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Politics : Clinton's Scandals: Is this corruption the worst ever? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Bilow who wrote (8632)	10/20/1998 10:46:00 PM
From: Zoltan!	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 13994

Bad news for Bill - Looks like the Court of Appeals may grant Paula's wish: Judges focus on Lewinsky affair during Jones' appeal bid L. A. Times October 21, 1998 Robert L. Jackson ST. PAUL, Minn. -- A federal appeals court panel suggested Tuesday that President Clinton's affairwith former White House intern Monica S. Lewinsky might have to be part of a reconstituted lawsuit by Paula Corbin Jones. While the three judges did not tip their hands on whether they favored reinstituting Jones' sexual harassment suit against the president, they questioned a federal district judge's ruling earlier this year that Clinton's dealings with Lewinsky were not relevant to Jones' complaint. The judges' emphasis on the Lewinsky matter could spell trouble for Clinton. If the panel orders the Jones lawsuit reinstated, the revived case against Clinton could be stronger than the original, which was dismissed in April by U.S. District Judge Susan Webber Wright. Asked by Judge Pasco M. Bowman whether Lewinsky was not part of ''a pattern and practice'' of the president's conduct, Clinton attorney Amy Sabrin acknowledged that if Jones' case went to trial, the Lewinsky matter ''could become an issue.'' Judge C. Arlen Beam said that testimony about Lewinsky might be considered by a jury ''as similar conduct'' by Clinton. Jones, a former Arkansas state employee, filed a sexual harassment suit against Clinton in 1994 alleging that the then-Arkansas governor summoned her to his room in a Little Rock hotel in 1991 and crudely asked her to perform oral sex. In dismissing the case, Wright said Jones' attorneys had failed to prove that Clinton's alleged advance constituted sexual assault or that Jones was punished in the workplace for rebuffing it. While Clinton's lawyers praised the dismissal as proper and legally correct, Jones' attorneys appealed the ruling to the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The appellate court, which has jurisdiction over a broad Midwestern region that includes Arkansas, is expected to rule on the case by the end of this year. The Jones case has dogged Clinton for four years, and it spawned the investigation that threatens to end his presidency. It was in his deposition in the Jones case last January that Clinton denied having ''sexual relations'' with Lewinsky. In August, the president admitted that he had had an ''inappropriate relationship'' with her. Earlier this month the House of Representatives voted to investigate whether Clinton should be impeached for perjury, obstruction of justice and witness tampering in the matter. James A. Fisher, arguing on behalf of Jones, said he would like to have authority from the court to collect more evidence about the Lewinsky matter to demonstrate for jurors that it was highly relevant to Jones' case. He said a close friend of Clinton's, Washington attorney Vernon E. Jordan Jr., helped Lewinsky find a better job after she performed sexual favors for the president. ''She (Lewinsky) consented to his advances and she got the job benefit,'' Fisher said. Jones and her lawyers argue that because she rejected Clinton's advance, subsequently she was given less responsibility in her job for a state commission. (Begin optional trim) ''I think we all agree that Paula Jones would have a solid gold case, as a state employee, if she had performed oral sex on the governor,'' Fisher told the judges. ''Why should she have a weaker case because she rejected him?'' But Judge Donald R. Ross, interjected, ''I think there's some question as to who made the first advance,'' Clinton or Lewinsky. (End optional trim) Clinton has denied propositioning Jones, and his attorneys have said state records show she continued to get merit raises and cost-of-living pay increases after the encounter. Clinton attorney Sabrin said that in the alleged Clinton-Jones encounter there was ''no physical force, rape, assault -- none of those physical factors'' that courts sometimes have judged to constitute isolated acts of sexual harassment. ''She said she wanted to leave (the hotel room) and she left,'' Sabrin said of Jones. Since Wright dismissed the case, the Supreme Court has lowered the bar for plaintiffs bringing sexual harassment lawsuits. In a ruling last June against Burlington Industries, the court said plaintiff Kimberly Ellerth did not have to prove she had suffered a ''tangible job consequence'' to sue for her supervisor's alleged harassment at work. After Tuesday's hearing, chief Clinton lawyer Robert S. Bennett and leading Jones lawyer Donovan Campbell Jr. told reporters they would continue negotiations over the next several days to try to resolve the case out of court. Jones' latest offer to settle for $2 million -- with half to be paid by a New York real estate tycoon -- has been rejected by Bennett. 209.67.114.212