With White House and Secret Service employees remarking on Ms. Lewinsky's frequent presence in the West Wing, a deputy chief of staff ordered Ms. Lewinsky transferred from the White House to the Pentagon. On April 7 -- Easter Sunday -- Ms. Lewinsky told the President of her dismissal. He promised to bring her back after the election, and they had a sexual encounter.
A. Earlier Observations of Ms. Lewinsky in the West Wing
Ms. Lewinsky's visits to the Oval Office area had not gone
unnoticed. Officer Fox testified that "it was pretty commonly
known that she did frequent the West Wing on the weekends."(276)
Another Secret Service uniformed officer, William Ludtke III,
once saw her exit from the pantry near the Oval Office; she
seemed startled and possibly embarrassed to be spotted.(277)
Officer John Muskett testified that "if the President was known
to be coming into the Diplomatic Reception Room, a lot of times
[Ms. Lewinsky] just happened to be walking down the corridor, you
know, maybe just to see the President."(278) Ms. Lewinsky
acknowledged that she tried to position herself to see the
President.(279)
Although they could not date them precisely, Secret Service
officers and agents testified about several occasions when Ms.
Lewinsky and the President were alone in the Oval Office.
William C. Bordley, a former member of the Presidential
Protective Detail, testified that in late 1995 or early 1996, he
stopped Ms. Lewinsky outside the Oval Office because she did not
have her pass.(280) The President opened the Oval Office door,
indicated to Agent Bordley that Ms. Lewinsky's presence was all
right, and ushered Ms. Lewinsky into the Oval Office.(281) Agent
Bordley saw Ms. Lewinsky leave about half an hour later.(282)
Another former member of the Presidential Protective Detail,
Robert C. Ferguson, testified that one Saturday in winter, the
President told him that he was expecting "some staffers."(283) A
short time later, Ms. Lewinsky arrived and said that "[t]he
President needs me."(284) Agent Ferguson announced Ms. Lewinsky and
admitted her to the Oval Office.(285) About 10 or 15 minutes later,
Agent Ferguson rotated to a post on the Colonnade outside the
Oval Office.(286) He glanced through the window into the Oval
Office and saw the President and Ms. Lewinsky go through the door
leading toward the private study.(287)
Deeming her frequent visits to the Oval Office area a
"nuisance," one Secret Service Officer complained to Evelyn
Lieberman, the Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations.(288) Ms.
Lieberman was already aware of Ms. Lewinsky. In December 1995,
according to Ms. Lewinsky, Ms. Lieberman chided her for being in
the West Wing and told her that interns are not permitted around
the Oval Office. Ms. Lewinsky (who had begun her Office of
Legislative Affairs job) told Ms. Lieberman that she was not an
intern anymore. After expressing surprise that Ms. Lewinsky had
been hired, Ms. Lieberman said she must have Ms. Lewinsky
confused with someone else.(289) Ms. Lieberman confirmed that she
reprimanded Ms. Lewinsky, whom she considered "what we used to
call a 'clutch' . . . always someplace she shouldn't be."(290)
In Ms. Lewinsky's view, some White House staff members
seemed to think that she was to blame for the President's evident
interest in her:
[P]eople were wary of his weaknesses, maybe, and . . . they
didn't want to look at him and think that he could be
responsible for anything, so it had to all be my fault . . .
I was stalking him or I was making advances towards him.(292)
B. Decision to Transfer Ms. Lewinsky
Ms. Lieberman testified that, because Ms. Lewinsky was so
persistent in her efforts to be near the President, "I decided to
get rid of her."(293) First she consulted Chief of Staff Panetta.
According to Mr. Panetta, Ms. Lieberman told him about a woman on
the staff who was "spending too much time around the West Wing."
Because of "the appearance that it was creating," Ms. Lieberman
proposed to move her out of the White House. Mr. Panetta -- who
testified that he valued Ms. Lieberman's role as "a tough
disciplinarian" and "trusted her judgment" -- replied, "Fine."(294)
Although Ms. Lieberman said she could not recall having
heard any rumors linking the President and Ms. Lewinsky, she
acknowledged that "the President was vulnerable to these kind of
rumors . . . yes, yes, that was one of the reasons" for moving
Ms. Lewinsky out of the White House.(295) Later, in September 1997,
Marcia Lewis (Ms. Lewinsky's mother) complained about her
daughter's dismissal to Ms. Lieberman, whom she met at a Voice of
America ceremony. Ms. Lieberman, according to Ms. Lewis,
responded by "saying something about Monica being cursed because
she's beautiful." Ms. Lewis gathered from the remark that Ms.
Lieberman, as part of her effort to protect the President, "would
want to have pretty women moved out."(296)
Most people understood that the principal reason for Ms.
Lewinsky's transfer was her habit of hanging around the Oval
Office and the West Wing.(297) In a memo in October 1996, John
Hilley, Assistant to the President and Director of Legislative
Affairs, reported that Ms. Lewinsky had been "got[ten] rid of" in
part "because of 'extracurricular activities'" (a phrase, he
maintained in the grand jury, that meant only that Ms. Lewinsky
was often absent from her work station).(298)
White House officials arranged for Ms. Lewinsky to get
another job in the Administration.(299) "Our direction is to make
sure she has a job in an Agency," Patsy Thomasson wrote in an
email message on April 9, 1996.(300) Ms. Thomasson's office
(Presidential Personnel) sent Ms. Lewinsky's resume to Charles
Duncan, Special Assistant to the Secretary of Defense and White
House Liaison, and asked him to find a Pentagon opening for
her.(301) Mr. Duncan was told that, though Ms. Lewinsky had
performed her duties capably, she was being dismissed for hanging
around the Oval Office too much.(302) According to Mr. Duncan --
who had received as many as 40 job referrals per day from the
White House -- the White House had never given such an
explanation for a transfer.(303)
C. Ms. Lewinsky's Notification of Her Transfer
On Friday, April 5, 1996, Timothy Keating, Staff Director
for Legislative Affairs, informed Ms. Lewinsky that she would
have to leave her White House job.(304) According to Mr. Keating,
he told her that she was not being fired, merely "being given a
different opportunity." In fact, she could tell people it was a
promotion if she cared to do so.(305) Upon hearing of her
dismissal, Ms. Lewinsky burst into tears and asked if there was
any way for her to stay in the White House, even without pay.(306)
No, Mr. Keating said. According to Ms. Lewinsky, "He told me I
was too sexy to be working in the East Wing and that this job at
the Pentagon where I'd be writing press releases was a sexier
job."(307)
Ms. Lewinsky was devastated. She felt that she was being
transferred simply because of her relationship with the
President.(308) And she feared that with the loss of her White
House job, "I was never going to see the President again. I
mean, my relationship with him would be over."(309)
D. Conversations with the President about Her Transfer
1. Easter Telephone Conversations and Sexual Encounter
On Easter Sunday, April 7, 1996, Ms. Lewinsky told the
President of her dismissal and they had a sexual encounter. Ms.
Lewinsky entered the White House at 4:56 and left at 5:28 p.m.(310)
The President was in the Oval Office all afternoon, from 2:21 to
7:48 p.m.(311)
According to Ms. Lewinsky, the President telephoned her at
home that day. After they spoke of the death of the Commerce
Secretary the previous week, she told him of her dismissal:
I had asked him . . . if he was doing okay with Ron Brown's
death, and then after we talked about that for a little bit
I told him that my last day was Monday. And . . . he seemed
really upset and sort of asked me to tell him what had
happened. So I did and I was crying and I asked him if I
could come see him, and he said that that was fine.(312)
At the White House, according to Ms. Lewinsky, she told Secret
Service Officer Muskett that she needed to deliver papers to the
President.(313) Officer Muskett admitted her to the Oval Office,
and she and the President proceeded to the private study.(314)
According to Ms. Lewinsky, the President seemed troubled
about her upcoming departure from the White House:
He told me that he thought that my being transferred had
something to do with him and that he was upset. He said,
"Why do they have to take you away from me? I trust you."
