued a firm denial.
"Any allegation that the President assaulted Mrs.
Broaddrick more than 20 years ago is absolutely
false," said David Kendall, Clinton's personal
lawyer. With impeachment over and the statute
of limitations on the alleged crime long passed,
the story seems unlikely to have much traction.
Broaddrick herself says, "I'm just hoping this
absolutely goes away in the next week." A weary
nation would probably agree.
--REPORTED BY JAY BRANEGAN, KAREN TUMULTY AND
MICHAEL WEISSKOPF/WASHINGTON |
