Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, May 4, 1994 TAG: 9405040148
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A1 EDITION: STATE
SOURCE: Cox News Service Note: below
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium
The office of Jones' attorney said she would allege in U.S. District Court in Little Rock on Thursday that Bill Clinton, as governor of Arkansas, pressed her for sexual favors while she was at her state job three years ago.
Although Clinton has successfully weathered a deluge of published reports of extramarital affairs in the past, the Jones case could pose a more serious problem because it alleges sexual harassment, not a consensual relationship.
``That's a civil wrong, which is punishable,'' says John Banzhaf, professor of public interest law at George Washington University. ``Here, you're talking about a legal action.''
As evidence of concern at the White House, the president has hired Robert Bennett, one of Washington's top criminal lawyers, to bolster his defense team in anticipation of the Jones lawsuit.
Bennett's famous clients include Rep. Dan Rostenkowski, D-Ill., who is under investigation for financial misconduct, and former Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger, who was under fire in the Iran-Contra scandal.
Clinton has said he does not know his accuser, and White House aides have dismissed her story as untrue. But an airing of the allegations and testimony would be awkward at best for his administration.
Jones and her Arkansas lawyer, Daniel Traylor, would almost certainly seek sworn testimony from the president. Arkansas state troopers, who have said in interviews that Clinton used them to set up liaisons with women, could be brought into court and questioned under oath.
Unless Clinton's lawyers can quash the lawsuit in its early stages, the plaintiff would have ``the tremendous power of the law to establish something that would be very politically damaging,'' said Banzhaf.
Coverage of Jones' charges, which has been scant in the U.S. news media, would be intense if there were a torrid courtroom drama.
Jones first leveled her charges in February, when she said that a state trooper had summoned her from her work during a convention at Little Rock's Excelsior Hotel. She said the trooper asked her to meet with Clinton, who then made repeated advances despite her rebuffs.
Relating her story with more specifics last month on a cable TV program sponsored by the conservative Accuracy in Media group, Jones said that Clinton put his hand up her leg, tried to kiss her, and then removed his trousers and asked her for oral sex.
Jones, who is now married and living with her husband and new child in an undisclosed location in California, said last month: ``I want everyone to know that I was not a willing participant. I was very shocked at what happened. And I was very humiliated and embarrassed.''
Her charges have also created some difficulties for the feminist community, which has made sexual harassment a major issue in recent years but also shares Clinton's views on many issues, from abortion rights to appointing women.
National women's groups spoke out forcefully when Anita Hill made sexual harassment charges against Supreme Court nominee and now Justice Clarence Thomas. But they've been standoffish on Jones.
``I'm certainly skeptical of the motivation of the people who are pumping this story,'' said Patricia Ireland, president of the National Organization for Women. She said that she was concerned that the political right wing, which has adopted Jones' case as their cause, might ``manipulate'' Jones.
``I think it's been part of a concerted campaign to attack Bill Clinton, in fact to try to bring down Bill Clinton,'' she said.
The NOW president added of Jones, ``If she is telling the truth, then she deserves to have her day in court.''
Memo: shorter version ran in the Metro edition.