And then he told me -- he looked at me and he said, "I
promise you if I win in November I'll bring you back like
that."(315)
He also indicated that she could have any job she wanted after
the election.(316) In addition, the President said he would find
out why Ms. Lewinsky was transferred and report back to her.(317)
When asked if he had promised to get Ms. Lewinsky another
White House job, the President told the grand jury:
What I told Ms. Lewinsky was that . . . I would do what I
could to see, if she had a good record at the Pentagon, and
she assured me she was doing a good job and working hard,
that I would do my best to see that the fact that she had
been sent away from the Legislative Affairs section did not
keep her from getting a job in the White House, and that is,
in fact, what I tried to do. . . . But I did not tell her I
would order someone to hire her, and I never did, and I
wouldn't do that. It wouldn't be right.(318)
Ms. Lewinsky, when asked if the President had said that he would
bring her back to the White House only if she did a good job at
the Pentagon, responded: "No."(319)
After this Easter Sunday conversation, the President and Ms.
Lewinsky had a sexual encounter in the hallway, according to Ms.
Lewinsky.(320) She testified that the President touched her breasts
with his mouth and hands.(321) According to Ms. Lewinsky: "I think
he unzipped [his pants] . . . because it was sort of this running
joke that I could never unbutton his pants, that I just had
trouble with it."(322) Ms. Lewinsky performed oral sex. The
President did not ejaculate in her presence.(323)
During this encounter, someone called out from the Oval
Office that the President had a phone call.(324) He went back to
the Oval Office for a moment, then took the call in the study.
The President indicated that Ms. Lewinsky should perform oral sex
while he talked on the phone, and she obliged.(325) The telephone
conversation was about politics, and Ms. Lewinsky thought the
caller might be Dick Morris.(326) White House records confirm that
the President had one telephone call during Ms. Lewinsky's visit:
from "Mr. Richard Morris," to whom he talked from 5:11 to 5:20
p.m.(327)
A second interruption occurred a few minutes later,
according to Ms. Lewinsky. She and the President were in the
study.(328) Ms. Lewinsky testified:
Harold Ickes has a very distinct voice and . . . I heard him
holler "Mr. President," and the President looked at me and I
looked at him and he jetted out into the Oval Office and I
panicked and . . . thought that maybe because Harold was so
close with the President that they might just wander back
there and the President would assume that I knew to leave.(329)
Ms. Lewinsky testified that she exited hurriedly through the
dining room door.(330) That evening, the President called and asked
Ms. Lewinsky why she had run off. "I told him that I didn't know
if he was going to be coming back . . . . [H]e was a little
upset with me that I left."(331)
In addition to the record of the Dick Morris phone call, the
testimony of Secret Service Officer Muskett corroborates Ms.
Lewinsky's account. Officer Muskett was posted near the door to
the Oval Office on Easter Sunday.(332) He testified that Ms.
Lewinsky (whom he knew) arrived at about 4:45 p.m. carrying a
manila folder and seeming "a little upset."(333) She told Officer
Muskett that she needed to deliver documents to the President.(334)
Officer Muskett or the plainclothes agent on duty with him opened
the door, and Ms. Lewinsky entered.(335)
About 20 to 25 minutes later, according to Officer Muskett,
the telephone outside the Oval Office rang. The White House
operator said that the President had an important call but he was
not picking up.(336) The agent working alongside Officer Muskett
knocked on the door to the Oval Office. When the President did
not respond, the agent entered. The Oval Office was empty, and
the door leading to the study was slightly ajar.(337) (Ms. Lewinsky
testified that the President left the door ajar during their
sexual encounters.(338)) The agent called out, "Mr. President?"
There was no response. The agent stepped into the Oval Office
and called out more loudly, "Mr. President?" This time there was
a response from the study area, according to Officer Muskett:
"Huh?" The agent called out that the President had a phone call,
and the President said he would take it.(339)
A few minutes later, according to Officer Muskett, Mr. Ickes
approached and said he needed to see President Clinton. Officer
Muskett admitted him through Ms. Currie's office.(340) Less than a
minute after Mr. Ickes entered Ms. Currie's reception area,
according to Officer Muskett, the pantry or dining room door
closed audibly. Officer Muskett stepped down the hall to check
and saw Ms. Lewinsky walking away briskly.(341)
At 5:30 p.m., two minutes after Ms. Lewinsky left the White
House, the President called the office of the person who had
decided to transfer Ms. Lewinsky, Evelyn Lieberman.(342)
2. April 12-13: Telephone Conversations
Ms. Lewinsky testified that the President telephoned her the
following Friday, April 12, 1996, at home. They talked for about
20 minutes. According to Ms. Lewinsky, the President said he had
checked on the reason for her transfer:
[H]e had come to learn . . . that Evelyn Lieberman had sort
of spearheaded the transfer, and that she thought he was
paying too much attention to me and I was paying too much
attention to him and that she didn't necessarily care what
happened after the election but everyone needed to be
careful before the election.(343)
According to Ms. Lewinsky, the President told her to give the
Pentagon a try, and, if she did not like it, he would get her a
job on the campaign.(344)
In the grand jury, Ms. Lieberman testified that the
President asked her directly about Ms. Lewinsky's transfer:
After I had gotten rid of her, when I was in there, during
the course of a conversation, [President Clinton] said, "I
got a call about --" I don't know if he said her name. He
said maybe "-- an intern you fired." And she was evidently
very upset about it. He said, "Do you know anything about
this?" I said, "Yes." He said, "Who fired her?" I said,
"I did." And he said, "Oh, okay."(345)
According to Ms. Lieberman, the President did not pursue the
matter further.(346)
Three other witnesses confirm that the President knew why
Ms. Lewinsky was transferred to the Pentagon. In 1997, the
President told Chief of Staff Erskine Bowles "that there was a
young woman -- her name was Monica Lewinsky -- who used to work
at the White House; that Evelyn . . . thought she hung around the
Oval Office too much and transferred her to the Pentagon."(347)
According to Betty Currie, the President believed that Ms.
Lewinsky had been unfairly transferred.(348) The President's close
friend, Vernon Jordan, testified that the President said to him
in December 1997 that "he knew about [Ms. Lewinsky's] situation,
which was that she was pushed out of the White House."(349)
After Ms. Lewinsky began her Pentagon job on April 16, 1996,
she had no further physical contact with the President for the
remainder of the year. She and the President spoke by phone (and
had phone sex) but saw each other only at public functions. Ms.
Lewinsky grew frustrated after the election because the President
did not bring her back to work at the White House.
A. Pentagon Job
On April 16, 1996, Ms. Lewinsky began working at the
Pentagon as Confidential Assistant to the Assistant Secretary of
Defense for Public Affairs.(350)
B. No Physical Contact
According to Ms. Lewinsky, she had no physical contact with
the President for the rest of 1996.(351) "I wasn't alone with him
so when I saw him it was in some sort of event or group setting,"
she testified.(352)
C. Telephone Conversations
Ms. Lewinsky and the President did talk by telephone,
especially in her first weeks at the new job.(353) By Ms.
Lewinsky's estimate, the President phoned her (sometimes leaving
a message) four or five times in the month after she started
working at the Pentagon, then two or three times a month
thereafter for the rest of 1996.(354) During the fall 1996
campaign, the President sometimes called from trips when Mrs.
