8A - The Monday September 14, 1998
INVESTIGATING THE PRESIDENT
THa
STARR
; F 5 as :F3" A' F f ;
t :
4 ai
...The Ofice of the
Idependent Cou nsl
("OIC" yor "Ofe) ery
submits substntial nu
credible infotondth a
PresidentWi a e ron
Clinton comittd acs that
may constiute grounds for
an impeachment.
The inormati reves
that President Clinton:
lied under oath at a civil
deposition whie he was a
defendant in a sexual harass-
ment lawsuit;
lied under oath to a
grand jury;
* attempted to inf nce
the testimony of a potential
witness who had dect
knowledgeofctt
would reveal the falsity of his
de osition &istruct
attempe t bsrc
justice bywit-
ness' s la to r his° to co
pIwit a w i v,
att emped t struct
justice Iy eo a wit-
ness to that
the Presd be
false, and then y ma king
use of that htle ffidait at
his own on
lied to teaii rand
jury wtnesses, knowng that
they would rpeat those lis
before the grand cry; and
enga i na ernof
conduct t wasin onsis-
tent with utional
duty tof i e xcutethe
laws.
The evidence shows that these acts, and
others, were part of pattern habegan as
an effort to preent the dislosure of infrr-
mation about the Piweidcnt's relationship
with a former White ouse intern and
employee, Monica S Lewinky, and contin-
ued as an effort to prevnt the information
from being disclosed in an ongoing criminal
investigation.
Factual 1akrund
In May 1994, Paula Crin :ones filed a
lawsuit against William Jeferson Clinton in
the United StatesD istrict Court for the
Eastern District of Arkansas Ms. Jones
alleged that while hie was te governor of
Arkansas, President Clinton sexually
harassed her during an incident in a Little
Rock hotel room. President Clinton denied
the allegations...
One sharply disputed issue in the Jones
litigation was the extent to which the
President would be required to disclose
information about sexul lakonships he
may have had wih "ter women" Ms.
Jones's attorneys sught disclosure of this
information, arguingtat i was relevant to
proving that the President had propositioned
Ms. Jones. The President rsisted the discov-
ery requests, arguing tht evidence of rela-
tionships with other w oen (if any) was
irrelevant.
In late 1997, the isu was presented to
United States District Jude Susan Webber
Wright for resolution. Jde Wright's deci-
sion was unambiguous. For purposes of pre-
trial discovery, Presidnt Clinton was
required to provide crtain information
about his alleged reationships with other
women.
In mid-December 1997, the President
answered one of the wrtn discovery ques-
tions posed by Ms.Ji": on this issue.
When asked to ieniy al konen who were
state or federal employees ad with whom
he had had "sexual reWlhons" since 1986,heo
President ansee aerot:"oe" For
Excerpts romtheindependentcounsel'
page rort sent to Con
445-
judgment, concluding that even if the facts
alleged by Paula Jones were true, her claims
aled as a matter of law. Ms. Jones has filed
an appeal, and as of the date of this Referral,
the matter remains under consideration by
the United States Court of Appeals for the
ighth Circuit.
A fter the dismissal of Ms. Jones's lawsuit,
the criminal investigation continued ... After
careful consideration of all the evidence, the
OC has concluded that the evidence of
wrongdoing is substantial and credible, and
that the wrongdoing is of sufficient gravity
that it warrants referral to Congress.
The Significance of the
Evidence of Wrongdoing
It is not the role of this Office to deter-
mine whether the President's actions warrant
impeachment by the House and removal by
the Senate; those judgments are, of course,
constitutionally entrusted to the legislative
branch This Office is authorized, rather, to
conduct criminal investigations and to seek
criminal prosecutions for matters within its
jurisdiction. In carrying out its investigation,
however, this Office also has a statutory duty
to disclose to Congress information that
"may constitute grounds for an impeach-
ment," a task that inevitably requires judg-
ment about the seriousness of the acts
revealed by the evidence.
From the beginning, this phase of the
OIC's investigation has been criticized as an
improper inquiry into the President's person-
al behavior; indeed, the President himself
suggested that specific inquiries into his
conduct were part of an effort to "criminal-
ize my private life." The regrettable fact that
the investigation has often required witness-
es to discuss sensitive personal matters has
fueled this perception.
All Americans, including the President,
are entitled to enjoy a private family life, free
from public or governmental scrutiny. But
the privacy concerns raised in this case are
subject to limits, three of which we briefly
set forth here.
