Death of American Virtue - Ken Gormley [119]
Brother-in-law Mark Brown also raised the subject of Paula’s own sexual habits, saying he had been “shocked at the number of men” Paula had taken as lovers before she turned seventeen. Brown told Penthouse that he counseled her: “Paula … you need to take it easy about going with one guy right after another because there’s venereal diseases that are very, very bad.” She favored older men and purposely dressed in “provocative” fashions, he said, and added: “If I hadn’t been married, I’d probably have propositioned her myself.”
Charlotte chimed in that she had been “horrified” when Paula brought home the partially nude photos that now appeared in Penthouse and spread them out for the family to see. “She was proud of them,” said the older sister. Charlotte also asserted that Paula told her excitedly before she filed the lawsuit that “there could be a lot of money” in this deal, if she decided to sue Clinton and sell her story for a sweet book deal.
In contemplating how to blunt the impact of these stories, Davis dictated several possible rebuttals to his file: “Paula Jones’ consent to have these pictures taken was at a time when she was 19 years old, dating a 31 year old boyfriend, whom she wanted to please, and probably was a substitute father figure for a father who had died within the past six months.… Thus, this is a matter of trust which was abused.” Davis tried out an additional argument: “The reaction is [always] to ‘blame the victim.’ In this case, Paula has been exploited twice: once when she trusted her boyfriend … and secondly she was subject to the Penthouse display.”
To deflect the insinuations that Jones was a gold digger, Davis issued a press release declaring that any money his client received in excess of attorneys’ fees would go to a charitable cause rather than to line Jones’s own pockets. Jones herself told CNN that she would give any settlement funds away. “I am not in it for the money,” she declared in an offended, high-pitched voice.
In mulling over a possible theme that might win over the American public and bolster his client’s sagging case, Davis dictated these six sentences to his file: “What kind of country do we live in? What will we tolerate? Is character an issue? Is honesty an issue? Is a person who assaults women worthy of public office? Is a President above the law?”
PRESIDENTIAL lawyer Bob Bennett, during this time, was busy gathering evidence that would blow Paula Jones’s case out of the water. Already, the media were digging up unflattering information on Paula and Steve Jones. People magazine reported that the Joneses, holed up in their rented condo in California, were rude and loud tenants. One condo worker said that Paula at times had “the mouth of a truck driver.” Another tenant told People that Steve and Paula “had loud, raucous fights, recently over money and Paula’s lack of employment.” An eyewitness said that Paula had become belligerent with a neighbor during an argument, shouting, “I hate all you people in California! All you do is complain and sue each other!”
Steve Jones, the vociferous husband of the plaintiff, had his own set of issues that could be rolled out at trial. Former colleagues described him as someone “whose own sexual attitudes sometimes made co-workers uncomfortable,