Clinton was not accompanying him.(355) During at least seven of the
1996 calls, Ms. Lewinsky and the President had phone sex.(356)
According to Ms. Lewinsky, the President telephoned her at
about 6:30 a.m. on July 19, the day he was leaving for the 1996
Olympics in Atlanta, and they had phone sex, after which the
President exclaimed, "[G]ood morning!" and then said: "What a
way to start a day."(357) A call log shows that the President
called the White House operator at 12:11 a.m. on July 19 and
asked for a wake-up call at 7 a.m., then at 6:40 a.m., the
President called and said he was already up.(358) In Ms. Lewinsky's
recollection, she and the President also had phone sex on May 21,
July 5 or 6, October 22, and December 2, 1996.(359) On those dates,
Mrs. Clinton was in Denver (May 21), Prague and Budapest (July 5-6), Las Vegas (October 22), and en route to Bolivia (December
2).(360)
Ms. Lewinsky repeatedly told the President that she disliked
her Pentagon job and wanted to return to the White House.(361) In a
recorded conversation, Ms. Lewinsky recounted one call:
[A] month had passed and -- so he had called one night, and
I said, "Well," I said, "I'm really unhappy," you know. And
[the President] said, "I don't want to talk about your job
tonight. I'll call you this week, and then we'll talk about
it. I want to talk about other things" -- which meant phone
sex.(362)
She expected to talk with him the following weekend, and she was
"ready to broach the idea of . . . going to the campaign," but he
did not call.(363)
Ms. Lewinsky and the President also talked about their
relationship. During a phone conversation on September 5,
according to Ms. Lewinsky, she told the President that she wanted
to have intercourse with him. He responded that he could not do
so because of the possible consequences. The two of them argued,
and he asked if he should stop calling her. No, she responded.(364)
D. Public Encounters
During this period, Ms. Lewinsky occasionally saw the
President in public. She testified:
I'm an insecure person . . . and I was insecure about the
relationship at times and thought that he would come to
forget me easily and if I hadn't heard from him . . . it was
very difficult for me . . . . [U]sually when I'd see him,
it would kind of prompt him to call me. So I made an
effort. I would go early and stand in the front so I could
see him . . . .(365)
On May 2, 1996, Ms. Lewinsky saw the President at a reception for
the Saxophone Club, a political organization.(366) On June 14, Ms.
Lewinsky and her family attended the taping of the President's
weekly radio address and had photos taken with the President.(367)
On August 18, Ms. Lewinsky attended the President's 50th birthday
party at Radio City Music Hall, and she got into a cocktail party
for major donors where she saw the President.(368) According to Ms.
Lewinsky, when the President reached past her at the rope line to
shake hands with another guest, she reached out and touched his
crotch in a "playful" fashion.(369) On October 23, according to Ms.
Lewinsky, she talked with the President at a fundraiser for
Senate Democrats.(370) The two were photographed together at the
event.(371) The President was wearing a necktie she had given him,
according to Ms. Lewinsky, and she said to him, "Hey, Handsome --
I like your tie."(372) The President telephoned her that night.
She said she planned to be at the White House on Pentagon
business the next day, and he told her to stop by the Oval
Office. At the White House the next day, Ms. Lewinsky did not
see the President because Ms. Lieberman was nearby.(373) On
December 17, Ms. Lewinsky attended a holiday reception at the
White House.(374) A photo shows her shaking hands with the
President.(375)
E. Ms. Lewinsky's Frustrations
Continuing to believe that her relationship with the
President was the key to regaining her White House pass, Ms.
Lewinsky hoped that the President would get her a job immediately
after the election. "I kept a calendar with a countdown until
election day," she later wrote in an unsent letter to him. The
letter states:
I was so sure that the weekend after the election you would
call me to come visit and you would kiss me passionately and
tell me you couldn't wait to have me back. You'd ask me
where I wanted to work and say something akin to "Consider
it done" and it would be. Instead I didn't hear from you
for weeks and subsequently your phone calls became less
frequent.(376)
Ms. Lewinsky grew increasingly frustrated over her
relationship with President Clinton.(377) One friend understood
that Ms. Lewinsky complained to the President about not having
seen each other privately for months, and he replied, "Every day
can't be sunshine."(378) In email to another friend in early 1997,
Ms. Lewinsky wrote: "I just don't understand what went wrong,
what happened? How could he do this to me? Why did he keep up
contact with me for so long and now nothing, now when we could be
together?"(379)
In 1997, President Clinton and Ms. Lewinsky had further
private meetings, which now were arranged by Betty Currie, the
President's secretary. After the taping of the President's
weekly radio address on February 28, the President and Ms.
Lewinsky had a sexual encounter. On March 24, they had what
proved to be their final sexual encounter. Throughout this
period, Ms. Lewinsky continued to press for a job at the White
House, to no avail.
A. Resumption of Meetings with the President
1. Role of Betty Currie
a. Arranging Meetings
In 1997, with the presidential election past, Ms. Lewinsky
and the President resumed their one-on-one meetings and sexual
encounters. The President's secretary, Betty Currie, acted as
intermediary.
According to Ms. Currie, Ms. Lewinsky would often call her
and say she wanted to see the President, sometimes to discuss a
particular topic.(380) Ms. Currie would ask President Clinton, and,
if he agreed, arrange the meeting.(381) Ms. Currie also said it was
"not unusual" that Ms. Lewinsky would talk by phone with the
President and then call Ms. Currie to set up a meeting.(382) At
times, Ms. Currie placed calls to Ms. Lewinsky for President
Clinton and put him on the line.(383)
The meetings between the President and Ms. Lewinsky often
occurred on weekends.(384) When Ms. Lewinsky would arrive at the
White House, Ms. Currie generally would be the one to authorize
her entry and take her to the West Wing.(385) Ms. Currie
acknowledged that she sometimes would come to the White House for
the sole purpose of having Ms. Lewinsky admitted and bringing her
to see the President.(386) According to Ms. Currie, Ms. Lewinsky
and the President were alone together in the Oval Office or the
study for 15 to 20 minutes on multiple occasions.(387)
Secret Service officers and agents took note of Ms. Currie's
role. Officer Steven Pape once observed Ms. Currie come to the
White House for the duration of Ms. Lewinsky's visit, then
leave.(388) When calling to alert the officer at the West Wing
lobby that Ms. Lewinsky was en route, Ms. Currie would sometimes
say, "[Y]ou know who it is."(389) On one occasion, Ms. Currie
instructed Officer Brent Chinery to hold Ms. Lewinsky at the
lobby for a few minutes because she needed to move the President
to the study.(390) On another occasion, Ms. Currie told Officer
Chinery to have Ms. Lewinsky held at the gate for 30 to 40
minutes because the President already had a visitor.(391)
Ms. Lewinsky testified that she once asked the President why
Ms. Currie had to clear her in, and why he could not do so
himself. "[H]e said because if someone comes to see him, there's
a list circulated among the staff members and then everyone would
be questioning why I was there to see him."(392)
b. Intermediary for Gifts
Ms. Lewinsky also sent over a number of packages -- six or
eight, Ms. Currie estimated.(393) According to Ms. Currie, Ms.
Lewinsky would call and say she was sending something for the
President.(394) The package would arrive addressed to Ms. Currie.(395)
Courier receipts show that Ms. Lewinsky sent seven packages to
the White House between October 7 and December 8, 1997.(396)
Evidence indicates that Ms. Lewinsky on occasion also dropped
parcels off with Ms. Currie or had a family member do so,(397) and
brought gifts to the President when visiting him.(398) Ms. Currie
testified that most packages from Ms. Lewinsky were intended for
the President.(399)
Although Ms. Currie generally opened letters and parcels to
the President, she did not open these packages from Ms.
