Clinton's Inner Sanctum Under Siege: White House Defies Special Prosecutor

Strategic Insights -

President Bill Clinton's inner sanctum was yesterday shoring up its defenses against a fresh onslaught of allegations in the Monica Lewinsky sex-and-lies scandal. The White House is trying to plead legal privilege against the questioning of a White House aide, Bruce Lindsey, who faced a Grand Jury. Lawyers acting for Mr. Clinton met the prosecutor's team yesterday for a stand-off, seeking to put Mr. Lindsey's questioning about the president's private life off legal limits.

Key Takeaways:

  • The White House is trying to plead legal privilege against the questioning of Bruce Lindsey, a White House aide, in the Monica Lewinsky sex-and-lies scandal.
  • Lawyers acting for Mr. Clinton met the prosecutor's team for a stand-off, seeking to put Mr. Lindsey's questioning about the president's private life off legal limits.
  • The White House is calling in private counsel to advise on the consequences of pleading executive privilege.
  • Mr. Lindsey was interrogated on Wednesday about Mr. Clinton's relationship with Paula Jones, who is suing the president for sexual harassment.
  • Mr. Lindsey was also likely to be asked about further reported meetings between Ms. Lewinsky and Vernon Jordan, a close presidential aide implicated in the scandal.
  • Vernon Jordan's testimony was postponed due to a call from special prosecutor Kenneth Starr late on Wednesday night.
  • Ms. Lewinsky's tape-recorded account of the affair to a friend, Linda Tripp, claims Mr. Jordan persuaded her to lie under oath in the Jones case.
  • Mr. Starr wants to know about allegations that, after Ms. Lewinsky testified in the Jones case that she had no affair with the president, Mr. Jordan pulled strings to find her a new job.

Statistics:

  • 72 hours: The time frame in which Vernon Jordan found Ms. Lewinsky a new job at the Revlon cosmetics company after reports that she was going to be subpoenaed in the Jones case.
  • 1.5 hours: The delay in Mr. Lindsey's testimony as the chief judge told lawyers to resolve differences on the parameters of questioning to which Mr. Lindsey had objected.

Sources:

  • "Washington" by ED VULLIAMY, Washington, (no date provided)
  • (no other sources mentioned)