A. Introduction
This Referral presents substantial and credible information
that President Clinton criminally obstructed the judicial
process, first in a sexual harassment lawsuit in which he was the
defendant and then in a grand jury investigation. The opening
section of the Narrative provides an overview of the object of
the President's cover-up, the sexual relationship between the
President and Ms. Lewinsky. Subsequent sections recount the
evolution of the relationship chronologically, including the
sexual contacts, the President's efforts to get Ms. Lewinsky a
job, Ms. Lewinsky's subpoena in Jones v. Clinton, the role of
Vernon Jordan, the President's discussions with Ms. Lewinsky
about her affidavit and deposition, the President's deposition
testimony in Jones, the President's attempts to coach a potential
witness in the harassment case, the President's false and
misleading statements to aides and to the American public after
the Lewinsky story became public, and, finally, the President's
testimony before a federal grand jury.
B. Evidence Establishing Nature of Relationship
1. Physical Evidence
Physical evidence conclusively establishes that the
President and Ms. Lewinsky had a sexual relationship. After
reaching an immunity and cooperation agreement with the Office of
the Independent Counsel on July 28, 1998, Ms. Lewinsky turned
over a navy blue dress that she said she had worn during a sexual
encounter with the President on February 28, 1997. According to
Ms. Lewinsky, she noticed stains on the garment the next time she
took it from her closet. From their location, she surmised that
the stains were the President's semen.(1)
Initial tests revealed that the stains are in fact semen.(2)
Based on that result, the OIC asked the President for a blood
sample.(3) After requesting and being given assurances that the
OIC had an evidentiary basis for making the request, the
President agreed.(4) In the White House Map Room on August 3,
1998, the White House Physician drew a vial of blood from the
President in the presence of an FBI agent and an OIC attorney.(5)
By conducting the two standard DNA comparison tests, the FBI
Laboratory concluded that the President was the source of the DNA
obtained from the dress.(6) According to the more sensitive RFLP
test, the genetic markers on the semen, which match the
President's DNA, are characteristic of one out of 7.87 trillion
Caucasians.(7)
In addition to the dress, Ms. Lewinsky provided what she
said were answering machine tapes containing brief messages from
the President, as well as several gifts that the President had
given her.
2. Ms. Lewinsky's Statements
Ms. Lewinsky was extensively debriefed about her
relationship with the President. For the initial evaluation of
her credibility, she submitted to a detailed "proffer" interview
on July 27, 1998.(8) After entering into a cooperation agreement,
she was questioned over the course of approximately 15 days. She
also provided testimony under oath on three occasions: twice
before the grand jury, and, because of the personal and sensitive
nature of particular topics, once in a deposition. In addition,
Ms. Lewinsky worked with prosecutors and investigators to create
an 11-page chart that chronologically lists her contacts with
President Clinton, including meetings, phone calls, gifts, and
messages.(9) Ms. Lewinsky twice verified the accuracy of the chart
under oath.(10)
In the evaluation of experienced prosecutors and
investigators, Ms. Lewinsky has provided truthful information.
She has not falsely inculpated the President. Harming him, she
has testified, is "the last thing in the world I want to do."(11)
Moreover, the OIC's immunity and cooperation agreement with
Ms. Lewinsky includes safeguards crafted to ensure that she tells
the truth. Court-ordered immunity and written immunity
agreements often provide that the witness can be prosecuted only
for false statements made during the period of cooperation, and
not for the underlying offense. The OIC's agreement goes
further, providing that Ms. Lewinsky will lose her immunity
altogether if the government can prove to a federal district
judge -- by a preponderance of the evidence, not the higher
standard of beyond a reasonable doubt -- that she lied.
Moreover, the agreement provides that, in the course of such a
prosecution, the United States could introduce into evidence the
statements made by Ms. Lewinsky during her cooperation. Since
Ms. Lewinsky acknowledged in her proffer interview and in
debriefings that she violated the law, she has a strong incentive
to tell the truth: If she did not, it would be relatively
straightforward to void the immunity agreement and prosecute her,
using her own admissions against her.
3. Ms. Lewinsky's Confidants
Between 1995 and 1998, Ms. Lewinsky confided in 11 people
about her relationship with the President. All have been
questioned by the OIC, most before a federal grand jury: Andrew
Bleiler, Catherine Allday Davis, Neysa Erbland, Kathleen Estep,
Deborah Finerman, Dr. Irene Kassorla, Marcia Lewis, Ashley
Raines, Linda Tripp, Natalie Ungvari, and Dale Young.(12) Ms.
Lewinsky told most of these confidants about events in her
relationship with the President as they occurred, sometimes in
considerable detail.
Some of Ms. Lewinsky's statements about the relationship
were contemporaneously memorialized. These include deleted email
recovered from her home computer and her Pentagon computer, email
messages retained by two of the recipients, tape recordings of
some of Ms. Lewinsky's conversations with Ms. Tripp, and notes
taken by Ms. Tripp during some of their conversations. The Tripp
notes, which have been extensively corroborated, refer
specifically to places, dates, and times of physical contacts
between the President and Ms. Lewinsky.(13)
Everyone in whom Ms. Lewinsky confided in detail believed
she was telling the truth about her relationship with the
President. Ms. Lewinsky told her psychologist, Dr. Irene
Kassorla, about the affair shortly after it began. Thereafter,
she related details of sexual encounters soon after they occurred
(sometimes calling from her White House office).(14) Ms. Lewinsky
showed no indications of delusional thinking, according to Dr.
Kassorla, and Dr. Kassorla had no doubts whatsoever about the
truth of what Ms. Lewinsky told her.(15) Ms. Lewinsky's friend
Catherine Allday Davis testified that she believed Ms. Lewinsky's
accounts of the sexual relationship with the President because "I
trusted in the way she had confided in me on other things in her
life. . . . I just trusted the relationship, so I trusted
her."(16) Dale Young, a friend in whom Ms. Lewinsky confided
starting in mid-1996, testified:
[I]f she was going to lie to me, she would have said to me,
"Oh, he calls me all the time. He does wonderful things.
He can't wait to see me." . . . [S]he would have
embellished the story. You know, she wouldn't be telling
me, "He told me he'd call me, I waited home all weekend and
I didn't do anything and he didn't call and then he didn't
call for two weeks."(17)
4. Documents
In addition to her remarks and email to friends, Ms.
Lewinsky wrote a number of documents, including letters and draft
letters to the President. Among these documents are (i) papers
found in a consensual search of her apartment; (ii) papers that
Ms. Lewinsky turned over pursuant to her cooperation agreement,
including a calendar with dates circled when she met or talked by
telephone with the President in 1996 and 1997; and (iii) files
recovered from Ms. Lewinsky's computers at home and at the
Pentagon.
5. Consistency and Corroboration
The details of Ms. Lewinsky's many statements have been
checked, cross-checked, and corroborated. When negotiations with
Ms. Lewinsky in January and February 1998 did not culminate in an
agreement, the OIC proceeded with a comprehensive investigation,
which generated a great deal of probative evidence.