Lewinsky.(400) She testified that "I made the determination not to
open" such letters and packages because "I felt [they were]
probably personal."(401) Instead, she would leave the package in
the President's box, and "[h]e would pick it up."(402) To the best
of her knowledge, such parcels always reached the President.(403)
c. Secrecy
Ms. Currie testified that she suspected impropriety in the
President's relationship with Ms. Lewinsky.(404) She told the grand
jury that she "had concern." In her words: "[H]e was spending a
lot of time with a 24-year-old young lady. I know he has said
that young people keep him involved in what's happening in the
world, so I knew that was one reason, but there was a concern of
mine that she was spending more time than most."(405) Ms. Currie
understood that "the majority" of the President's meetings with
Ms. Lewinsky were "more personal in nature as opposed to
business."(406)
Ms. Currie also testified that she tried to avoid learning
details of the relationship between the President and Ms.
Lewinsky. On one occasion, Ms. Lewinsky said of herself and the
President, "As long as no one saw us -- and no one did -- then
nothing happened." Ms. Currie responded: "Don't want to hear
it. Don't say any more. I don't want to hear any more."(407)
Ms. Currie helped keep the relationship secret. When the
President wanted to talk with Ms. Lewinsky, Ms. Currie would dial
the call herself rather than go through White House operators,
who keep logs of presidential calls made through the
switchboard.(408) When Ms. Lewinsky phoned and Ms. Currie put the
President on the line, she did not log the call, though the
standard procedure was to note all calls, personal and
professional.(409) According to Secret Service uniformed officers,
Ms. Currie sometimes tried to persuade them to admit Ms. Lewinsky
to the White House compound without making a record of it.(410)
In addition, Ms. Currie avoided writing down or retaining
most messages from Ms. Lewinsky to the President. In response to
a grand jury subpoena, the White House turned over only one note
to the President concerning Ms. Lewinsky -- whereas evidence
indicates that Ms. Lewinsky used Ms. Currie to convey requests
and messages to the President on many occasions.(411)
When bringing Ms. Lewinsky in from the White House gate, Ms.
Currie said she sometimes chose a path that would reduce the
likelihood of being seen by two White House employees who
disapproved of Ms. Lewinsky: Stephen Goodin and Nancy
Hernreich.(412) Ms. Currie testified that she once brought Ms.
Lewinsky directly to the study, "sneaking her back" via a
roundabout path to avoid running into Mr. Goodin.(413) When Ms.
Lewinsky visited the White House on weekends and at night, being
spotted was not a problem -- in Ms. Currie's words, "there would
be no need to sneak" -- so Ms. Lewinsky would await the President
in Ms. Currie's office.(414)
According to Ms. Lewinsky, she once expressed concern about
records showing the President's calls to her, and Ms. Currie told
her not to worry.(415) Ms. Lewinsky also suspected that Ms. Currie
was not logging in all of her gifts to the President.(416) In Ms.
Lewinsky's evaluation, many White House staff members tried to
regulate the President's behavior, but Ms. Currie generally did
as he wished.(417)
2. Observations by Secret Service Officers
Officers of the Secret Service Uniformed Division noted Ms.
Lewinsky's 1997 visits to the White House. From radio traffic
about the President's movements, several officers observed that
the President often would head for the Oval Office within minutes
of Ms. Lewinsky's entry to the complex, especially on weekends,
and some noted that he would return to the Residence a short time
after her departure.(418) "It was just like clockwork," according
to one officer.(419) Concerned about the President's reputation,
another officer suggested putting Ms. Lewinsky on a list of
people who were not to be admitted to the White House. A
commander responded that it was none of their business whom the
President chose to see, and, in any event, nobody would ever find
out about Ms. Lewinsky.(420)
B. Valentine's Day Advertisement
On February 14, 1997, the Washington Post published a
Valentine's Day "Love Note" that Ms. Lewinsky had placed. The ad
said:
HANDSOME
With love's light wings did
I o'er perch these walls
For stony limits cannot hold love out,
And what love can do that dares love attempt.
-- Romeo and Juliet 2:2
Happy Valentine's Day.
C. February 24 Message
On February 24, Ms. Lewinsky visited the White House on
Pentagon business.(422) She went by Ms. Currie's office.(423) Ms.
Currie sent a note to the President -- the only such note turned
over by the White House in response to a grand jury subpoena:
"Monica Lewinsky stopped by. Do you want me to call her?"(424)
D. February 28 Sexual Encounter
According to Ms. Lewinsky, she and the President had a
sexual encounter on Thursday, February 28 -- their first in
nearly 11 months. White House records show that Ms. Lewinsky
attended the taping of the President's weekly radio address on
February 28.(425) She was at the White House from 5:48 to 7:07
p.m.(426) The President was in the Roosevelt Room (where the radio
address was taped) from 6:29 to 6:36 p.m., then moved to the Oval
Office, where he remained until 7:24 p.m.(427) He had no telephone
calls while Ms. Lewinsky was in the White House.(428)
Wearing a navy blue dress from the Gap, Ms. Lewinsky
attended the radio address at the President's invitation (relayed
by Ms. Currie), then had her photo taken with the President.(429)
Ms. Lewinsky had not been alone with the President since she had
worked at the White House, and, she testified, "I was really
nervous."(430) President Clinton told her to see Ms. Currie after
the photo was taken because he wanted to give her something.(431)
"So I waited a little while for him and then Betty and the
President and I went into the back office," Ms. Lewinsky
testified.(432) (She later learned that the reason Ms. Currie
accompanied them was that Stephen Goodin did not want the
President to be alone with Ms. Lewinsky, a view that Mr. Goodin
expressed to the President and Ms. Currie.(433)) Once they had
passed from the Oval Office toward the private study, Ms. Currie
said, "I'll be right back," and walked on to the back pantry or
the dining room, where, according to Ms. Currie, she waited for
15 to 20 minutes while the President and Ms. Lewinsky were in the
study.(434) Ms. Currie (who said she acted on her own initiative)
testified that she accompanied the President and Ms. Lewinsky out
of the Oval Office because "I didn't want any perceptions, him
being alone with someone."(435)
In the study, according to Ms. Lewinsky, the President
"started to say something to me and I was pestering him to kiss
me, because . . . it had been a long time since we had been
alone."(436) The President told her to wait a moment, as he had
presents for her.(437) As belated Christmas gifts, he gave her a
hat pin and a special edition of Walt Whitman's Leaves of
Grass.(438)
Ms. Lewinsky described the Whitman book as "the most
sentimental gift he had given me . . . it's beautiful and it
meant a lot to me."(439) During this visit, according to Ms.
Lewinsky, the President said he had seen her Valentine's Day
message in the Washington Post, and he talked about his fondness
for "Romeo and Juliet."(440)
Ms. Lewinsky testified that after the President gave her the
gifts, they had a sexual encounter:
[W]e went back over by the bathroom in the hallway, and
we kissed. We were kissing and he unbuttoned my dress and
fondled my breasts with my bra on, and then took them out of
my bra and was kissing them and touching them with his hands
and with his mouth.
And then I think I was touching him in his genital area
through his pants, and I think I unbuttoned his shirt and
was kissing his chest. And then . . . I wanted to perform
oral sex on him . . . and so I did. And then . . . I think
he heard something, or he heard someone in the office. So,
we moved into the bathroom.
And I continued to perform oral sex and then he pushed
me away, kind of as he always did before he came, and then I
stood up and I said . . . I care about you so much; . . . I
don't understand why you won't let me . . . make you come;
it's important to me; I mean, it just doesn't feel complete,
it doesn't seem right.(441)
Ms. Lewinsky testified that she and the President hugged, and "he
said he didn't want to get addicted to me, and he didn't want me
to get addicted to him." They looked at each other for a
moment.(442) Then, saying that "I don't want to disappoint you,"
the President consented.(443) For the first time, she performed
oral sex through completion.(444)
When Ms. Lewinsky next took the navy blue Gap dress from her
closet to wear it, she noticed stains near one hip and on the
chest.(445) FBI Laboratory tests revealed that the stains are the
President's semen.(446)
In his grand jury testimony, the President -- who, because
the OIC had asked him for a blood sample (and had represented
that it had ample evidentiary justification for making such a
request), had reason to suspect that Ms. Lewinsky's dress might
bear traces of his semen -- indicated that he and Ms. Lewinsky
had had sexual contact on the day of the radio address. He
testified:
I was sick after it was over and I, I was pleased at that
time that it had been nearly a year since any inappropriate
contact had occurred with Ms. Lewinsky. I promised myself
it wasn't going to happen again. The facts are complicated
about what did happen and how it happened. But,
nonetheless, I'm responsible for it.(447)
Later the President added, referring to the evening of the radio
address: "I do believe that I was alone with her from 15 to 20
minutes. I do believe that things happened then which were
inappropriate."(448) He said of the intimate relationship with Ms.
