 |
A L S O+T O D A Y
Reactions to the president's speech
T A B L E+T A L K What medicines do you take? Discuss the meaning of your medicine chest in the Science and Health area of Table Talk ___________________
Visit barnesandnoble.com for politics books on both sides of the aisle
R E C E N T L Y The war against sprawl, I The war against sprawl, II We interrupt this impeachment ...
Dear Henry
What might have been
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Browse the - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
|
 ![[ News archives: Complete coverage of the Clinton crisis ]](/news/1999/01/src/22newslinks.gif) |
|
 |
BY MOLLIE DICKENSON | As House Republican impeachment managers ponder whether their trial-witness wish list should include Kathleen Willey, the former White House volunteer who accused President Clinton of sexually harassing her, they should look closely at what Clinton-basher Linda Tripp told Kenneth Starr's grand jury about Willey's relationship with Clinton. That Tripp disputed Willey's story of presidential harassment, and insisted that Willey was happy about Clinton's alleged attentions, has been widely reported. But her deposition and grand jury testimony details the extent to which Willey schemed to receive those attentions. Tripp's testimony depicts a woman infatuated with Clinton, who regularly plotted with Tripp -- shades of Monica Lewinsky -- about how to get him to return her affection. Tripp describes scheming with Willey to help her find ways to run into Clinton in the White House, to be alone with him there and even to find a place to have a tryst. Maybe most remarkable, the testimony shows how, once again, Tripp was at the center of a plot to sexually ensnare the president. With this testimony, however, Tripp is at odds with her ally in legally ensnaring Clinton, Starr. He has indicted Willey's former friend, Julie Hiatt Steele, for changing her story and refusing to corroborate Willey's account of sexual harassment. Willey has sworn that she told Steele about an unwelcome pass Clinton made at her at the time it allegedly happened in 1993. Steele originally confirmed Willey's story to Michael Isikoff of Newsweek, but almost immediately recanted, saying that Willey had asked her to lie about the alleged encounter, and that Willey had never told her about any such incident. Steele was arraigned on Starr's four charges against her earlier this week. Tripp's sworn and unsworn accounts don't necessarily exonerate Steele. And it's not entirely good news for Clinton, who has repeatedly denied Willey's charge, including before the grand jury. Once again, he's depicted as on the make while on the job. But returning a woman's affections, as Tripp's account depicts, is a far cry from sexually harassing her. On balance, Tripp's story is a boon to the White House as it tries to defend Clinton from Starr's crusade against him. According to Tripp's sworn testimony, she first met Willey, a volunteer in the White House Comments Office, in the first days of the Clinton presidency in January 1993. Willey and her husband, Edward Willey Jr., were contributors to Clinton's campaign from Richmond, Va., and after the election Willey traveled from Richmond two days a week to volunteer at the White House. Tripp, who worked in the White House at the time, says she was struck by Willey's polish and good looks and suggested she instead volunteer in the more vital Social Office, where her attributes could be used to better advantage. Once established in the Social Office in the East Wing, Willey often visited Tripp at her desk in the West Wing, near the Oval Office, hoping to get a glimpse of Clinton. By early spring 1993, Willey admitted to Tripp that "she was flirting with the president, and that he appeared interested" in her. Much like Lewinsky, "Willey would arrange to cover evening social functions" the president attended, Tripp testified, and Willey "would wear a particular black dress which accentuated her cleavage" and high heels "to enhance her legs." She sent personal notes to Clinton through an acquaintance, Clinton aide Nancy Hernreich, some of which Tripp saw. Tripp helped edit those she thought were "a tad too flirtatious" so Hernreich wouldn't "become suspicious." They weren't seductive, Tripp had said in her earlier deposition, "merely friendly." "Willey would meet with Hernreich to be closer to the president," and would call Tripp frequently at home at night to get Clinton's "closely held" schedule so she could position herself at strategic places and times "to be seen by the president," Tripp said in her deposition. Her calls to Tripp were "always about the flirtation." Willey's marriage was shaky, said Tripp, and she was asking for a divorce. Tripp and Willey talked about where Willey and Clinton could go to have a tryst, and Tripp suggested several times to her that the Annapolis, Md., home of a Willey friend would work. They talked about how to handle the Secret Service in such a case. "In late summer 1993," testified Tripp, Willey started talking about needing a paid position. She was regularly calling Tripp at home by then, and on Nov. 28, 1993 -- the night before Willey's husband committed suicide -- Willey phoned Tripp to tell her that her husband had confessed to her and their children that he had embezzled money, and that after a fight with her he left the house. Coincidentally, after many notes to Clinton requesting a meeting, Willey had finally succeeded in getting an interview with him to talk about a job, slated for the next day. Tripp testified she saw Willey "a lot" the day of her meeting with Clinton. "A lot," she repeated. And she met Willey after the meeting, as planned, and described her as being "very excited, happy, but flustered and completely overwhelmed by the event." Tripp said her face was "flushed," and she "smiled from ear to ear." Tripp said Willey related that she told Clinton "something to the effect that she was throwing herself" on his mercy, when he suddenly kissed her forcefully. "'His tongue was down my throat'" and "'I think I kissed him back,'" Tripp quoted Willey as saying. "His hands were all over her backside," and "he put her hand on his penis," Tripp claimed Willey told her. That night Willey and Tripp "discussed whether Willey would be a girlfriend of the president," said Tripp. Unknown to all involved, Edward Willey Jr. had committed suicide that day, Nov. 29, the day a $274,000 note was due. His body was found the following day. Kathleen Willey has been fighting lawsuits from his creditors ever since. N E X T+P A G E+| The next Judith Campbell Exner? - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Become a Salon member. Click here. |
|
LINDA TRIPP COULD HELP JULIE HIATT STEELE -- AND PRESIDENT CLINTON -- REFUTE KATHLEEN WILLEY'S CHARGES.