In July and August 1998, circumstances brought more direct
and compelling evidence to the investigation. After the courts
rejected a novel privilege claim, Secret Service officers and
agents testified about their observations of the President and
Ms. Lewinsky in the White House. Ms. Lewinsky agreed to submit
to a proffer interview (previous negotiations had deadlocked over
her refusal to do so), and, after assessing her credibility in
that session, the OIC entered into a cooperation agreement with
her. Pursuant to the cooperation agreement, Ms. Lewinsky turned
over the dress that proved to bear traces of the President's
semen. And the President, who had spurned six invitations to
testify, finally agreed to provide his account to the grand jury.
In that sworn testimony, he acknowledged "inappropriate intimate
contact" with Ms. Lewinsky.
Because of the fashion in which the investigation had
unfolded, in sum, a massive quantity of evidence was available to
test and verify Ms. Lewinsky's statements during her proffer
interview and her later cooperation. Consequently, Ms.
Lewinsky's statements have been corroborated to a remarkable
degree. Her detailed statements to the grand jury and the OIC in
1998 are consistent with statements to her confidants dating back
to 1995, documents that she created, and physical evidence.(18)
Moreover, her accounts generally match the testimony of White
House staff members; the testimony of Secret Service agents and
officers; and White House records showing Ms. Lewinsky's entries
and exits, the President's whereabouts, and the President's
telephone calls.
C. Sexual Contacts
1. The President's Accounts
a. Jones Testimony
In the Jones deposition on January 17, 1998, the President
denied having had "a sexual affair," "sexual relations," or "a
sexual relationship" with Ms. Lewinsky.(19) He noted that "[t]here
are no curtains on the Oval Office, there are no curtains on my
private office, there are no curtains or blinds that can close
[on] the windows in my private dining room," and added: "I have
done everything I could to avoid the kind of questions you are
asking me here today. . . ."(20)
During the deposition, the President's attorney, Robert
Bennett, sought to limit questioning about Ms. Lewinsky. Mr.
Bennett told Judge Susan Webber Wright that Ms. Lewinsky had
executed "an affidavit which [Ms. Jones's lawyers] are in
possession of saying that there is absolutely no sex of any kind
in any manner, shape or form, with President Clinton." In a
subsequent colloquy with Judge Wright, Mr. Bennett declared that
as a result of "preparation of [President Clinton] for this
deposition, the witness is fully aware of Ms. Lewinsky's
affidavit."(21) The President did not dispute his legal
representative's assertion that the President and Ms. Lewinsky
had had "absolutely no sex of any kind in any manner, shape or
form," nor did he dispute the implication that Ms. Lewinsky's
affidavit, in denying "a sexual relationship," meant that there
was "absolutely no sex of any kind in any manner, shape or form."
In subsequent questioning by his attorney, President Clinton
testified under oath that Ms. Lewinsky's affidavit was
"absolutely true."(22)
b. Grand Jury Testimony
Testifying before the grand jury on August 17, 1998, seven
months after his Jones deposition, the President acknowledged
"inappropriate intimate contact" with Ms. Lewinsky but maintained
that his January deposition testimony was accurate.(23) In his
account, "what began as a friendship [with Ms. Lewinsky] came to
include this conduct."(24) He said he remembered "meeting her, or
having my first real conversation with her during the government
shutdown in November of '95." According to the President, the
inappropriate contact occurred later (after Ms. Lewinsky's
internship had ended), "in early 1996 and once in early 1997."(25)
The President refused to answer questions about the precise
nature of his intimate contacts with Ms. Lewinsky, but he did
explain his earlier denials.(26) As to his denial in the Jones
deposition that he and Ms. Lewinsky had had a "sexual
relationship," the President maintained that there can be no
sexual relationship without sexual intercourse, regardless of
what other sexual activities may transpire. He stated that "most
ordinary Americans" would embrace this distinction.(27)
The President also maintained that none of his sexual
contacts with Ms. Lewinsky constituted "sexual relations" within
a specific definition used in the Jones deposition.(28) Under that
definition:
[A] person engages in "sexual relations" when the person
knowingly engages in or causes -- (1) contact with the
genitalia, anus, groin, breast, inner thigh, or buttocks of
any person with an intent to arouse or gratify the sexual
desire of any person . . . . "Contact" means intentional
touching, either directly or through clothing.(29)
According to what the President testified was his understanding,
this definition "covers contact by the person being deposed with
the enumerated areas, if the contact is done with an intent to
arouse or gratify," but it does not cover oral sex performed on
the person being deposed.(30) He testified:
[I]f the deponent is the person who has oral sex performed
on him, then the contact is with -- not with anything on
that list, but with the lips of another person. It seems to
be self-evident that that's what it is. . . . Let me remind
you, sir, I read this carefully.(31)
In the President's view, "any person, reasonable person" would
recognize that oral sex performed on the deponent falls outside
the definition.(32)
If Ms. Lewinsky performed oral sex on the President, then --
under this interpretation -- she engaged in sexual relations but
he did not. The President refused to answer whether Ms. Lewinsky
in fact had performed oral sex on him.(33) He did testify that
direct contact with Ms. Lewinsky's breasts or genitalia would
fall within the definition, and he denied having had any such
contact.(34)
2. Ms. Lewinsky's Account
In his grand jury testimony, the President relied heavily on
a particular interpretation of "sexual relations" as defined in
the Jones deposition. Beyond insisting that his conduct did not
fall within the Jones definition, he refused to answer questions
about the nature of his physical contact with Ms. Lewinsky, thus
placing the grand jury in the position of having to accept his
conclusion without being able to explore the underlying facts.
This strategy -- evidently an effort to account for possible
traces of the President's semen on Ms. Lewinsky's clothing
without undermining his position that he did not lie in the Jones
deposition -- mandates that this Referral set forth evidence of
an explicit nature that otherwise would be omitted.
In light of the President's testimony, Ms. Lewinsky's
accounts of their sexual encounters are indispensable for two
reasons. First, the detail and consistency of these accounts
tend to bolster Ms. Lewinsky's credibility. Second, and
particularly important, Ms. Lewinsky contradicts the President on
a key issue. According to Ms. Lewinsky, the President touched
her breasts and genitalia -- which means that his conduct met the
Jones definition of sexual relations even under his theory. On
these matters, the evidence of the President's perjury cannot be
presented without specific, explicit, and possibly offensive
descriptions of sexual encounters.
According to Ms. Lewinsky, she and the President had ten
sexual encounters, eight while she worked at the White House and
two thereafter.(35) The sexual encounters generally occurred in or
near the private study off the Oval Office -- most often in the
windowless hallway outside the study.(36) During many of their
sexual encounters, the President stood leaning against the
doorway of the bathroom across from the study, which, he told Ms.