Lewinsky: "I never should have started it, and I certainly
shouldn't have started it back after I resolved not to in
1996."(449)
E. March 29 Sexual Encounter
According to Ms. Lewinsky, she had what proved to be her
final sexual encounter with the President on Saturday, March 29,
1997. Records show that she was at the White House from 2:03 to
3:16 p.m., admitted by Ms. Currie.(450) The President was in the
Oval Office during this period (he left shortly after Ms.
Lewinsky did, at 3:24 p.m.), and he did not have any phone calls
during her White House visit.(451)
According to Ms. Lewinsky, Ms. Currie arranged the meeting
after the President said by telephone that he had something
important to tell her. At the White House, Ms. Currie took her
to the study to await the President. He came in on crutches, the
result of a knee injury in Florida two weeks earlier.(452)
According to Ms. Lewinsky, their sexual encounter began with
a sudden kiss: "[T]his was another one of those occasions when I
was babbling on about something, and he just kissed me, kind of
to shut me up, I think."(453) The President unbuttoned her blouse
and touched her breasts without removing her bra.(454) "[H]e went
to go put his hand down my pants, and then I unzipped them
because it was easier. And I didn't have any panties on. And so
he manually stimulated me."(455) According to Ms. Lewinsky, "I
wanted him to touch my genitals with his genitals," and he did
so, lightly and without penetration.(456) Then Ms. Lewinsky
performed oral sex on him, again until he ejaculated.(457)
According to Ms. Lewinsky, she and the President had a
lengthy conversation that day. He told her that he suspected
that a foreign embassy (he did not specify which one) was tapping
his telephones, and he proposed cover stories. If ever
questioned, she should say that the two of them were just
friends. If anyone ever asked about their phone sex, she should
say that they knew their calls were being monitored all along,
and the phone sex was just a put-on.(458)
In his grand jury testimony, the President implicitly denied
this encounter. He acknowledged "inappropriate intimate contact"
with Ms. Lewinsky "on certain occasions in early 1996 and once in
early 1997."(459) The President indicated that "the one occasion in
1997" was the radio address.(460)
F. Continuing Job Efforts
With the 1996 election past, meanwhile, Ms. Lewinsky had
continued striving to get a job at the White House. She
testified that she first broached the issue in a telephone call
with the President in January 1997, and he said he would speak to
Bob Nash, Director of Presidential Personnel.(461) She understood
that Mr. Nash was supposed to "find a position for me to come
back to the White House."(462)
Over the months that followed, Ms. Lewinsky repeatedly asked
the President to get her a White House job. In her recollection,
the President replied that various staff members were working on
it, including Mr. Nash and Marsha Scott, Deputy Assistant to the
President and Deputy Director for Presidential Personnel.(463)
According to Ms. Lewinsky, the President told her:
"Bob Nash is handling it," "Marsha's going to handle it" and
"We just sort of need to be careful." You know, and . . .
he would always sort of . . . validate what I was feeling by
telling me something that I don't necessarily know is true.
"Oh, I'll talk to her," "I'll -- you know, I'll see blah,
blah, blah," and it was just "I'll do," "I'll do," "I'll
do." And didn't, didn't, didn't.(464)
Ms. Lewinsky came to wonder if she was being "strung along."(465)
Testifying before the grand jury, the President acknowledged
that Ms. Lewinsky had complained to him about her job situation:
You know, she tried for months and months to get a job back
in the White House, not so much in the West Wing but
somewhere in the White House complex, including the Old
Executive Office Building. . . . She very much wanted to
come back. And she interviewed for some jobs but never got
one. She was, from time to time, upset about it.(466)
In May 1997, amid indications that Ms. Lewinsky had been
indiscreet, President Clinton terminated the sexual relationship.
A. Questions about Ms. Lewinsky's Discretion
In April or May 1997, according to Ms. Lewinsky, the
President asked if she had told her mother about their intimate
relationship. She responded: "No. Of course not."(468) (In
truth, she had told her mother.(469)) The President indicated that
Ms. Lewinsky's mother possibly had said something about the
nature of the relationship to Walter Kaye, who had mentioned it
to Marsha Scott, who in turn had alerted the President.(470)
Corroborating Ms. Lewinsky's account, Mr. Kaye testified
that he told Ms. Lewinsky's aunt, Debra Finerman, that he
understood that "her niece was very aggressive," a remark that
angered Ms. Finerman. Ms. Finerman told Mr. Kaye that the
President was the true aggressor: He was telephoning Ms.
Lewinsky late at night. Ms. Finerman, in Mr. Kaye's
recollection, attributed this information to Marcia Lewis, Ms.
Lewinsky's mother (and Ms. Finerman's sister). Mr. Kaye -- who
had disbelieved stories he had heard from Democratic National
Committee people about an affair between Ms. Lewinsky and the
President -- testified that he was "shocked" to hear of the late-night phone calls.(471)
B. May 24: Break-up
On Saturday, May 24, 1997, according to Ms. Lewinsky, the
President ended their intimate relationship. Ms. Lewinsky was at
the White House that day from 12:21 to 1:54 p.m.(472) The President
was in the Oval Office during most of this period, from 11:59
a.m. to 1:47 p.m.(473) He did not have any telephone calls.(474)
According to Ms. Lewinsky, she got a call from Ms. Currie at
about 11 a.m. that day, inviting her to come to the White House
at about 1 p.m. Ms. Lewinsky arrived wearing a straw hat with
the hat pin the President had given her, and bringing gifts for
him, including a puzzle and a Banana Republic shirt. She gave
him the gifts in the dining room, and they moved to the area of
the study.(475)
According to Ms. Lewinsky, the President explained that they
had to end their intimate relationship.(476) Earlier in his
marriage, he told her, he had had hundreds of affairs; but since
turning 40, he had made a concerted effort to be faithful.(477) He
said he was attracted to Ms. Lewinsky, considered her a great
person, and hoped they would remain friends. He pointed out that
he could do a great deal for her. The situation, he stressed,
was not Ms. Lewinsky's fault.(478) Ms. Lewinsky, weeping, tried to
persuade the President not to end the sexual relationship, but he
was unyielding, then and subsequently.(479) Although she and the
President kissed and hugged thereafter, according to Ms.
Lewinsky, the sexual relationship was over.(480)
Three days after this meeting, on May 27, 1997, the Supreme
Court unanimously rejected President Clinton's claim that the
Constitution immunized him from civil lawsuits. The Court
ordered the sexual harassment case Jones v. Clinton to proceed.(481)
Ms. Lewinsky tried to return to the White House staff and to
revive her sexual relationship with the President, but she failed
at both.
A. Continuing Job Efforts
Although Ms. Lewinsky was not offered another White House
job, some testimony indicates that the President tried to get her
one.
According to Betty Currie, the President instructed her and
Marsha Scott to help Ms. Lewinsky find a White House job.(482) Ms.
