Death of American Virtue - Ken Gormley [262]
Before the lunch recess, President Clinton volunteered a question of his own, which certainly caused his legal team to experience indigestion. As if fishing for clues as to what evidence the Dallas lawyers might have squirreled away to ensnare him, the president piped up, “Mr. Fisher, is there something, let me just—you asked that with such conviction and I answered with such conviction, is there something you want to ask me about this [the Lewinsky matter]. I don’t, I don’t even know what you’re talking about, I don’t think.”
The president would later suggest that in blurting out this question, he was giving Fisher a wide-open opportunity to ask questions that were more specific if he wished to nail down the truth about the Lewinsky relationship. That argument, however, had a hollow ring to it. The president’s entire testimony concerning Lewinsky, from start to finish, was programmed to deny any form of romantic or sexual contact, no matter how the Jones lawyers phrased it.
Fisher declined to take the bait. He replied soberly, “Sir, I think this will come to light shortly, and you’ll understand.”
BACK at the White House, a frantic Time magazine reporter was calling John Podesta (now Clinton’s deputy chief of staff), “freaking out” as he explained that Newsweek was preparing to drop a “bombshell.” Michael Isikoff, the Time reporter said, was jealousy guarding a story that had “something to do with Ken Starr and perjury.” What did the White House know about it? Podesta was totally in the dark. He responded: “They’re just chasing a rumor.” The minute he hung up, however, Podesta picked up the phone and called Isikoff, summarizing the tip that he had received from the Time reporter and asking: “Mike, what’s going on?” Isikoff responded hastily, as if rushing out the door: “I don’t think we’re going with anything. I’ll get back to you if we are.” Isikoff paused, then asked Podesta a single question before concluding the conversation: “Do you know somebody named Monica Lewinsky?”
AFTER lunch, when the deposition reconvened, the Dallas lawyers drilled directly into the subject of Paula Jones’s allegations. On cross-examination, Bob Bennett neatly summarized his client’s testimony, with the following exchange:
BENNETT: Now you’re aware, are you not, of the allegations against you by Paula Corbin Jones in this lawsuit; is that correct?
CLINTON: Yes, sir, I am.
BENNETT: Mr. President, did you ever make any sexual advances towards Paula Jones?
CLINTON: No, I did not.
BENNETT: Did you ever expose yourself to Paula Jones?
CLINTON: No, I did not.
BENNETT: Did you ever ask Paula Jones to kiss your penis?
CLINTON: No, I did not.
BENNETT: Now, Mr. President, you’ve stated earlier in your testimony that you do not recall with any specificity the May 8th, 1991 conference at the Excelsior; is that correct?
CLINTON: That’s correct.
BENNETT: If that is true, sir, how can you be sure that you did not do these things which are alleged in Ms. Jones’ complaint?
CLINTON: Because, Mr. Bennett, in my lifetime I’ve never sexually harassed a woman, and I’ve never done what she accused me of doing. I didn’t do it then, because I never have, and I wouldn’t.
Bennett himself now returned his client to the topic of maximum danger. Having performed his own due diligence and having satisfied himself that the allegations of a sexual tryst between the president and Monica Lewinsky were poppycock, Bennett held up the Lewinsky affidavit and read it for the benefit of Judge Wright. Lewinsky had stated in paragraph eight of that document: “I have never had a sexual relationship with the President, he did not propose that we have a sexual relationship, he did not offer me employment or other benefits in exchange for a sexual relationship, he did not deny me employment or other benefits for rejecting a sexual relationship.” Bennett now asked Bill Clinton, “Is that a true and accurate statement as far as you know it?”
The president seemed to listen carefully, according