Lewinsky, eased his sore back.(37)
Ms. Lewinsky testified that her physical relationship with
the President included oral sex but not sexual intercourse.(38)
According to Ms. Lewinsky, she performed oral sex on the
President; he never performed oral sex on her.(39) Initially,
according to Ms. Lewinsky, the President would not let her
perform oral sex to completion. In Ms. Lewinsky's understanding,
his refusal was related to "trust and not knowing me well
enough."(40) During their last two sexual encounters, both in
1997, he did ejaculate.(41)
According to Ms. Lewinsky, she performed oral sex on the
President on nine occasions. On all nine of those occasions, the
President fondled and kissed her bare breasts. He touched her
genitals, both through her underwear and directly, bringing her
to orgasm on two occasions. On one occasion, the President
inserted a cigar into her vagina. On another occasion, she and
the President had brief genital-to-genital contact.(42)
Whereas the President testified that "what began as a
friendship came to include [intimate contact]," Ms. Lewinsky
explained that the relationship moved in the opposite direction:
"[T]he emotional and friendship aspects . . . developed after the
beginning of our sexual relationship."(43)
D. Emotional Attachment
As the relationship developed over time, Ms. Lewinsky grew
emotionally attached to President Clinton. She testified: "I
never expected to fall in love with the President. I was
surprised that I did."(44) Ms. Lewinsky told him of her feelings.(45)
At times, she believed that he loved her too.(46) They were
physically affectionate: "A lot of hugging, holding hands
sometimes. He always used to push the hair out of my face."(47)
She called him "Handsome"; on occasion, he called her "Sweetie,"
"Baby," or sometimes "Dear."(48) He told her that he enjoyed
talking to her -- she recalled his saying that the two of them
were "emotive and full of fire," and she made him feel young.(50)
He said he wished he could spend more time with her.(51)
Ms. Lewinsky told confidants of the emotional underpinnings
of the relationship as it evolved. According to her mother,
Marcia Lewis, the President once told Ms. Lewinsky that she "had
been hurt a lot or something by different men and that he would
be her friend or he would help her, not hurt her."(52) According
to Ms. Lewinsky's friend Neysa Erbland, President Clinton once
confided in Ms. Lewinsky that he was uncertain whether he would
remain married after he left the White House. He said in
essence, "[W]ho knows what will happen four years from now when I
am out of office?" Ms. Lewinsky thought, according to Ms.
Erbland, that "maybe she will be his wife."(53)
E. Conversations and Phone Messages
Ms. Lewinsky testified that she and the President "enjoyed
talking to each other and being with each other." In her
recollection, "We would tell jokes. We would talk about our
childhoods. Talk about current events. I was always giving him
my stupid ideas about what I thought should be done in the
administration or different views on things."(54) One of Ms.
Lewinsky's friends testified that, in her understanding, "[The
President] would talk about his childhood and growing up, and
[Ms. Lewinsky] would relay stories about her childhood and
growing up. I guess normal conversations that you would have
with someone that you're getting to know."(55)
The longer conversations often occurred after their sexual
contact. Ms. Lewinsky testified: "[W]hen I was working there
[at the White House] . . . we'd start in the back [in or near the
private study] and we'd talk and that was where we were
physically intimate, and we'd usually end up, kind of the pillow
talk of it, I guess, . . . sitting in the Oval Office . . . ."(56)
During several meetings when they were not sexually intimate,
they talked in the Oval Office or in the area of the study.(57)
Along with face-to-face meetings, according to Ms. Lewinsky,
she spoke on the telephone with the President approximately 50
times, often after 10 p.m. and sometimes well after midnight.(58)
The President placed the calls himself or, during working hours,
had his secretary, Betty Currie, do so; Ms. Lewinsky could not
telephone him directly, though she sometimes reached him through
Ms. Currie.(59) Ms. Lewinsky testified: "[W]e spent hours on the
phone talking."(60) Their telephone conversations were "[s]imilar
to what we discussed in person, just how we were doing. A lot of
discussions about my job, when I was trying to come back to the
White House and then once I decided to move to New York. . . .
We talked about everything under the sun."(61) On 10 to 15
occasions, she and the President had phone sex.(62) After phone
sex late one night, the President fell asleep mid-conversation.(63)
On four occasions, the President left very brief messages on
Ms. Lewinsky's answering machine, though he told her that he did
not like doing so because (in her recollection) he "felt it was a
little unsafe."(64) She saved his messages and played the tapes
for several confidants, who said they believed that the voice was
the President's.(65)
By phone and in person, according to Ms. Lewinsky, she and
the President sometimes had arguments. On a number of occasions
in 1997, she complained that he had not brought her back from the
Pentagon to work in the White House, as he had promised to do
after the election.(66) In a face-to-face meeting on July 4, 1997,
the President reprimanded her for a letter she had sent him that
obliquely threatened to disclose their relationship.(67) During an
argument on December 6, 1997, according to Ms. Lewinsky, the
President said that "he had never been treated as poorly by
anyone else as I treated him," and added that "he spent more time
with me than anyone else in the world, aside from his family,
friends and staff, which I don't know exactly which category that
put me in."(68)
Testifying before the grand jury, the President confirmed
that he and Ms. Lewinsky had had personal conversations, and he
acknowledged that their telephone conversations sometimes
included "inappropriate sexual banter."(69) The President said
that Ms. Lewinsky told him about "her personal life," "her
upbringing," and "her job ambitions."(70) After terminating their
intimate relationship in 1997, he said, he tried "to be a friend
to Ms. Lewinsky, to be a counselor to her, to give her good
advice, and to help her."(71)
F. Gifts
Ms. Lewinsky and the President exchanged numerous gifts. By
her estimate, she gave him about 30 items, and he gave her about
18.(72) Ms. Lewinsky's first gift to him was a matted poem given
by her and other White House interns to commemorate "National
Boss Day," October 24, 1995.(73) This was the only item reflected
in White House records that Ms. Lewinsky gave the President
before (in her account) the sexual relationship began, and the
only item that he sent to the archives instead of keeping.(74) On
November 20 -- five days after the intimate relationship began,
according to Ms. Lewinsky -- she gave him a necktie, which he
chose to keep rather than send to the archives.(75) According to
Ms. Lewinsky, the President telephoned the night she gave him the
tie, then sent her a photo of himself wearing it.(76) The tie was
logged pursuant to White House procedures for gifts to the
President.(77)
In a draft note to the President in December 1997, Ms.
Lewinsky wrote that she was "very particular about presents and
could never give them to anyone else -- they were all bought with
you in mind."(78) Many of the 30 or so gifts that she gave the
President reflected his interests in history, antiques, cigars,
and frogs. Ms. Lewinsky gave him, among other things, six
neckties, an antique paperweight showing the White House, a
silver tabletop holder for cigars or cigarettes, a pair of
sunglasses, a casual shirt, a mug emblazoned "Santa Monica," a
frog figurine, a letter opener depicting a frog, several novels,
a humorous book of quotations, and several antique books.(79) He
gave her, among other things, a hat pin, two brooches, a blanket,
a marble bear figurine, and a special edition of Walt Whitman's
Leaves of Grass.(80)
Ms. Lewinsky construed it as a sign of affection when the
President wore a necktie or other item of clothing she had given
him. She testified: "I used to say to him that 'I like it when
you wear my ties because then I know I'm close to your heart.'