Currie testified that she resisted the request, because her
opinion of Ms. Lewinsky had shifted over time. At first, she
testified, she considered Ms. Lewinsky "a friend" who "had been
wronged" and had been "maligned improperly."(483) But "[l]ater on,
I considered her as a pain in the neck, more or less."(484) The
change of heart resulted in part from Ms. Currie's many phone
calls in 1997 from Ms. Lewinsky, who was often distraught and
sometimes in tears over her inability to get in touch with the
President.(485) Deeming her "a little bit pushy," Ms. Currie argued
against bringing Ms. Lewinsky back to work at the White House,
but the President told her and Ms. Scott, in Ms. Currie's words,
"to still pursue her coming back."(486) Indeed, according to Ms.
Currie, the President "was pushing us hard" on the matter.(487) To
the best of Ms. Currie's recollection, it was the only time the
President instructed her to try to get someone a White House
job.(488)
According to Ms. Lewinsky, the President told her to talk
with Ms. Scott about a White House job in spring 1997.(489) On June
16, she met with Ms. Scott.(490) The meeting did not go as Ms.
Lewinsky anticipated. She later recounted in an email message:
There is most certainly a disconnect on what [the President]
said he told her and how she acted. She didn't even know
what my title or my job was . . . . She didn't have any job
openings to offer. Instead, she made me go over what
happened when I had to leave (who told me), and then
proceeded to confirm the Evelyn [Lieberman] story about my
"inappropriate behavior." Then she asked me: with such
nasty women there and people gossiping about me, why did I
want to come back? I was so upset. I really did not feel
it was her place to question me about that. Later on, I
said something about being told I could come back after
November and she wanted to know who told me that! So I have
placed a call to him but I don't know what is going to
happen.
Ms. Lewinsky added that she was inclined "to walk away from it
all," but acknowledged that "I'm always saying this and then I
change my mind."(491)
Though she characterized her recollection as "all jumbled,"
Ms. Scott corroborated much of Ms. Lewinsky's account.(492) Ms.
Scott said that at some point she did ask Ms. Lewinsky why she
wanted to return to the White House.(493) Ms. Scott also said that
she was unaware of Ms. Lewinsky's job title before their
meeting.(494)
Over the next three weeks, Ms. Lewinsky tried repeatedly,
without success, to talk with the President about her job quest.
In a draft of a letter to Ms. Currie, she wrote that the
President "said to me that he had told [Ms. Scott] I had gotten a
bum deal, and I should get a good job in the West Wing," but Ms.
Scott did not seem eager to arrange for Ms. Lewinsky's return.
Ms. Lewinsky wrote:
I was surprised that she would question his judgment and not
just do what he asked of her. Is it possible that, in fact,
he did not tell her that? Does he really not want me back
in the complex? He has not responded to my note, nor has he
called me. Do you know what is going on? If so, are you
able to share it with me?(495)
Ms. Currie testified to "a vague recollection" of having seen
this letter.(496)
On June 29, 1997, Ms. Lewinsky wrote several notes. In a
draft letter to Ms. Scott, Ms. Lewinsky wrote that "our last
conversation was very upsetting to me," and added:
Marsha, I was told that I could come back after the
election. I knew why I had to leave last year by mid-April,
and I have been beyond patient since then. I do not think
it is fair to . . . be told by the person whom I was told
would get me a job that there is nothing for me and she
doesn't really hear about positions [in] the complex anyway.
I know that in your eyes I am just a hindrance -- a woman
who doesn't have a certain someone's best interests at
heart, but please trust me when I say I do.(497)
Ms. Lewinsky also drafted a note to the President pleading for a
brief meeting the following Tuesday. Referring to her inability
to get in touch with him, she wrote: "Please do not do this to
me. I feel disposable, used and insignificant. I understand
your hands are tied, but I want to talk to you and look at some
options."(498) Around this time, Ms. Lewinsky told a friend that
she was considering moving to another city or country.(499)
B. July 3 Letter
"[V]ery frustrated" over her inability to get in touch with
the President to discuss her job situation, Ms. Lewinsky wrote
him a peevish letter on July 3, 1997.(500) Opening "Dear Sir," the
letter took the President to task for breaking his promise to get
her another White House job.(501) Ms. Lewinsky also obliquely
threatened to disclose their relationship. If she was not going
to return to work at the White House, she wrote, then she would
"need to explain to my parents exactly why that wasn't
happening." Some explanation was necessary because she had told
her parents that she would be brought back after the election.(502)
(Ms. Lewinsky testified that she would not actually have told her
father about the relationship -- she had already told her mother
-- but she wanted to remind the President that she had "left the
White House like a good girl in April of '96," whereas other
people might have threatened disclosure in order to retain the
job.(503))
Ms. Lewinsky also raised the possibility of a job outside
Washington. If returning to the White House was impossible, she
asked in this letter, could he get her a job at the United
Nations in New York?(504) It was the first time that she had told
the President that she was considering moving.(505)
Although not questioned about this particular letter, the
President testified that he believed Ms. Lewinsky might disclose
their intimate relationship once he stopped it. He testified:
After I terminated the improper contact with her, she wanted
to come in more than she did. She got angry when she didn't
get in sometimes. I knew that that might make her more
likely to speak, and I still did it because I had to limit
the contact.(506)
After receiving the July 3 letter, though, the President
agreed to see Ms. Lewinsky. In her account, Ms. Currie called
that afternoon and told her to come to the White House at 9 a.m.
the next day.(507)
C. July 4 Meeting
On Friday, July 4, 1997, Ms. Lewinsky had what she
characterized as a "very emotional" visit with the President.(508)
Records show that Ms. Lewinsky entered the White House at 8:51
a.m.; no exit time is recorded.(509) Logs indicate that the
President was in the Oval Office from 8:40 until after 11 a.m.(510)
In Ms. Lewinsky's recollection, their meeting began
contentiously, with the President scolding her: "[I]t's illegal
to threaten the President of the United States."(511) He then told
her that he had not read her July 3 letter beyond the "Dear Sir"
line; he surmised that it was threatening because Ms. Currie
looked upset when she brought it to him. (Ms. Lewinsky suspected
that he actually had read the whole thing.)(512) Ms. Lewinsky
complained about his failure to get her a White House job after
her long wait. Although the President claimed he wanted to be
her friend, she said, he was not acting like it. Ms. Lewinsky
began weeping, and the President hugged her. While they hugged,
she spotted a gardener outside the study window, and they moved
into the hallway by the bathroom.(513)
There, the President was "the most affectionate with me he'd
ever been," Ms. Lewinsky testified. He stroked her arm, toyed
with her hair, kissed her on the neck, praised her intellect and
beauty.(514) In Ms. Lewinsky's recollection:
[H]e remarked . . . that he wished he had more time for me.
And so I said, well, maybe you will have more time in three
years. And I was . . . thinking just when he wasn't
President, he was going to have more time on his hands. And
he said, well, I don't know, I might be alone in three
years. And then I said something about . . . us sort of
being together. I think I kind of said, oh, I think we'd be
a good team, or something like that. And he . . . jokingly
said, well, what are we going to do when I'm 75 and I have
to pee 25 times a day? And . . . I told him that we'd deal
with that. . . .(515)
Ms. Lewinsky testified that "I left that day sort of emotionally
stunned," for "I just knew he was in love with me."(516)
Just before leaving, according to Ms. Lewinsky, she told the
President "that I wanted to talk to him about something serious
and that while I didn't want to be the one to talk about this
with him, I thought it was important he know."(517) She informed
him that Newsweek was working on an article about Kathleen
Willey, a former White House volunteer who claimed that the
President had sexually harassed her during a private meeting in
the Oval Office on November 23, 1993. (Ms. Lewinsky knew of the
article from Ms. Tripp, who had worked at the White House at the
time of the alleged incident and had heard about the incident
from Ms. Willey. Michael Isikoff of Newsweek had talked with Ms.
