Jordan Contradicts Clinton on Lewinsky
By Jerry Seper
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
resident Clinton and longtime confidant Vernon E. Jordan
Jr. engaged in a continuing dialogue over Monica
Lewinsky's potentially damaging role as a witness in the Paula
Jones lawsuit, according to Mr. Jordan's previously secret
grand jury testimony.
The testimony, part of a final batch of as many as 5,000
pages of documents expected to be released as early as Friday
by a House committee, contradicts Mr. Clinton's Jan. 17
deposition in the Jones case and his Aug. 17 testimony before
the Lewinsky grand jury.
In each case, Mr. Clinton testified under oath that he did
not know Mr. Jordan and Miss Lewinsky had discussed the
case. But Mr. Jordan told the Lewinsky grand jury that he and
Mr. Clinton talked numerous times about the case -- both on
the telephone and during private meetings at the White House.
Of particular concern to pending House Judiciary
Committee impeachment hearings against Mr. Clinton is Mr.
Jordan's testimony showing Mr. Clinton misstated the facts
when he said he knew his friend had talked to Miss Lewinsky
about a move to New York, but did not recall if he had spoken
with her about her connection to the Jones case.
Lawyers and others familiar with the Jordan testimony said
it bolsters prosecution claims that Mr. Clinton lied to avoid
inquiry into whether Miss Lewinsky's job and her testimony
were related.
-- Continued from Front Page --
Asked if it had ever been reported to him that Mr. Jordan
met with Miss Lewinsky and talked about the Jones case, Mr.
Clinton told the grand jury: "I knew that he met with her. I think
Betty [Currie] suggested he meet with her. Anyway, he met
with her. I thought he talked to her about something else. I
didn't know that."
Mr. Jordan testified to a different recollection of
conversations he had with Mr. Clinton about Miss Lewinsky's
subpoena in the Jones case, saying the two men had continuing
dialogue. Asked if he had kept Mr. Clinton informed of Miss
Lewinsky's status in the Jones case in addition to her job
search, he responded: "The two -- absolutely."
Independent counsel Kenneth W. Starr's sex-and-lies grand
jury investigation was triggered, in part, by accusations that
Miss Lewinsky lied in a sworn affidavit in the Jones case in
denying a sexual relationship with Mr. Clinton and that she had
spoken to the president and Mr. Jordan about the affidavit.
The Starr report said Miss Lewinsky "may have been
influenced to lie by the president through the assistance of
Vernon Jordan and others in finding her a job."
Miss Lewinsky was subpoenaed in the Jones case Dec. 19,
and met nine days later with Mr. Clinton at the White House.
Mr. Jordan told the grand jury he advised the president about
the subpoena after talking with the former intern.
On the day of the subpoena, Miss Lewinsky met with Mr.
Jordan and told him of her concern about gifts the president
had given her. Mr. Jordan told the grand jury she "was
concerned about the subpoena and I think for her the
subpoena, ipso facto, meant trouble."
Mr. Jordan testified he put Miss Lewinsky in touch with
Washington lawyer Francis Carter, who prepared the affidavit,
and said Mr. Clinton knew she planned to file the document
denying a sexual relationship. Mr. Jordan also said he told Mr.
Clinton when Miss Lewinsky formally signed the affidavit,
which was sent to the federal court in Arkansas on Jan. 16
--the day before the president's deposition in the Jones case.
Mr. Clinton testified that he hoped the former intern would
be able to "get out of testifying" on the strength of the affidavit,
and did not ask her to make a false statement. But, according
to the documents, he could not explain how a full and truthful
affidavit -- one admitting they had engaged in oral sex and Mr.
Jordan had been involved at the president's request to help her
find a job -- would have helped her avoid a deposition.
Miss Lewinsky also testified that in late 1997, she met with
Mr. Clinton at the White House during the time she was
looking to leave her government job for one in the private
sector. She said she suggested Mr. Jordan might be able to
help, and the president agreed. Immediately after the meeting,
records show Mr. Clinton spoke with Mr. Jordan by
telephone.
In November 1997, Miss Lewinsky met Mr. Jordan in his
law office, where he told her she came "highly recommended."
She said she told him of her desire to move to New York, and
they went over a list of possible employers. Mr. Jordan
telephoned Mr. Clinton shortly after that meeting.