So -- literally and figuratively."(81) The President was aware of
her reaction, according to Ms. Lewinsky, and he would sometimes
wear one of the items to reassure her -- occasionally on the day
they were scheduled to meet or the day after they had met in
person or talked by telephone.(82) The President would sometimes
say to her, "Did you see I wore your tie the other day?"(83)
In his grand jury testimony, the President acknowledged that
he had exchanged a number of gifts with Ms. Lewinsky. After
their intimate relationship ended in 1997, he testified, "[S]he
continued to give me gifts. And I felt that it was a right thing
to do to give her gifts back."(84)
G. Messages
According to Ms. Lewinsky, she sent the President a number
of cards and letters. In some, she expressed anger that he was
"not paying enough attention to me"; in others, she said she
missed him; in still others, she just sent "a funny card that I
saw."(85) In early January 1998, she sent him, along with an
antique book about American presidents, "[a]n embarrassing mushy
note."(86) She testified that the President never sent her any
cards or notes other than formal thank-you letters.(87)
Testifying before the grand jury, the President acknowledged
having received cards and notes from Ms. Lewinsky that were
"somewhat intimate" and "quite affectionate," even after the
intimate relationship ended.(88)
H. Secrecy
1. Mutual Understanding
Both Ms. Lewinsky and the President testified that they took
steps to maintain the secrecy of the relationship. According to
Ms. Lewinsky, the President from the outset stressed the
importance of keeping the relationship secret. In her
handwritten statement to this Office, Ms. Lewinsky wrote that
"the President told Ms. L to deny a relationship, if ever asked
about it. He also said something to the effect of if the two
people who are involved say it didn't happen -- it didn't
happen."(89) According to Ms. Lewinsky, the President sometimes
asked if she had told anyone about their sexual relationship or
about the gifts they had exchanged; she (falsely) assured him
that she had not.(90) She told him that "I would always deny it, I
would always protect him," and he responded approvingly.(91) The
two of them had, in her words, "a mutual understanding" that they
would "keep this private, so that meant deny it and . . . take
whatever appropriate steps needed to be taken."(92) When she and
the President both were subpoenaed to testify in the Jones case,
Ms. Lewinsky anticipated that "as we had on every other occasion
and every other instance of this relationship, we would deny
it."(93)
In his grand jury testimony, the President confirmed his
efforts to keep their liaisons secret.(94) He said he did not want
the facts of their relationship to be disclosed "in any context,"
and added: "I certainly didn't want this to come out, if I could
help it. And I was concerned about that. I was embarrassed
about it. I knew it was wrong."(95) Asked if he wanted to avoid
having the facts come out through Ms. Lewinsky's testimony in
Jones, he said: "Well, I did not want her to have to testify and
go through that. And, of course, I didn't want her to do that,
of course not."(96)
2. Cover Stories
For her visits to see the President, according to Ms.
Lewinsky, "[T]here was always some sort of a cover."(97) When
visiting the President while she worked at the White House, she
generally planned to tell anyone who asked (including Secret
Service officers and agents) that she was delivering papers to
the President.(98) Ms. Lewinsky explained that this artifice may
have originated when "I got there kind of saying, 'Oh, gee, here
are your letters,' wink, wink, wink, and him saying, 'Okay,
that's good.'"(99) To back up her stories, she generally carried a
folder on these visits.(100) (In truth, according to Ms. Lewinsky,
her job never required her to deliver papers to the President.(101))
On a few occasions during her White House employment, Ms.
Lewinsky and the President arranged to bump into each other in
the hallway; he then would invite her to accompany him to the
Oval Office.(102) Later, after she left the White House and started
working at the Pentagon, Ms. Lewinsky relied on Ms. Currie to
arrange times when she could see the President. The cover story
for those visits was that Ms. Lewinsky was coming to see Ms.
Currie, not the President.(103)
While the President did not expressly instruct her to lie,
according to Ms. Lewinsky, he did suggest misleading cover
stories.(104) And, when she assured him that she planned to lie
about the relationship, he responded approvingly. On the
frequent occasions when Ms. Lewinsky promised that she would
"always deny" the relationship and "always protect him," for
example, the President responded, in her recollection, "'That's
good,' or -- something affirmative. . . . [N]ot -- 'Don't deny
it.'"(105)
Once she was named as a possible witness in the Jones case,
according to Ms. Lewinsky, the President reminded her of the
cover stories. After telling her that she was a potential
witness, the President suggested that, if she were subpoenaed,
she could file an affidavit to avoid being deposed. He also told
her she could say that, when working at the White House, she had
sometimes delivered letters to him, and, after leaving her White
House job, she had sometimes returned to visit Ms. Currie.(106)
(The President's own testimony in the Jones case mirrors the
recommendations he made to Ms. Lewinsky for her testimony. In
his deposition, the President testified that he saw Ms. Lewinsky
"on two or three occasions" during the November 1995 government
furlough, "one or two other times when she brought some documents
to me," and "sometime before Christmas" when Ms. Lewinsky "came
by to see Betty."(107))
In his grand jury testimony, the President acknowledged that
he and Ms. Lewinsky "might have talked about what to do in a
nonlegal context" to hide their relationship, and that he "might
well have said" that Ms. Lewinsky should tell people that she was
bringing letters to him or coming to visit Ms. Currie.(108) But he
also stated that "I never asked Ms. Lewinsky to lie."(109)
3. Steps to Avoid Being Seen or Heard
After their first two sexual encounters during the November
1995 government shutdown, according to Ms. Lewinsky, her
encounters with the President generally occurred on weekends,
when fewer people were in the West Wing.(110) Ms. Lewinsky
testified:
He had told me . . . that he was usually around on the
weekends and that it was okay to come see him on the
weekends. So he would call and we would arrange either to
bump into each other in the hall or that I would bring
papers to the office.(111)
From some of the President's comments, Ms. Lewinsky gathered that
she should try to avoid being seen by several White House
employees, including Nancy Hernreich, Deputy Assistant to the
President and Director of Oval Office Operations, and Stephen
Goodin, the President's personal aide.(112)
Out of concern about being seen, the sexual encounters most
often occurred in the windowless hallway outside the study.(113)
According to Ms. Lewinsky, the President was concerned that the
two of them might be spotted through a White House window. When
they were in the study together in the evenings, he sometimes
turned out the light.(114) Once, when she spotted a gardener
outside the study window, they left the room.(115) Ms. Lewinsky
testified that, on December 28, 1997, "when I was getting my
Christmas kiss" in the doorway to the study, the President was
"looking out the window with his eyes wide open while he was
kissing me and then I got mad because it wasn't very romantic."
He responded, "Well, I was just looking to see to make sure no
one was out there."(116)
Fear of discovery constrained their sexual encounters in
several respects, according to Ms. Lewinsky. The President
ordinarily kept the door between the private hallway and the Oval
Office several inches ajar during their encounters, both so that
he could hear if anyone approached and so that anyone who did
approach would be less likely to suspect impropriety.(117) During
their sexual encounters, Ms. Lewinsky testified, "[W]e were both
aware of the volume and sometimes . . . I bit my hand -- so that
I wouldn't make any noise."(118) On one occasion, according to Ms.