Tripp about the episode in March 1997 and again shortly before
July 4, and Ms. Tripp had subsequently related the Isikoff
conversations to Ms. Lewinsky.(518)) Ms. Lewinsky told the
President what she had learned from Ms. Tripp (whom she did not
name), including the fact that Ms. Tripp had tried to get in
touch with Deputy White House Counsel Bruce Lindsey, who had not
returned her calls.(519)
Ms. Lewinsky testified about why she conveyed this
information to the President: "I was concerned that the
President had no idea this was going on and that this woman was
going to be another Paula Jones and he didn't really need
that."(520) She understood that Ms. Willey was looking for a job,
and she thought that the President might be able to "make this go
away" by finding her a job.(521)
The President responded that the harassment allegation was
ludicrous, because he would never approach a small-breasted woman
like Ms. Willey.(522) He further said that, during the previous
week, Ms. Willey had called Nancy Hernreich to warn that a
reporter was working on a story about Ms. Willey and the
President; Ms. Willey wondered how she could get out of it.(523)
According to Ms. Lewinsky, the President had no telephone
calls during her time with him. At 10:19 a.m., probably after
her departure (her exit time is not shown on logs), he placed two
calls, both potentially follow-ups to the conversation about the
Newsweek article. First, he spoke with Bruce Lindsey for three
minutes, then with Nancy Hernreich for 11 minutes.(524)
D. July 14-15 Discussions of Linda Tripp
On the evening of Monday, July 14, 1997, just after Ms.
Lewinsky had returned from an overseas trip, the President had
her come to the White House to discuss Linda Tripp and
Newsweek.(525) Ms. Lewinsky entered the White House at 9:34 p.m.
and exited at 11:22 p.m.(526) The President was in the Oval Office
area from 9:28 to 11:25 p.m.(527)
Ms. Lewinsky testified that, at around 7:30 p.m. that
evening, Ms. Currie telephoned and said that the President wanted
to talk to her or see her. At about 8:30 or 9:00 p.m., Ms.
Currie called again and asked Ms. Lewinsky to come to the White
House.(528)
Ms. Lewinsky testified that the President met her in Ms.
Currie's office, then took her into Ms. Hernreich's office.(529)
(Records show that seven minutes after Ms. Lewinsky's entry to
the White House complex, the President left the Oval Office for
the appointment secretary's office.)(530) According to Ms.
Lewinsky:
It was an unusual meeting . . . . It was very distant and
very cold. . . . [A]t one point he asked me if the woman
that I had mentioned on July 4th was Linda Tripp. And I
hesitated and then answered yes, and he talked about that
there was some issue . . . to do with Kathleen Willey and
that, as he called it, that there was something on the
Sludge Report, that there had been some information.(531)
The President told Ms. Lewinsky that Ms. Willey had called the
White House again, this time to report that Mr. Isikoff somehow
knew of her earlier White House call.(532) The President wondered
if Ms. Lewinsky had mentioned the Willey call to Ms. Tripp, who
in turn might have told Mr. Isikoff. Ms. Lewinsky acknowledged
that she had done so. Ms. Lewinsky testified: "[H]e was
concerned about Linda, and I reassured him. He asked me if I
trusted her, and I said yes."(533) The President asked Ms. Lewinsky
to try to persuade Ms. Tripp to call Mr. Lindsey.(534) The
President, according to Ms. Lewinsky, also asked if she had
confided anything about their relationship to Ms. Tripp. Ms.
Lewinsky said (falsely) that she had not.(535)
The President left to participate in a conference call,
which Ms. Lewinsky understood was with his attorneys, while Ms.
Lewinsky sat with Ms. Currie.(536) According to White House
records, at 10:03 p.m. the President participated in a 51-minute
conference call with Robert Bennett, his private attorney in the
Jones case, and Charles Ruff, White House Counsel. Immediately
after completing that call, the President had a six-minute phone
conversation with Bruce Lindsey.(537)
Afterward, the President returned and told Ms. Lewinsky, in
her recollection, to notify Ms. Currie the following day,
"without getting into details with her, even mentioning names
with her," whether Ms. Lewinsky had "'mission-accomplished' . . .
with Linda."(538)
The next day, according to Ms. Lewinsky, she did talk with
Ms. Tripp, then called Ms. Currie and said she needed to talk
with the President. He called her that evening. She told him
"that I had tried to talk to Linda and that she didn't seem very
receptive to trying to get in touch with Bruce Lindsey again, but
that I would continue to try."(539) The President was in a sour
mood, according to Ms. Lewinsky, and their conversation was
brief.(540)
E. July 16 Meeting with Marsha Scott
On July 16, 1997, Ms. Lewinsky met again with Ms. Scott
about returning to the White House.(541) Ms. Scott said she would
try to detail Ms. Lewinsky from the Pentagon to Ms. Scott's
office on a temporary basis, according to Ms. Lewinsky.(542) In
that way, Ms. Scott said, Ms. Lewinsky could prove herself. Ms.
Scott also said that "they had to be careful and protect [the
President]."(543) Both Ms. Scott and Ms. Currie confirmed that Ms.
Scott talked with Ms. Lewinsky about the possibility of being
detailed to work at the White House.(544) Ms. Scott testified that
she tried to arrange the detail on her own, without any direction
from the President; Ms. Currie, however, testified that the
President instructed her and Ms. Scott to try to get Ms. Lewinsky
a job.(545)
F. July 24 Meeting
On Thursday, July 24, 1997, the day after her 24th birthday,
Ms. Lewinsky visited the White House from 6:04 to 6:26 p.m.,
admitted by Ms. Currie.(546) The President was in the Oval Office
when she arrived; he moved to the study at 6:14 p.m. and remained
there until her departure.(547) He had no telephone calls during
Ms. Lewinsky's visit.(548)
According to Ms. Lewinsky, she went to the White House to
pick up a photograph from Ms. Currie, who said the President
might be available for a quick meeting. Ms. Currie put Ms.
Lewinsky in the Cabinet Room while the President finished another
meeting, then took her to see him. They chatted for five to ten
minutes, and the President gave Ms. Lewinsky, as a birthday
present, an antique pin.(549)
G. Newsweek Article and Its Aftermath
Newsweek published the Kathleen Willey story in its August
11, 1997, edition (which appeared a week before the cover date).
The article quoted Ms. Tripp as saying that Ms. Willey, after
leaving the Oval Office on the day of the President's alleged
advances, looked "disheveled," "flustered, happy, and joyful."
The article also quoted Robert Bennett as saying that Ms. Tripp
was "not to be believed."(550)
After the article appeared, Ms. Tripp wrote a letter to
Newsweek charging that she had been misquoted, but the magazine
did not publish it.(551) Ms. Lewinsky subsequently told the
President about Ms. Tripp's letter. He replied, Ms. Lewinsky
said in a recorded conversation, "Well, that's good because it
sure seemed like she screwed me from that article."(552)
H. August 16 Meeting
On Saturday, August 16, 1997, Ms. Lewinsky tried,
unsuccessfully, to resume her sexual relationship with the
President. She visited the White House on that day from 9:02 to
10:20 a.m.(553) The President moved from the Residence to the Oval
Office at 9:20 a.m. and remained in the Oval Office until 10:03
a.m.(554) After a one-minute call to Betty Currie at her desk at
9:18 a.m., evidently from the Residence, the President had no
calls while Ms. Lewinsky was at the White House.(555) The next day
he left for a vacation on Martha's Vineyard.(556)
Ms. Lewinsky testified that she brought birthday gifts for
the President (his birthday is August 19):
I had set up in his back office, I had brought an apple
square and put a candle and had put his birthday presents
out. And after he came back in and I sang happy birthday
and he got his presents, I asked him . . . if we could share
a birthday kiss in honor of our birthdays, because mine had
been just a few weeks before. So, he said that that was
okay and we could kind of bend the rules that day. And so
. . . we kissed.(557)
Ms. Lewinsky touched the President's genitals through his pants
and moved to perform oral sex, but the President rebuffed her.(558)
In her recollection: "[H]e said, I'm trying not to do this and
I'm trying to be good. . . . [H]e got visibly upset. And so
. . . I hugged him and I told him I was sorry and not to be
upset."(559) Later, in a draft note to "Handsome," Ms. Lewinsky
referred to this visit: "It was awful when I saw you for your
birthday in August. You were so distant that I missed you as I
was holding you in my arms."(560)
I. Continuing Job Efforts
Ms. Lewinsky and Ms. Scott talked by phone on September 3,
1997, for 47 minutes.(561) According to notes that Ms. Lewinsky
wrote to two friends, Ms. Scott told her that the detail slot in
her office had been eliminated.(562) Ms. Lewinsky told one friend:
So for now, there isn't any place for me to be detailed. So
I should be PATIENT. I told her I was very upset and
disappointed (even though I really didn't want to work for
her) and then she and I got into it. She didn't understand
why I wanted to come back when there were still people there
who would give me a hard time and that it isn't the right
political climate for me to come back. . . . She asked me
why I kept pushing the envelope on coming back there --
after all, I had the experience of being there already. So
it's over. I don't know what I will do now but I can't wait
any more and I can't go through all of this crap anymore.
