D. The President Creates Options At some point around this time in the fall of 1997, Ms. Currie asked John Podesta, the Deputy Chief of Staff, to help Ms. Lewinsky find a job in New York.(624) Mr. Podesta testified that, during a Presidential trip to Latin America, he approached then-U.N. Ambassador William Richardson while aboard Air Force One and asked the Ambassador to consider a former White House intern for a position at the U.N.(626) At the time, Mr. Podesta could not recall the intern's name.(627) Ambassador Richardson and the President both testified that they never discussed Ms. Lewinsky with each other.(628) Ambassador Richardson returned from Latin America on Sunday, October 19.(629) Within a few days, his Executive Assistant, Isabelle Watkins, called Mr. Podesta's secretary and asked whether "she knew anything about a resume that John was going to send us."(630) Mr. Podesta's secretary knew nothing about it and asked Mr. Podesta what to do; he instructed her to call Ms. Currie.(631) At 3:09 p.m. on October 21, Ms. Currie faxed Ms. Lewinsky's resume to the United Nations.(632) At 7:01 p.m., a six-minute call was placed to Ms. Lewinsky's apartment from a U.N. telephone number identified in State Department records as "Ambassador Richardson's line."(633) Ms. Lewinsky testified that she spoke to Ambassador Richardson. A woman called, Ms. Lewinsky testified, and said, "[H]old for Ambassador Richardson."(634) Then the Ambassador himself came on the line: "I remember, because I was shocked and I was . . . very nervous."(635) The purpose of the call was to schedule a job interview at a Watergate apartment the following week.(636) At odds with Ms. Lewinsky, the Ambassador and Ms. Watkins both testified that Ms. Watkins, not the Ambassador, spoke with Ms. Lewinsky.(637) A few days later, according to Ms. Lewinsky, the President called her. She had been upset because no one at the White House had prepared her for the Ambassador's recent call and because she did not want the White House to railroad her into taking the U.N. job.(638) She reiterated that she was eager to pursue other opportunities, especially in the private sector.(639) The President reassured her, promising that a U.N. position was just one of many options.(640) Ms. Lewinsky spoke to the President again one week later. Ms. Lewinsky testified that she told Ms. Currie to ask the President to call her to assuage her nervousness before the U.N. interview.(641) According to Ms. Lewinsky, on October 30, the night before the interview, the President did call. She characterized the conversation as a "pep talk": "[H]e was trying to kind of build my confidence and reassure me."(642) The President told her to call Ms. Currie after the interview.(644) In his Jones deposition, the President indicated that he learned of her interview with Ambassador Richardson not from Ms. Lewinsky herself but from Ms. Currie.(645) E. The U.N. Interview and Job Offer On Friday morning, October 31, Ambassador Richardson and two of his assistants, Mona Sutphen and Rebecca Cooper, interviewed Ms. Lewinsky at the Watergate.(646) According to Ambassador Richardson, he "listen[ed] while Mona and Rebecca were interviewing her."(647) Neither Ambassador Richardson nor any of his staff made inquiries, before or after the interview, about Ms. Lewinsky's prior work performance.(648) On Sunday, November 2, Ms. Lewinsky drafted a letter to Ms. Currie asking what to do in the event she received an offer from the U.N.(649) She wrote: I became a bit nervous this weekend when I realized that Amb. Richardson said his staff would be in touch with me this week. As you know, the UN is supposed to be my back-up, but because VJ [Vernon Jordan] has been out of town, this is my only option right now. What should I say to Richardson's people this week when they call?(650) Ms. Lewinsky asked Ms. Currie to speak to the President about her problem: "If you feel it's appropriate, maybe you could ask 'the big guy' what he wants me to do. Ahhhhh . . . anxiety!!!!!"(651) Ms. Lewinsky also mentioned the President's promise to involve Vernon Jordan in her job search: I don't think I told you that in my conversation last Thursday night with him that he said that he would ask you to set up a meeting between VJ and myself, once VJ got back. I assume he'll mention this to you at some point -- hopefully sooner rather than later!(652) Before Ms. Lewinsky sent this letter, in her recollection, she received an offer from the U.N.(653) Phone records reflect that, at 11:02 a.m. on November 3, a three-minute call was placed to Ms. Lewinsky from the U.N. line identified in State Department records as Ambassador Richardson's.(654) Ms. Lewinsky stated that she believes she spoke to Ambassador Richardson, who extended her a job offer.(655) According to his assistant, Ambassador Richardson made the decision to hire Ms. Lewinsky. Ms. Sutphen testified: I said, are you sure; and he said, yeah, yeah, I'm sure, why. And I said . . . are you sure, though you don't want to talk to anyone else . . . . And he said, no, no, I think it's fine; why don't you go ahead and give her an offer?(656) Ambassador Richardson and Ms. Sutphen both testified that Ms. Sutphen, not the Ambassador, extended the job offer to Ms. Lewinsky. They recalled that the offer was made a week or 10 days after the interview, though Ms. Sutphen, when shown the phone records, testified that the November 3 call to Ms. Lewinsky probably was the job offer.(657) Ms. Lewinsky testified that she told Ms. Currie about the offer and she probably also told the President directly.(658) Ms. Currie first testified that she had "probably" told the President about Ms. Lewinsky's U.N. offer, then testified that she had in fact told him, then testified that she could not remember, though she acknowledged that the President was interested in Ms. Lewinsky's getting a job.(659) When the President was asked in the Jones deposition whether he knew that Ms. Lewinsky had received the offer of a job at the U.N., he testified: "I know that she interviewed for one. I don't know if she was offered one or not."(660) F. The U.N. Job Offer Declined Three weeks after she received an offer, on November 24, Ms. Lewinsky called Ms. Sutphen and asked for more time to consider the offer because she wanted to pursue possibilities in the private sector.(661) Ms. Sutphen told Ambassador Richardson, who, according to Ms. Sutphen, said the delay would be fine.(662) Over a month later, on January 5, 1998, Ms. Lewinsky finally turned down the job.(663) Continue