Lewinsky, the President put his hand over her mouth during a
sexual encounter to keep her quiet.(119) Concerned that they might
be interrupted abruptly, according to Ms. Lewinsky, the two of
them never fully undressed.(120)
While noting that "the door to the hallway was always
somewhat open," the President testified that he did try to keep
the intimate relationship secret: "I did what people do when
they do the wrong thing. I tried to do it where nobody else was
looking at it."(121)
4. Ms. Lewinsky's Notes and Letters
The President expressed concern about documents that might
hint at an improper relationship between them, according to Ms.
Lewinsky. He cautioned her about messages she sent:
There were . . . some occasions when I sent him cards or
notes that I wrote things that he deemed too personal to put
on paper just in case something ever happened, if it got
lost getting there or someone else opened it. So there were
several times when he remarked to me, you know, you
shouldn't put that on paper.(122)
She said that the President made this point to her in their last
conversation, on January 5, 1998, in reference to what she
characterized as "[a]n embarrassing mushy note" she had sent
him.(123) In addition, according to Ms. Lewinsky, the President
expressed concerns about official records that could establish
aspects of their relationship. She said that on two occasions
she asked the President if she could go upstairs to the Residence
with him. No, he said, because a record is kept of everyone who
accompanies him there.(124)
The President testified before the grand jury: "I remember
telling her she should be careful what she wrote, because a lot
of it was clearly inappropriate and would be embarrassing if
somebody else read it."(125)
5. Ms. Lewinsky's Evaluation of Their Secrecy Efforts
In two conversations recorded after she was subpoenaed in
the Jones case, Ms. Lewinsky expressed confidence that her
relationship with the President would never be discovered.(126) She
believed that no records showed her and the President alone in
the area of the study.(127) Regardless of the evidence, in any
event, she would continue denying the relationship. "If someone
looked in the study window, it's not me," she said.(128) If someone
produced tapes of her telephone calls with the President, she
would say they were fakes.(129)
In another recorded conversation, Ms. Lewinsky said she was
especially comforted by the fact that the President, like her,
would be swearing under oath that "nothing happened."(130) She
said:
[T]o tell you the truth, I'm not concerned all that much
anymore because I know I'm not going to get in trouble. I
will not get in trouble because you know what? The story
I've signed under -- under oath is what someone else is
saying under oath.(131)
Monica Lewinsky began her White House employment as an
intern in the Chief of Staff's office in July 1995. At White
House functions in the following months, she made eye contact
with the President. During the November 1995 government
shutdown, the President invited her to his private study, where
they kissed. Later that evening, they had a more intimate sexual
encounter. They had another sexual encounter two days later, and
a third one on New Year's Eve.
A. Overview of Monica Lewinsky's White House Employment
Monica Lewinsky worked at the White House, first as an
intern and then as an employee, from July 1995 to April 1996.
With the assistance of family friend Walter Kaye, a prominent
contributor to political causes, she obtained an internship
starting in early July, when she was 21 years old.(132) She was
assigned to work on correspondence in the office of Chief of
Staff Leon Panetta in the Old Executive Office Building.(133)
As her internship was winding down, Ms. Lewinsky applied for
a paying job on the White House staff. She interviewed with
Timothy Keating, Special Assistant to the President and Staff
Director for Legislative Affairs.(134) Ms. Lewinsky accepted a
position dealing with correspondence in the Office of Legislative
Affairs on November 13, 1995, but did not start the job (and,
thus, continued her internship) until November 26.(135) She
remained a White House employee until April 1996, when -- in her
view, because of her intimate relationship with the President --
she was dismissed from the White House and transferred to the
Pentagon.(136)
B. First Meetings with the President
The month after her White House internship began, Ms.
Lewinsky and the President began what she characterized as
"intense flirting."(137) At departure ceremonies and other events,
she made eye contact with him, shook hands, and introduced
herself.(138) When she ran into the President in the West Wing
basement and introduced herself again, according to Ms. Lewinsky,
he responded that he already knew who she was.(139) Ms. Lewinsky
told her aunt that the President "seemed attracted to her or
interested in her or something," and told a visiting friend that
"she was attracted to [President Clinton], she had a big crush on
him, and I think she told me she at some point had gotten his
attention, that there was some mutual eye contact and
recognition, mutual acknowledgment."(140)
In the autumn of 1995, an impasse over the budget forced the
federal government to shut down for one week, from Tuesday,
November 14, to Monday, November 20.(141) Only essential federal
employees were permitted to work during the furlough, and the
White House staff of 430 shrank to about 90 people for the week.
White House interns could continue working because of their
unpaid status, and they took on a wide range of additional
duties.(142)
During the shutdown, Ms. Lewinsky worked in Chief of Staff
Panetta's West Wing office, where she answered phones and ran
errands.(143) The President came to Mr. Panetta's office frequently
because of the shutdown, and he sometimes talked with Ms.
Lewinsky.(144) She characterized these encounters as "continued
flirtation."(145) According to Ms. Lewinsky, a Senior Adviser to
the Chief of Staff, Barry Toiv, remarked to her that she was
getting a great deal of "face time" with the President.(146)
C. November 15 Sexual Encounter
Ms. Lewinsky testified that Wednesday, November 15, 1995 --
the second day of the government shutdown -- marked the beginning
of her sexual relationship with the President.(147) On that date,
she entered the White House at 1:30 p.m., left sometime
thereafter (White House records do not show the time), reentered
at 5:07 p.m., and departed at 12:18 a.m. on November 16.(148) The
President was in the Oval Office or the Chief of Staff's office
(where Ms. Lewinsky worked during the furlough) for almost the
identical period that Ms. Lewinsky was in the White House that
evening, from 5:01 p.m. on November 15 to 12:35 a.m. on November
16.(149)
According to Ms. Lewinsky, she and the President made eye
contact when he came to the West Wing to see Mr. Panetta and
Deputy Chief of Staff Harold Ickes, then again later at an
informal birthday party for Jennifer Palmieri, Special Assistant
to the Chief of Staff.(150) At one point, Ms. Lewinsky and the
President talked alone in the Chief of Staff's office. In the
course of flirting with him, she raised her jacket in the back
and showed him the straps of her thong underwear, which extended
above her pants.(151)
En route to the restroom at about 8 p.m., she passed George
Stephanopoulos's office. The President was inside alone, and he
beckoned her to enter.(152) She told him that she had a crush on
him. He laughed, then asked if she would like to see his private
office.(153) Through a connecting door in Mr. Stephanopoulos's
office, they went through the President's private dining room
toward the study off the Oval Office. Ms. Lewinsky testified:
"We talked briefly and sort of acknowledged that there had been a
chemistry that was there before and that we were both attracted
to each other and then he asked me if he could kiss me." Ms.