In some ways I hope I never hear from him again because
he'll just lead me on because he doesn't have the balls to
tell me the truth.(563)
Ms. Scott testified that "[t]he gist" of Ms. Lewinsky's email
message describing the conversation "fits with what I remember
telling her."(564)
Ms. Lewinsky expressed her escalating frustration in a note
to the President that she drafted (but did not send).(565) She
wrote:
I believe the time has finally come for me to throw in the
towel. My conversation with Marsha left me disappointed,
frustrated, sad and angry. I can't help but wonder if you
knew she wouldn't be able to detail me over there when I
last saw you. Maybe that would explain your coldness. The
only explanation I can reason for your not bringing me back
is that you just plain didn't want to enough or care about
me enough.
Ms. Lewinsky went on to discuss other women rumored to be
involved with the President who enjoy "golden positions," above
criticism, "because they have your approval." She continued: "I
just loved you -- wanted to spend time with you, kiss you, listen
to you laugh -- and I wanted you to love me back." She closed:
"As I said in my last letter to you I've waited long enough. You
and Marsha win. I give up. You let me down, but I
shouldn't have trusted you in the first place.(566)
Ms. Lewinsky continued trying to discuss her situation with
the President. On Friday, September 12, 1997, she arrived at the
White House without an appointment, called Ms. Currie, and had a
long wait at the gate. When Ms. Currie came to meet her, Ms.
Lewinsky was crying. Ms. Currie explained that sometimes the
President's hands are tied -- but, she said, she had gotten his
authorization to ask John Podesta, the Deputy Chief of Staff, to
help Ms. Lewinsky return to work at the White House.(567)
J. Black Dog Gifts
Before the President had left for vacation, Ms. Lewinsky had
sent a note asking if he could bring her a T-shirt from the Black
Dog, a popular Vineyard restaurant.(568) In early September, Ms.
Currie gave several Black Dog items to Ms. Lewinsky.(569) In an
email message to Catherine Davis, Ms. Lewinsky wrote: "Well, I
found out from Betty yesterday that he not only brought me a t-shirt, he got me 2 t-shirts, a hat and a dress!!!! Even though
he's a big schmuck, that is surprisingly sweet -- even that he
remembered!"(570)
K. Lucy Mercer Letter and Involvement of Chief of Staff
A letter dated September 30, 1997, styled as an official
memo, was found in Ms. Lewinsky's apartment. According to Ms.
Lewinsky, she sent this letter or a similar one to the
President.(572) Addressed to "Handsome" and bearing the subject
line "The New Deal," the faux memo proposed a visit that evening
after "everyone else goes home." Ms. Lewinsky wrote: "You will
show me that you will let me visit you sans a crisis, and I will
be on my best behavior and not stressed out when I come (to see
you, that is)." She closed with an allusion to a woman rumored
to have been involved with an earlier President: "Oh, and
Handsome, remember FDR would never have turned down a visit with
Lucy Mercer!"(573)
Ms. Lewinsky did not visit the White House the night of
September 30, but the President called her late the night of
September 30 or October 1.(574) According to Ms. Lewinsky, he may
have mentioned during this call that he would get Erskine Bowles
to help her find a White House job.(575)
At around this time, the President did ask the White House
Chief of Staff to help in the job search. Mr. Bowles testified
about a conversation with the President in the Oval Office: "He
told me that there was a young woman -- her name was Monica
Lewinsky -- who used to work at the White House; that Evelyn
. . . thought she hung around the Oval Office too much and
transferred her to the Pentagon."(576) The President asked Mr.
Bowles to try to find Ms. Lewinsky a job in the Old Executive
Office Building.(577) Mr. Bowles assigned his deputy, John Podesta,
to handle it.(578)
L. News of Job Search Failure
On October 6, 1997, according to Ms. Lewinsky, she was told
that she would never work at the White House again. Ms. Tripp
conveyed the news, which she indicated had come from a friend on
the White House staff. Ms. Lewinsky testified:
Linda Tripp called me at work on October 6th and told me
that her friend Kate in the NSC . . . had heard rumors about
me and that I would never work in the White House again
. . . . [Kate's] advice to me was "get out of town."(579)
For Ms. Lewinsky, who had previously considered moving to New
York, this call was the "straw that broke the camel's back."(580)
She was enraged.(581)
In a note she drafted (but did not send), Ms. Lewinsky
expressed her frustration. She wrote:
Any normal person would have walked away from this and said,
"He doesn't call me, he doesn't want to see me -- screw it.
It doesn't matter." I can't let go of you. . . . I want to
be a source of pleasure and laughter and energy to you. I
want to make you smile.
She went on to relate that she had heard second-hand from a White
House employee "that I was 'after the President' and would never
be allowed to work [in] the complex." Ms. Lewinsky said she
could only conclude "that all you have promised me is an empty
promise. . . . I am once again totally humiliated. It is very
clear that there is no way I am going to be brought back." She
closed the note: "I will never do anything to hurt you. I am
simply not that kind of person. Moreover, I love you."(582)
When terminating their sexual relationship on May 24, the
President had told Ms. Lewinsky that he hoped they would remain
friends, for he could do a great deal for her.(583) Now, having
learned that he could not (or would not) get her a White House
job, Ms. Lewinsky decided to ask him for a job in New York,
perhaps at the United Nations -- a possibility that she had
mentioned to him in passing over the summer. On the afternoon of
October 6, Ms. Lewinsky spoke of this plan to Ms. Currie, who
quoted the President as having said earlier: "Oh, that's no
problem. We can place her in the UN like that."(584)
In a recorded conversation later on October 6, Ms. Lewinsky
said she wanted two things from the President. The first was
contrition: He needed to "acknowledge . . . that he helped fuck
up my life."(585) The second was a job, one that she could obtain
without much effort: "I don't want to have to work for this
position . . . . I just want it to be given to me."(586) Ms.
Lewinsky decided to write the President a note proposing that the
two of them "get together and work on some way that I can come
out of this situation not feeling the way I do."(587) After
composing the letter, she said: "I want him to feel a little
guilty, and I hope that this letter did that."(588)
In this letter, which was sent via courier on October 7, Ms.
Lewinsky said she understood that she would never be given a
White House job, and she asked for a prompt meeting to discuss
her job situation.(589) She went on to advance a specific request:
I'd like to ask you to help me secure a position in NY
beginning 1 December. I would be very grateful, and I am
hoping this is a solution for both of us. I want you to
know that it has always been and remains more important to
me to have you in my life than to come back. . . . Please
don't let me down.(590)
Next: Narrative IX - XII