Clinton Guilty of Contempt in Paula Jones Case
April 14, 1999 - 0:0
LITTLE ROCK, Arkansas In a historic ruling, a federal judge here on Monday cited President Bill Clinton for civil contempt of court for his testimony in the Paula Jones case, the court said. It was the first time a court has ever held a president in contempt of court. Judge Susan Webber Wright, who presided over the Paula Jones sexual harassment case against the president before the lawsuit was settled, said Clinton failed to testify honestly despite repeated demands.
There was no immediate reaction from the White House. During depositions for the case, Clinton was questioned in January 1998 about his relationship with former intern Monica Lewinsky with whom he denied having any sexual relations. A subsequent probe by independent counsel Kenneth Starr led Clinton to confess to an improper relationship with Lewinsky which spurred his impeachment. Clinton was later acquitted.
"The president responded to plaintiff's questions by giving false, misleading and evasive answers that were designed to obstruct the judicial process," Wright said of his deposition in the Jones case. "The president ... undermined the integrity of the judicial system," Wright's court brief said. "Sanctions must be imposed," Wright concluded. These would include Clinton paying plaintiff Jones all reasonable expenses, including attorney's fees, and reimburse the court its expenses in traveling to Washington, to preside over Clinton's "tainted deposition." The Jones case was settled in January when Clinton agreed to pay $850,000 to Jones, a former Arkansas State employee who claimed the former governor made unwanted advances to her in a Little Rock hotel room in 1991. The brief said the president had 30 days to request a hearing or file a notice of appeal on the ruling.
It was during Clinton's televized address to the nation, at the height of investigations into his scandalous affair with Lewinsky, that the court first learned the president could be in contempt. "The president acknowledged as much in his public admission that he misled people' because among other things, the questions posed to him were being asked in a politically inspired lawsuit, which has since been dismissed'," Wright added.
Republicans promptly praised the decision. "Judge Wright's decision is a long-overdue victory for the rule of law," said republican National Committee chairman Jim Nicholson Monday. (AFP)
There was no immediate reaction from the White House. During depositions for the case, Clinton was questioned in January 1998 about his relationship with former intern Monica Lewinsky with whom he denied having any sexual relations. A subsequent probe by independent counsel Kenneth Starr led Clinton to confess to an improper relationship with Lewinsky which spurred his impeachment. Clinton was later acquitted.
"The president responded to plaintiff's questions by giving false, misleading and evasive answers that were designed to obstruct the judicial process," Wright said of his deposition in the Jones case. "The president ... undermined the integrity of the judicial system," Wright's court brief said. "Sanctions must be imposed," Wright concluded. These would include Clinton paying plaintiff Jones all reasonable expenses, including attorney's fees, and reimburse the court its expenses in traveling to Washington, to preside over Clinton's "tainted deposition." The Jones case was settled in January when Clinton agreed to pay $850,000 to Jones, a former Arkansas State employee who claimed the former governor made unwanted advances to her in a Little Rock hotel room in 1991. The brief said the president had 30 days to request a hearing or file a notice of appeal on the ruling.
It was during Clinton's televized address to the nation, at the height of investigations into his scandalous affair with Lewinsky, that the court first learned the president could be in contempt. "The president acknowledged as much in his public admission that he misled people' because among other things, the questions posed to him were being asked in a politically inspired lawsuit, which has since been dismissed'," Wright added.
Republicans promptly praised the decision. "Judge Wright's decision is a long-overdue victory for the rule of law," said republican National Committee chairman Jim Nicholson Monday. (AFP)