Lewinsky said yes. In the windowless hallway adjacent to the
study, they kissed.(154) Before returning to her desk, Ms. Lewinsky
wrote down her name and telephone number for the President.(155)
At about 10 p.m., in Ms. Lewinsky's recollection, she was
alone in the Chief of Staff's office and the President
approached.(156) He invited her to rendezvous again in Mr.
Stephanopoulos's office in a few minutes, and she agreed.(157)
(Asked if she knew why the President wanted to meet with her, Ms.
Lewinsky testified: "I had an idea."(158)) They met in Mr.
Stephanopoulos's office and went again to the area of the private
study.(159) This time the lights in the study were off.(160)
According to Ms. Lewinsky, she and the President kissed.
She unbuttoned her jacket; either she unhooked her bra or he
lifted her bra up; and he touched her breasts with his hands and
mouth.(161) Ms. Lewinsky testified: "I believe he took a phone
call . . . and so we moved from the hallway into the back office
. . . . [H]e put his hand down my pants and stimulated me
manually in the genital area."(162) While the President continued
talking on the phone (Ms. Lewinsky understood that the caller was
a Member of Congress or a Senator), she performed oral sex on
him.(163) He finished his call, and, a moment later, told Ms.
Lewinsky to stop. In her recollection: "I told him that I
wanted . . . to complete that. And he said . . . that he needed
to wait until he trusted me more. And then I think he made a
joke . . . that he hadn't had that in a long time."(164)
Both before and after their sexual contact during that
encounter, Ms. Lewinsky and the President talked.(165) At one point
during the conversation, the President tugged on the pink intern
pass hanging from her neck and said that it might be a problem.
Ms. Lewinsky thought that he was talking about access -- interns
were not supposed to be in the West Wing without an escort --
and, in addition, that he might have discerned some "impropriety"
in a sexual relationship with a White House intern.(166)
White House records corroborate details of Ms. Lewinsky's
account. She testified that her November 15 encounters with the
President occurred at about 8 p.m. and 10 p.m., and that in each
case the two of them went from the Chief of Staff's office to the
Oval Office area.(167) Records show that the President visited the
Chief of Staff's office for one minute at 8:12 p.m. and for two
minutes at 9:23 p.m., in each case returning to the Oval
Office.(168) She recalled that the President took a telephone call
during their sexual encounter, and she believed that the caller
was a Member of Congress or a Senator.(169) White House records
show that after returning to the Oval Office from the Chief of
Staff's office, the President talked to two Members of Congress:
Rep. Jim Chapman from 9:25 p.m. to 9:30 p.m., and Rep. John
Tanner from 9:31 p.m. to 9:35 p.m.(170)
D. November 17 Sexual Encounter
According to Ms. Lewinsky, she and the President had a
second sexual encounter two days later (still during the
government furlough), on Friday, November 17. She was at the
White House until 8:56 p.m., then returned from 9:38 to 10:39
p.m.(171) At 9:45 p.m., a few minutes after Ms. Lewinsky's reentry,
the President went from the Oval Office to the Chief of Staff's
office (where Ms. Lewinsky worked during the furlough) for one
minute, then returned to the Oval Office for 30 minutes. From
there, he went back to the Chief of Staff's office until 10:34
p.m. (approximately when Ms. Lewinsky left the White House), then
went by the Oval Office and the Ground Floor before retiring to
the Residence at 10:40 p.m.(172)
Ms. Lewinsky testified:
We were again working late because it was during the
furlough and Jennifer Palmieri . . . had ordered pizza along
with Ms. Currie and Ms. Hernreich. And when the pizza came,
I went down to let them know that the pizza was there and it
was at that point when I walked into Ms. Currie's office
that the President was standing there with some other people
discussing something.
And they all came back to the office and Mr. -- I think
it was Mr. Toiv, somebody accidentally knocked pizza on my
jacket, so I went to go use the restroom to wash it off and
as I was coming out of the restroom, the President was
standing in Ms. Currie's doorway and said, "You can come out
this way."(173)
Ms. Lewinsky and the President went into the area of the private
study, according to Ms. Lewinsky. There, either in the hallway
or the bathroom, she and the President kissed. After a few
minutes, in Ms. Lewinsky's recollection, she told him that she
needed to get back to her desk. The President suggested that she
bring him some slices of pizza.(174)
A few minutes later, she returned to the Oval Office area
with pizza and told Ms. Currie that the President had requested
it. Ms. Lewinsky testified: "[Ms. Currie] opened the door and
said, 'Sir, the girl's here with the pizza.' He told me to come
in. Ms. Currie went back into her office and then we went into
the back study area again."(175) Several witnesses confirm that
when Ms. Lewinsky delivered pizza to the President that night,
the two of them were briefly alone.(176)
Ms. Lewinsky testified that she and the President had a
sexual encounter during this visit.(177) They kissed, and the
President touched Ms. Lewinsky's bare breasts with his hands and
mouth.(178) At some point, Ms. Currie approached the door leading
to the hallway, which was ajar, and said that the President had a
telephone call.(179) Ms. Lewinsky recalled that the caller was a
Member of Congress with a nickname.(180) While the President was on
the telephone, according to Ms. Lewinsky, "he unzipped his pants
and exposed himself," and she performed oral sex.(181) Again, he
stopped her before he ejaculated.(182)
During this visit, according to Ms. Lewinsky, the President
told her that he liked her smile and her energy. He also said:
"I'm usually around on weekends, no one else is around, and you
can come and see me."(183)
Records corroborate Ms. Lewinsky's recollection that the
President took a call from a Member of Congress with a nickname.
While Ms. Lewinsky was at the White House that evening (9:38 to
10:39 p.m.), the President had one telephone conversation with a
Member of Congress: From 9:53 to 10:14 p.m., he spoke with Rep.
H.L. "Sonny" Callahan.(184)
In his Jones deposition on January 17, 1998, President
Clinton -- who said he was unable to recall most of his
encounters with Ms. Lewinsky -- did remember her "back there with
a pizza" during the government shutdown. He said, however, that
he did not believe that the two of them were alone.(185) Testifying
before the grand jury on August 17, 1998, the President said that
his first "real conversation" with Ms. Lewinsky occurred during
the November 1995 furlough. He testified: "One night she
brought me some pizza. We had some remarks."(186)
E. December 31 Sexual Encounter
According to Ms. Lewinsky, she and the President had their
third sexual encounter on New Year's Eve. Ms. Lewinsky -- by
then a member of the staff of the Office of Legislative Affairs
-- was at the White House on Sunday, December 31, 1995, until
1:16 p.m.; her time of arrival is not shown.(187) The President was
in the Oval Office area from 12:11 p.m. until about the time that
Ms. Lewinsky left, 1:15 p.m., when he went to the Residence.(188)
Sometime between noon and 1 p.m., in Ms. Lewinsky's
recollection, she was in the pantry area of the President's
private dining room talking with a White House steward, Bayani
Nelvis. She told Mr. Nelvis that she had recently smoked her
first cigar, and he offered to give her one of the President's
cigars. Just then, the President came down the hallway from the
Oval Office and saw Ms. Lewinsky. The President dispatched Mr.
