Death of American Virtue - Ken Gormley [213]
Now that Jones had new lawyers, however, Judge Wright wasn’t going to allow any more monkey business: “I’ll say quite candidly that with respect to Paula Jones’s case … I think it’s unlikely that a jury will find for her if this matter goes to trial.” Judge Wright took a sip of water and gave an even clearer clue about her intentions. “I’m going to look very carefully at the defendants’ motion for summary judgment,” she said, staring knowingly at plaintiff’s counsel. “The way it looks now, more likely than not, she will fail. And she’s going to be kicking herself in a couple of years, or in another year, if she goes to trial and loses and she had $700,000 right under her nose.”
Wes Holmes, seated at counsel table, felt a tightening around his neck. “That’s never a good thing to have a federal judge tell you,” he would admit. “It’s hard to put a happy face on that one.”
As an equal-opportunity bearer of bad news, however, Judge Wright turned to the president’s lawyer, reminding him, “I’m also aware of Bill Clinton’s reputation for womanizing.” She had lived in Arkansas her whole life; the entire state knew about Clinton’s proclivities when it came to females. One reason she wasn’t bowled over by plaintiff’s case, the judge quipped, was that Clinton’s reputation did not extend beyond “just chasing skirts. You know, just having a good time, harmless activity.” Although Bill Clinton’s behavior left plenty to be desired, it would take considerable evidence to convince a jury from Arkansas that he was a sexual predator. “Certainly, he’s an extremely popular president, a lot of people like his policies. And … the country is in good economic shape right now. I mean, they’re talking about what to do with the surplus.” Moreover, Jones’s evidence concerning adverse job consequences was virtually nil. It was necessary to prove damages under federal law. It was tough to imagine how her lawyers would pull that bunny out of the hat.
In light of these extraordinary circumstances, the judge was prepared to take the unusual step of sitting down with the president and with Paula Jones, individually, if that’s what it took. She would say to Jones: “I don’t think it’s right for you to pursue a case when you don’t think you can win it.” Her message to Clinton would be: “People are going to be embarrassed as a result of this trial. Friends of [yours] will be [embarrassed].” Moreover, the president had more important things to do than to get down in the gutter and sling mud around. “He’s my president, for example, and I want him to be able to tend to business.”
The judge’s rebuke was sobering to both sides. Yet the Dallas lawyers were holding back some explosive information, related to “other women,” that they thought would give them a fighting chance. All along, Fisher had tried to create the impression that he had embarked on a harmless fishing expedition when it came to the topic of the other females. The court papers he filed had listed all these potential witnesses as Jane Does, redacting their names to protect their identities. Now, when Judge Wright asked for more details, Fisher spoke nonchalantly, careful not to tip his hand. The mystery women on the witness list, he said, included Kathleen Willey, who had already been prominently mentioned in Michael Isikoff’s Newsweek story; Judge Beth Coulson (whom Clinton had appointed to the Arkansas Court of Appeals) (Jane Doe No. 2); Sheila Lawrence (whose husband, a wealthy real estate developer in San Diego, was ambassador to Switzerland) (Jane Doe No. 7); Gennifer Flowers (with whom Clinton had admitted to having an affair); Juanita Broaddrick (who had allegedly been raped by Clinton while she worked at a nursing home twenty years earlier, although she continued to refuse to confirm this story with private