First. The first limit was imposed when
the President was sued in federal court for
alleged sexual harassment. The evidence in
such litigation is often personal. At times,
that evidence is highly embarrassing for
both plaintiff and defendant ...
Nevertheless, Congress and the Supreme
Court have concluded that embarrassment-
related concerns must give way to the
greater interest in allowing aggrieved parties
to pursue their claims. Courts have long rec-
ognized the difficulties of proving sexual
harassment in the workplace, inasmuch as
improper or unlawful behavior often takes
place in private. To excuse a party who lied
or concealed evidence on the ground that the
evidence covered only "personal" or "pri-
vate" behavior would frustrate the goals that
Conress and the courts have sought to
achieve in enacting and interpreting the
Nation's sexual harassment laws. That is par-
ticularly true when the conduct that is being
concealed - sexual relations in the work-
place between a high official and a young
subordinate employee - itself conflicts
with those goals.
Second ... A federal judge specifically
ordered the President, on more than one
occasion, to provide the requested informa-
tion about relationships with other women,
including Monica Lewinsky ... the
President was duty bound to testify truthful-
ly and fully.
Perjury and attempts to obstruct the gath-
ering of evidence can never be an acceptable
a response to a court order, regardless of the
eventual course or outcome of the litigation.
The Supreme Court has spoken forceful-
ly about perjury and other forms of obstruc-
tion of justice:
In this constitutional process of securing a
witness' testimony, perjury simply has no
place whatever. Perjured testimony is an
obvious and flagrant affront to the basic con-
cepts of judicial proceedings ...
Third. The third limit is unique to the
President ... As the head of the Executive
Branch, the President has the constitutional
duty to "take Care that the Laws be faithful-
lv executed." The President gave his testimo-
ny in the Jones case under oath and in the
presence of a federal judge, a member of a
co-equal branch of government; he then tes-
tified before a federal grand jury, a body of
citizens who had themselves taken an oath to
seek the truth. In view of the enormous trust
and responsibility attendant to his high
Ofiee, the President has a manifest duty to
ensure that his conduct at all times complies
with the law of the land.
In sum, perjury and acts that obstruct jus-
tice by any citizen -- whether in a criminal
case, a grand iury investigation, a congres-
sional hearing, a civil trial, or civil discovery
- are profoundly serious matters. When
such acts are committed by the President of
the United States, we believe those acts
"may constitute grounds for an impeach-
ment...".
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 ... .
Physical evidence conclusively establish-
es that the President and Ms. Lewinsky had
a sexual relationship. After reaching an
immunity and cooperation agreement with
the Office of then 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.
Initial tests revealed that the stains are in
fact semen ... the genetic markers on the
semen, which match the President's DNA,
are characteristic of one out of 7.87 trillion
Caucasians. In addition to the dress, Ms.
Lewinsky provided what she said were
answering machine tapes containing brief
messages from the President, as well as sev-
eral gifts that the President had given her ...
In the evaluation of experienced prosecutors
and investigators, Ms. Lewinsky has provid-
ed 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 ...
In the Jones deposition on January 17,
1998, the President denied having had "a
sexual affair," "sexual relations," or "a sexu-
al relationship" with Ms. Lewinsky. He
noted that "[t]here are no curtains on the
Oval Office, there are no curtains on my pri-
vate office, there are no curtains or blinds
that can close [on] the windows in my pri-
vate dining room," and added: "I have done
everything I could to avoid the kind of ques-
tions you are asking me here today. ..."
Testifying before the grand jury on
August 17, 1998, seven months after his
Jones deposition, the President acknowl-
edged "inappropriate intimate contact" with
Ms. Lewinsky but maintained tat his
January deposition testimony was accu-
rate...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 ...
According to Ms. Lewinsky, she and the
President had ten sexual encounters, eight
while she worked at the White House and
two thereafter. The sexual encounters gener-
ally occurred in or near the private study off
the Oval Office - most often in the win-
dowless hallway outside the study. 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.
Ms. Lewinsky testified that her physical
relationship with the President included oral
sex but not sexual intercourse. According to
Ms. Lewinsky, she performed oral sex on the
President; he never performed oral sex on
her. Initiall, according to Ms. Lewinsky, the
President would not let her perform oral sex
to completion. In Ms. Lewinsky's under-
standing, his refusal was related to "trust and
not knowing me well enough." During their
last two sexual encounters, both in 1997, he
did ejaculate.
