Death of American Virtue - Ken Gormley [321]
There were a number of other surprises awaiting the grand jury. Much of Catherine Davis’s day-long session in the grand jury turned out to be unexpectedly touching. She read from cards and e-mails swapped between herself and Monica, chronicling the ups and downs of Monica’s romance with Clinton, and Davis’s own efforts to protect her friend from an emotional train wreck. Even though OIC may not have intended to generate sympathy for Monica by calling this witness, the grand jury soon learned that Monica, barely over twenty, had been hopelessly love-struck.
In one card mailed in May 1997, Lewinsky had written to her friend: “Dear Catherine: I miss you so much. It was wonderful to hear your voice the other day.” She continued half hopefully: “Well, it’s Sunday. I might get to see the Big Creep today. He called yesterday and said he’s going to see if Betty can come in so I can go there. It seems that he is really trying to get me back there. Who knows?”
In another e-mail sent to Japan in late summer, Monica had divulged that she had given “the Creep” a “mushy romance” novel titled The Notebook before he left for vacation to Martha’s Vineyard. It had been a gesture of sentiment because the president had given her a copy of Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman—it was referenced in this novel. Monica told her friend that “Handsome” seemed to appreciate this “neat and sweet” present. The intern had only offhandedly asked the president “if he could bring me a Black Dog T-shirt” from a trendy tavern in Martha’s Vineyard. The e-mail went on to tell Davis: “Well, I found out from Betty yesterday that he not only bought me a T-shirt, he got me two T-shirts, a hat, and a dress. Even though he’s a big schmuck, that is surprisingly sweet, even that he remembered.”
Davis occasionally joined in the electronic gossip, telling her pal in Washington: “The President is looking pretty good on the telly lately, quite fit and slim.” Yet Davis was a pragmatist when it came to matters of men and happily-ever-after relationships; she was increasingly worried that this emotional roller coaster might fly off the track and hurt Monica. After one e-mail in which Monica had despaired that “the Creep” was becoming more distant and removed, Davis shot back a response, telling her college friend bluntly:
I cannot say I am surprised that this whole situation has taken its toll on you. I’m sure it has for a while now. If I may be so bold to state my unequivocal opinion, I think your “situation” is a lose-lose situation with him. He cannot ever totally be yours, Monica, ever.
I’m sorry any of this has or will hurt you, but I think you are really better off emotionally and professionally getting out now. I hope your experience with him will not jade you to other men. I know you thought he was pretty awesome, and he sure holds a damn successful position [understatement], but he is still human and still flawed like all the rest of them.
Personally, I think the best guys in the world are the low-key kind who care more about watching a movie at home and taking care of you than of going to expensive sushi bars and showing you off.
Not only did Catherine Davis’s testimony build sympathy for Monica among the attentive grand jurors, but it also partially undermined the Starr prosecutors’ cause. Under tag-team questioning by Wirth and Wisenberg, Davis insisted that Monica had said very little about being subpoenaed in the Paula Jones case and even less about drafting the affidavit denying an affair with Clinton. Nor was Davis aware of any grand plan by the White House to suborn perjury. She knew that Monica