Nelvis to deliver something to Mr. Panetta.(189)
According to Ms. Lewinsky, she told the President that Mr.
Nelvis had promised her a cigar, and the President gave her
one.(190) She told him her name -- she had the impression that he
had forgotten it in the six weeks since their furlough encounters
because, when passing her in the hallway, he had called her
"Kiddo."(191) The President replied that he knew her name; in fact,
he added, having lost the phone number she had given him, he had
tried to find her in the phonebook.(192)
According to Ms. Lewinsky, they moved to the study. "And
then . . . we were kissing and he lifted my sweater and exposed
my breasts and was fondling them with his hands and with his
mouth."(193) She performed oral sex.(194) Once again, he stopped her
before he ejaculated because, Ms. Lewinsky testified, "he didn't
know me well enough or he didn't trust me yet."(195)
According to Ms. Lewinsky, a Secret Service officer named
Sandy was on duty in the West Wing that day.(196) Records show that
Sandra Verna was on duty outside the Oval Office from 7 a.m. to 2
p.m.(197)
F. President's Account of 1995 Relationship
As noted, the President testified before the grand jury that
on November 17, 1995, Ms. Lewinsky delivered pizza and exchanged
"some remarks" with him, but he never indicated that anything
sexual occurred then or at any other point in 1995.(198) Testifying
under oath before the grand jury, the President said that he
engaged in "conduct that was wrong" involving "inappropriate
intimate contact" with Ms. Lewinsky "on certain occasions in
early 1996 and once in early 1997."(199) By implicitly denying any
sexual contact in 1995, the President indicated that he and Ms.
Lewinsky had no sexual involvement while she was an intern.(200) In
the President's testimony, his relationship with Ms. Lewinsky
"began as a friendship," then later "came to include this
conduct."(201)
President Clinton and Ms. Lewinsky had additional sexual
encounters near the Oval Office in 1996. After their sixth
sexual encounter, the President and Ms. Lewinsky had their first
lengthy conversation. On President's Day, February 19, the
President terminated their sexual relationship, then revived it
on March 31.
A. January 7 Sexual Encounter
According to Ms. Lewinsky, she and the President had another
sexual encounter on Sunday, January 7, 1996. Although White
House records do not indicate that Ms. Lewinsky was at the White
House that day, her testimony and other evidence indicate that
she was there.(202) The President, according to White House
records, was in the Oval Office most of the afternoon, from 2:13
to 5:49 p.m.(203)
According to Ms. Lewinsky, the President telephoned her
early that afternoon. It was the first time he had called her at
home.(204) In her recollection: "I asked him what he was doing and
he said he was going to be going into the office soon. I said,
oh, do you want some company? And he said, oh, that would be
great."(205) Ms. Lewinsky went to her office, and the President
called to arrange their rendezvous:
[W]e made an arrangement that . . . he would have the door
to his office open, and I would pass by the office with some
papers and then . . . he would sort of stop me and invite me
in. So, that was exactly what happened. I passed by and
that was actually when I saw [Secret Service Uniformed
Officer] Lew Fox who was on duty outside the Oval Office,
and stopped and spoke with Lew for a few minutes, and then
the President came out and said, oh, hey, Monica . . . come
on in . . . . And so we spoke for about 10 minutes in the
[Oval] office. We sat on the sofas. Then we went into the
back study and we were intimate in the bathroom.(206)
Ms. Lewinsky testified that during this bathroom encounter, she
and the President kissed, and he touched her bare breasts with
his hands and his mouth.(207) The President "was talking about
performing oral sex on me," according to Ms. Lewinsky.(208) But she
stopped him because she was menstruating and he did not.(209) Ms.
Lewinsky did perform oral sex on him.(210)
Afterward, she and the President moved to the Oval Office
and talked. According to Ms. Lewinsky: "[H]e was chewing on a
cigar. And then he had the cigar in his hand and he was kind of
looking at the cigar in . . . sort of a naughty way. And so
. . . I looked at the cigar and I looked at him and I said, we
can do that, too, some time."(211)
Corroborating aspects of Ms. Lewinsky's recollection,
records show that Officer Fox was posted outside the Oval Office
the afternoon of January 7.(212) Officer Fox (who is now retired)
testified that he recalled an incident with Ms. Lewinsky one
weekend afternoon when he was on duty by the Oval Office:(213)
[T]he President of the United States came out, and he asked
me, he says, "Have you seen any young congressional staff
members here today?" I said, "No, sir." He said, "Well,
I'm expecting one." He says, "Would you please let me know
when they show up?" And I said, "Yes, sir."(214)
Officer Fox construed the reference to "congressional staff
members" to mean White House staff who worked with Congress --
i.e., staff of the Legislative Affairs Office, where Ms. Lewinsky
worked.(215)
Talking with a Secret Service agent posted in the hallway,
Officer Fox speculated on whom the President was expecting: "I
described Ms. Lewinsky, without mentioning the name, in detail,
dark hair -- you know, I gave a general description of what she
looked like."(216) Officer Fox had gotten to know Ms. Lewinsky
during her tenure at the White House, and other agents had told
him that she often spent time with the President.(217)
A short time later, Ms. Lewinsky approached, greeted Officer
Fox, and said, "I have some papers for the President." Officer
Fox admitted her to the Oval Office. The President said: "You
can close the door. She'll be here for a while."(218)
B. January 21 Sexual Encounter
On Sunday, January 21, 1996, according to Ms. Lewinsky, she
and the President had another sexual encounter. Her time of
White House entry is not reflected in records. She left at 3:56
p.m.(219) The President moved from the Residence to the Oval Office
at 3:33 p.m. and remained there until 7:40 p.m.(220)
On that day, according to Ms. Lewinsky, she saw the
President in a hallway by an elevator, and he invited her to the
Oval Office.(221) According to Ms. Lewinsky:
We had . . . had phone sex for the first time the week
prior, and I was feeling a little bit insecure about whether
he had liked it or didn't like it . . . . I didn't know if
this was sort of developing into some kind of a longer-term
relationship than what I thought it initially might have
been, that maybe he had some regular girlfriend who was
furloughed . . . .(222)
According to Ms. Lewinsky, she questioned the President about his
interest in her. "I asked him why he doesn't ask me any
questions about myself, and . . . is this just about sex . . . or
do you have some interest in trying to get to know me as a
person?"(223) The President laughed and said, according to Ms.
Lewinsky, that "he cherishes the time that he had with me."(224)
She considered it "a little bit odd" for him to speak of
cherishing their time together "when I felt like he didn't really
even know me yet."(225)
They continued talking as they went to the hallway by the
study. Then, with Ms. Lewinsky in mid-sentence, "he just started
kissing me."(226) He lifted her top and touched her breasts with
his hands and mouth.(227) According to Ms. Lewinsky, the President
"unzipped his pants and sort of exposed himself," and she
performed oral sex.(228)
At one point during the encounter, someone entered the Oval
Office. In Ms. Lewinsky's recollection, "[The President] zipped
up real quickly and went out and came back in . . . . I just
remember laughing because he had walked out there and he was
visibly aroused, and I just thought it was funny."(229)
A short time later, the President got word that his next
appointment, a friend from Arkansas, had arrived.(230) He took Ms.