According to Ms. Lewinsky, she per-
formed oral sex on the President on nine
occasions. 04 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 orgasr on two occasions. On one
occasion, the President inserted a cigar into
her vagina. On another occasion, she and the
President had brief genital-o-genital con-
tact.
Whereas the President testified that "what
began as a friemdship came to include [inti-
mate contact]," Ms. Lewinsky explained that
the relationship moved in the opposite direc-
tion: "[T]he emotional and friendship
aspects ... devdoped after the beginning of
our sexual relationship."
As the relationship developed over time,
Ms. Lewinsky grew emotionally attached to
President Clinton. She testified: "I never
expected to fall il love with the President. I
was surprised that I did." Ms. Lewinsky told
him of her feelings. At times, she believed
that he loved her too. They were physically
affectionate: "A lot of hugging, holding
hands sometimes: He always used to push
the hair out of my face." She called him
"Handsome"; on occasion, he called her
"Sweetie," "Baby'* or sometimes "Dear." He
told her that he enyed talking to her -she
recalled his saying that the two of them were
"emotive and full cf fire," and she made him
feel young. He said he wished he could
spend more time with her...
According to Ms. Lewinsky's friend
exchanged numerous gifts. By her estimate,
she gave him about 30 items, and he gave
her about 18 ... On November 20 - five
days after the intimate relationship began,
according to Ms. Lewinsky - she gave him
a nectktie .., Ms. Lewinsky gave him, among
other things, six neckties, an antique paper-
weight showing the White House, a silver
tabletop holder for cigars or cigarettes, a pair
of sunglasses, a casual shirt, a mug embla-
zoned "Santa Monica," a frog figurine, a let-
ter opener depicting a frog, several novels, a
humorous book of quotations, and several
antique books. He gave her, among other
things, a hat pin, two brooches, a blanket, a
marbe bear figurine, and a special edition of
Walt Whitman's Leaves of Grass ...
Mutual Understanding
Both Ms. Lewinsky and the President tes-
tified 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 rela-
tionship 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 . .
In his grand jury testimony, the President
confirmed his efforts to keep their liaisons
secret. 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 ..."
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 ...
While the President did not expressly
instruct her to lie, according to Ms.
Lewinsky, he did suggest misleading cover
stories. 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 relation-
ship and "always protect him," for example,
the President responded. in her recollection,
"'That's good' or - something affirmative.
. [N]ot -'Don't deny it ..."
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. But he also stated that "I never asked
Ms. Lewinsky to lie ..."
The President expressed concern about
documents that might hint at an improper
relationship between them, according to Ms.
Lewinsky...
1995: Initial Sexual
Encounters
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...
The month after her White House intern-
ship began, Ms. Lewinsky and the President
began what she characterized as "intense
flirting." At departure ceremonies and other
events, she made eye contact with him,
shook hands, and introduced herself. 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...
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.
Only essential federal employees were per-
mitted to work during the furlough... White
House interns could continue working
because of their unpaid status, and they took
on a wide range of additional duties.
During the shutdown, Ms. Lewinsky
worked in Chief of Staff Panetta's West
Wing office, where she answered phones
and ran errands. The President came to Mr.
Panetta's office frequently because of the
shutdown, and he sometimes talked with
Ms. Lewinsky. She characterized these
encounters as "continued flirtation."
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.
November 15 Sexual
Encounter
Ms. Lewinsky testified that Wednesday,
November 15, 1995 -the second day of the
government shutdown - marked the begin-
The President was inside alone, and he beck-
oned her to enter. She told him that she had
a crush on him. He laughed, then asked if
she would like to see his private office.
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 chem-
istry 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 hall-
way adjacent to the study, they kissed.
Before returning to her desk. Ms. Lewinsky
wrote down her name and telephone number
for the President.
At about 10 p.m., in Ms. Lewinsky's rec-
ollection, she was alone in the Chief of
Staff's office and the President approached.
He invited her to rendezvous again in Mr.
Stephanopoulos's office in a few minutes,
and she agreed... They met in Mr.
Stephanopoulos's office and went again to
the area of the private study. This time the
lights in the study were off. 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. Ms. Lew insky 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." 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. 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..."