The three had no contact until December, when Mrs. Jones'
attorneys listed Miss Lewinsky as a potential witness. It was at
that point that efforts to help her find a job out of Washington
intensified.
On Dec. 7, Mr. Clinton met with Mr. Jordan at the White
House, where they discussed the former intern. Four days
later, Miss Lewinsky met with Mr. Jordan at his office to
discuss specific job contacts in New York. Mr. Jordan gave
her the names of some of his business contacts, and later made
calls to American Express, Young & Rubicam and
MacAndrews & Forbes, the parent corporation of Revlon.
During this period, Mr. Jordan telephoned Mr. Clinton to
keep him informed of his efforts to help Miss Lewinsky in her
job hunt. Mr. Jordan testified the president also was aware
others were trying to get jobs for her, including White House
lawyer John Podesta and U.N. Ambassador Bill Richardson.
Miss Lewinsky said that on Dec. 17, Mr. Clinton called her
in the early morning, told her she was on the Jones witness list,
and they discussed their cover stories. On Dec. 18 and Dec.
23, she interviewed for jobs with New York-based companies
that had been contacted by Mr. Jordan.
On Dec. 19, Miss Lewinsky was served with a deposition
subpoena by Mrs. Jones' attorneys. Three days later, Mr.
Jordan drove her to Mr. Carter's office, discussing on the way
the subpoena, the Jones case and her job search.
On Jan. 7, Miss Lewinsky signed the affidavit denying the
relationship and the next day, she interviewed in New York
with Revlon, one of the companies contacted by Mr. Jordan.
Although she said the interview went poorly, Mr. Jordan later
called Ronald Perelman, chairman of the board at
MacAndrews & Forbes, and another interview was scheduled.
Miss Lewinsky interviewed again the next morning, and a
few hours later received an offer for a position. She told Mr.
Jordan of the offer, and Mr. Jordan notified Mr. Clinton with
the news: "Mission accomplished."
The evidence, according to the sources, suggests Mr.
Clinton assisted Miss Lewinsky in her job search in late 1997
at a time when she would have become a witness harmful to
him in the Jones case were she to testify truthfully.
"The president did not act halfheartedly," Mr. Starr said in a
report delivered last month to Congress. "His assistance led to
the involvement of the Ambassador to the United Nations, one
of the country's leading business figures [Mr. Perelman], and
one of the country's leading attorneys [Mr. Jordan]."
Mr. Jordan's testimony is replete with information that Mr.
Clinton was aware of Miss Lewinsky's involvement in the
Jones case. Mr. Jordan testified he met personally with the
president at the White House and told him Miss Lewinsky had
been subpoenaed. He also testified he told Mr. Clinton about
the affidavit in the Jones case, and knew the president was
"concerned" about whether it had been signed.
He told the grand jury he made arrangements for Miss
Lewinsky to see a lawyer in the Jones case, which he told the
president, and later advised him that she had signed the Jones
affidavit. He said he also told Mr. Clinton when Mr. Carter
filed a motion to quash the subpoena.
In his report, Mr. Starr said Mr. Clinton's motive for
making "false and misleading statements" about his knowledge
of Miss Lewinsky's involvement in the Jones case deposition
was "straight forward." He said: "If the president admitted that
he had talked with Vernon Jordan both about Monica
Lewinsky's involvement in the Jones case and about her job,
questions would inevitably arise about whether Miss
Lewinsky's testimony and her future job were connected.
"Such an admission by the president in his civil deposition,"
he said, "likely would have prompted Mrs. Jones's attorneys to
inquire further into the subject. And such an admission in his
deposition would have triggered public scrutiny when the
deposition became public."
At the time of his deposition, Mr. Clinton was aware of
potential problems in admitting a link between the Lewinsky
job search and the Jones suit. Mr. Starr already was probing
job assistance and payments made to Webster L. Hubbell after
he agreed in 1994 to cooperate in the Whitewater
investigation.
The Starr report said the jobs and money paid to Mr.
Hubbell by Mr. Clinton's friends and contributors raised
"serious questions" about whether they were designed to
influence Mr. Hubbell's testimony in the Whitewater probe. It
said some of the jobs had been arranged by Mr. Jordan, which
it said was likely a "further deterrent to the president raising
both Miss Lewinsky's job and her affidavit in connection with
Vernon Jordan." |