Lewinsky out through the Oval Office into Ms. Hernreich's office,
where he kissed her goodbye.(231)
C. February 4 Sexual Encounter and Subsequent Phone Calls
On Sunday, February 4, according to Ms. Lewinsky, she and
the President had their sixth sexual encounter and their first
lengthy and personal conversation. The President was in the Oval
Office from 3:36 to 7:05 p.m.(232) He had no telephone calls in the
Oval Office before 4:45 p.m.(233) Records do not show Ms.
Lewinsky's entry or exit.
According to Ms. Lewinsky, the President telephoned her at
her desk and they planned their rendezvous. At her suggestion,
they bumped into each other in the hallway, "because when it
happened accidentally, that seemed to work really well," then
walked together to the area of the private study.(234)
There, according to Ms. Lewinsky, they kissed. She was
wearing a long dress that buttoned from the neck to the ankles.
"And he unbuttoned my dress and he unhooked my bra, and sort of
took the dress off my shoulders and . . . moved the bra . . . .
[H]e was looking at me and touching me and telling me how
beautiful I was."(235) He touched her breasts with his hands and
his mouth, and touched her genitals, first through underwear and
then directly.(236) She performed oral sex on him.(237)
After their sexual encounter, the President and Ms. Lewinsky
sat and talked in the Oval Office for about 45 minutes. Ms.
Lewinsky thought the President might be responding to her
suggestion during their previous meeting about "trying to get to
know me."(238) It was during that conversation on February 4,
according to Ms. Lewinsky, that their friendship started to
blossom.(239)
When she prepared to depart, according to Ms. Lewinsky, the
President "kissed my arm and told me he'd call me, and then I
said, yeah, well, what's my phone number? And so he recited both
my home number and my office number off the top of his head."(240)
The President called her at her desk later that afternoon and
said he had enjoyed their time together.(241)
D. President's Day (February 19) Break-up
According to Ms. Lewinsky, the President terminated their
relationship (only temporarily, as it happened), on Monday,
February 19, 1996 -- President's Day. The President was in the
Oval Office from 11 a.m. to 2:01 p.m. that day.(242) He had no
telephone calls between 12:19 and 12:42 p.m.(243) Records do not
reflect Ms. Lewinsky's presence at the White House.
In Ms. Lewinsky's recollection, the President telephoned her
at her Watergate apartment that day. From the tone of his voice,
she could tell something was wrong. She asked to come see him,
but he said he did not know how long he would be there.(244) Ms.
Lewinsky went to the White House, then walked to the Oval Office
sometime between noon and 2 p.m. (the only time she ever went to
the Oval Office uninvited).(245) Ms. Lewinsky recalled that she was
admitted by a tall, slender, Hispanic plainclothes agent on duty
near the door.(246)
The President told her that he no longer felt right about
their intimate relationship, and he had to put a stop to it.(247)
Ms. Lewinsky was welcome to continue coming to visit him, but
only as a friend. He hugged her but would not kiss her.(248) At
one point during their conversation, the President had a call
from a sugar grower in Florida whose name, according to Ms.
Lewinsky, was something like "Fanuli." In Ms. Lewinsky's
recollection, the President may have taken or returned the call
just as she was leaving.(249)
Ms. Lewinsky's account is corroborated in two respects.
First, Nelson U. Garabito, a plainclothes Secret Service agent,
testified that, on a weekend or holiday while Ms. Lewinsky worked
at the White House (most likely in the early spring of 1996), Ms.
Lewinsky appeared in the area of the Oval Office carrying a
folder and said, "I have these papers for the President."(250)
After knocking, Agent Garabito opened the Oval Office door, told
the President he had a visitor, ushered Ms. Lewinsky in, and
closed the door behind her.(251) When Agent Garabito's shift ended
a few minutes later, Ms. Lewinsky was still in the Oval Office.(252)
Second, concerning Ms. Lewinsky's recollection of a call
from a sugar grower named "Fanuli," the President talked with
Alfonso Fanjul of Palm Beach, Florida, from 12:42 to 1:04 p.m.(253)
Mr. Fanjul had telephoned a few minutes earlier, at 12:24 p.m.(254)
The Fanjuls are prominent sugar growers in Florida.(255)
E. Continuing Contacts
After the break-up on February 19, 1996, according to Ms.
Lewinsky, "there continued to sort of be this flirtation . . .
when we'd see each other."(256) After passing Ms. Lewinsky in a
hallway one night in late February or March, the President
telephoned her at home and said he was disappointed that, because
she had already left the White House for the evening, they could
not get together. Ms. Lewinsky testified that the call "sort of
implied to me that he was interested in starting up again."(257) On
March 10, 1996, Ms. Lewinsky took a visiting friend, Natalie
Ungvari, to the White House. They bumped into the President, who
said to Ms. Ungvari when Ms. Lewinsky introduced them: "You must
be her friend from California."(258) Ms. Ungvari was "shocked" that
the President knew where she was from.(259)
Ms. Lewinsky testified that on Friday, March 29, 1996, she
was walking down a hallway when she passed the President, who was
wearing the first necktie she had given him. She asked where he
had gotten the tie, and he replied: "Some girl with style gave
it to me."(260) Later, he telephoned her at her desk and asked if
she would like to see a movie. His plan was that she would
position herself in the hallway by the White House Theater at a
certain time, and he would invite her to join him and a group of
guests as they entered. Ms. Lewinsky responded that she did not
want people to think she was lurking around the West Wing
uninvited.(261) She asked if they could arrange a rendezvous over
the weekend instead, and he said he would try.(262) Records confirm
that the President spent the evening of March 29 in the White
House Theater.(263) Mrs. Clinton was in Athens, Greece.(264)
F. March 31 Sexual Encounter
On Sunday, March 31, 1996, according to Ms. Lewinsky, she
and the President resumed their sexual contact.(265) Ms. Lewinsky
was at the White House from 10:21 a.m. to 4:27 p.m. on that
day.(266) The President was in the Oval Office from 3:00 to 5:46
p.m.(267) His only call while in the Oval Office was from 3:06 to
3:07 p.m.(268) Mrs. Clinton was in Ireland.(269)
According to Ms. Lewinsky, the President telephoned her at
her desk and suggested that she come to the Oval Office on the
pretext of delivering papers to him.(270) She went to the Oval
Office and was admitted by a plainclothes Secret Service agent.(271)
In her folder was a gift for the President, a Hugo Boss
necktie.(272)
In the hallway by the study, the President and Ms. Lewinsky
kissed. On this occasion, according to Ms. Lewinsky, "he focused
on me pretty exclusively," kissing her bare breasts and fondling
her genitals.(273) At one point, the President inserted a cigar
into Ms. Lewinsky's vagina, then put the cigar in his mouth and
said: "It tastes good."(274) After they were finished, Ms.
Lewinsky left the Oval Office and walked through the Rose
Garden.(275)
Next: Narrative IV - VIII