November 17 Sexual
Encounter
According to Ms. Lewinsky, she and the
President had a second sexual encounter two
days later ... on Friday, November 17....
They kissed. and the President touched Ms.
Lewinsky's bare breasts with his hands and
mouth. At some point, Ms. Currie
approached the door leading to the hallway,
which was ajar, and said that the President
had a telephone call. Ms. Lewinsky recalled
that the caller was a Member of Congress
with a nickname. While the President was
on the telephone, according to Ms.
Lewinsky, "he unzipped his pants and
exposed himself," and she performed oral
sex. Again, he stopped her before he ejacu-
lated.
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..."
In his Jones deposition on January 17,
1998, President Clinton - who said he was
unable to rec'all 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.
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 fur-
lough. He testified: "One night she brought
me some pizza. We had some remarks"
December 31 Sexual
Encounter
According to Ms. Lewinsky, she and the
President had their third sexual encounter on
New Year's Eve...
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 ... 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."... She
performed oral sex ... 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:'
January-March 1996:
Continued Sexual Encounters
President Clinton and Ms. Lewinsky had
additional sexual encounters near the Oval
Office in 1996 ...On President's Day,
February 19, the President terminated their
sexual relationship, then revived it on March
31.
According to Ms. Lewinsky, she and the
President had another sexual encounter on
Sunday, January 7, 1996 ... [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,
according to Ms. Lewinsky But she stopped
him because she was menstruating and he
did not. Ms. Lewinsky did perform oral sex
.on him.
Afterward, she and the President moved
to the Oval Office and talked. According to
Ms. Lewinsky: "[Hie 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..."
On Sunday, February 4, according to Ms.
Lewinsky, she and the President had thei
sixth sexual encounter and their first lengthy
and personal conversation ... She was wear-
ing 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." He
touched her breasts with his hands and his
mouth, and touched her genitals, first
through underwear and then directly. She
performed oral sex on him.
After the break-up on February 19, 1996,@
according to Ms. Lewinsky, "there contin-
ued to sort of be this flirtation ... On Sunday,
March 31, 1996, according to Ms. Lewinsky,
she and the President resumed their sexual
contact...
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. At one
point, the President inserted a cigar into Ms.
Lewinsky's vagina, then put the cigar in hi
mouth and said: "It tastes good ..."
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 .
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 ..."
Easter Telephone
Conversations and Sexual 0
Encounter
On Easter Sunday, April 7, 1996, Ms.
Lewinsky told the President of her dismissal
and they had a sexual encounter...
According to Ms. Lewinsky, the President
seemed troubled about her upcoming depar-
ture from the White House...
He ... indicated that she could have any
job she wanted after the election...
When asked if he had promised to get Ms.
Lewinsky another White House job, th
President told the grand jury: "... I did nr
tell her I would order someone to hire her...
After this Easter Sunday conversation, the
President and Ms. Lewinsky had a sexual
encounter in the hallway, according to Ms.
Lewinsky...
During this encounter, someone called
out from the Oval Office that the President
had a phone call. He went back to the Oval
Office for a moment, then took the call in
the study. The President indicated that M1
Lewinsky should perform oral sex while he
talked on the phone, and she obliged. The
telephone conversation was about politics,
and Ms. Lewinsky thought the caller might
be Dick Morris. White House records con-
firm that the President had one telephone
call during Ms. Lewinsky's visit: from "Mr.
Richard Morris...
April-December 1996: No
Private Meetings
After Ms. Lewinsky began her Pentago
job on April 16, 19%, 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 .
Early 1997: Resumption of
Sexual Encounters
In 1997, President Clinton and Ms.
Lewinsky had further private meetings
which now were arranged by Betty Curril
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 encountet
In 1997, with the presidential election
past, Ms. Lewinsky and the President
resumed their one-on-one meetings and sex-
ual encounters. The President's secretary,
Betty Currie, acted as intermediary...
Wearing a navy blue dress from the Gai
Ms. Lewinsky attended the radio address at
the President's invitation (relayed by Ms.
Currie), then had her photo taken with the
President ...
Ms. Lewinsky,testified that "after the
President gave her ... gifts, they had a sexu-
al encounter ... When Ms. Lewinsky next
took the navy blue Gap dress from her clos-
et to wear it, she noticed stains near one hip
and on the chest. FBI Laboratory tes
revealed that the stains are the President)
semen...
In his grand jury testimony, the President
... 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
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