XII. December 19, 1997 - January 4, 1998: The Subpoena Ms. Lewinsky was served with a subpoena in the Jones case on Friday, December 19. She immediately called Mr. Jordan, and he invited her to his office. Mr. Jordan spoke with the President that afternoon and again that evening. He told the President that he had met with Ms. Lewinsky, that she had been subpoenaed, and that he planned to obtain an attorney for her. On Sunday, December 28, the President met with Ms. Lewinsky, who expressed concern about the subpoena's demand for the gifts he had given her. Later that day, Ms. Currie drove to Ms. Lewinsky's apartment and collected a box containing some of the subpoenaed gifts. Ms. Currie took the box home and hid it under her bed. A. December 19: Ms. Lewinsky Is Subpoenaed On Friday, December 19, 1997, sometime between 3:00 p.m. and 4:00 p.m., Ms. Lewinsky was served with a subpoena at her Pentagon office.(810) The subpoena commanded her to appear for a deposition in Washington, D.C., at 9:30 a.m. on January 23, 1998.(811) The subpoena also required the production of certain documents and gifts. Among the items that Ms. Lewinsky was required to produce were "each and every gift including, but not limited to, any and all dresses, accessories, and jewelry, and/or hat pins given to you by, or on behalf of, Defendant Clinton," as well as "[e]very document constituting or containing communications between you and Defendant Clinton, including letters, cards, notes, memoranda, and all telephone records."(812) Ms. Lewinsky testified that, after being served with the subpoena, she "burst into tears," and then telephoned Mr. Jordan from a pay phone at the Pentagon.(813) Mr. Jordan confirmed Ms. Lewinsky's account; he said he tried to reassure Ms. Lewinsky: "[C]ome and talk to me and I will see what I can do about finding you counsel."(814) According to records maintained by Mr. Jordan's law firm, Ms. Lewinsky arrived at his office at 4:47 p.m.(815) White House phone records show that, at 4:57 p.m., the President telephoned Mr. Jordan; the two men spoke from 5:01 p.m. to 5:05 p.m.(816) At 5:06 p.m., Mr. Jordan placed a two- minute call to a Washington, D.C., attorney named Francis Carter.(817) Ms. Lewinsky and Mr. Jordan gave somewhat different accounts of their meeting that day. According to Ms. Lewinsky, shortly after her arrival, Mr. Jordan received a phone call, and she stepped out of his office. A few minutes later, Ms. Lewinsky was invited back in, and Mr. Jordan called Mr. Carter.(819) Mr. Jordan testified that he spoke to the President before Ms. Lewinsky ever entered his office.(820) He told the President: "Monica Lewinsky called me up. She's upset. She's gotten a subpoena. She is coming to see me about this subpoena. I'm confident that she needs a lawyer, and I will try to get her a lawyer."(821) Mr. Jordan told the President that the lawyer he had in mind was Francis Carter.(822) According to Mr. Jordan, the President asked him: "You think he's a good lawyer?" Mr. Jordan responded that he was.(823) Mr. Jordan testified that informing the President of Ms. Lewinsky's subpoena "was the purpose of [his] call."(824) According to Mr. Jordan, when Ms. Lewinsky entered his office, "[H]er emotional state was obviously one of dishevelment and she was quite upset. She was crying. She was -- she was highly emotional, to say the least."(825) She showed him the subpoena as soon as she entered.(826) Ms. Lewinsky also testified that she discussed the subpoena with Mr. Jordan.(827) She told him that she found the specific reference to a hat pin alarming -- how could the Jones's attorneys have known about it?(828) Mr. Jordan told her it was "a standard subpoena."(829) When he indicated to Ms. Lewinsky that he would be seeing the President that night, Ms. Lewinsky told him "to please make sure that he told the President" about her subpoena.(830) At some point, according to Mr. Jordan, Ms. Lewinsky asked him about the future of the Clintons' marriage.(831) Because Ms. Lewinsky seemed "mesmerized" by President Clinton,(832) he "asked her directly had there been any sexual relationship between [her] and the President."(833) Mr. Jordan explained, "You didn't have to be Einstein to know that that was a question that had to be asked by me at that particular time, because heretofore this discussion was about a job. The subpoena changed the circumstances."(834) Ms. Lewinsky said she had not had a sexual relationship with the President.(835) Ms. Lewinsky testified, however, that at this time she assumed that Mr. Jordan knew "with a wink and a nod that [she] was having a relationship with the President."(836) She therefore interpreted Mr. Jordan's questions as "What are you going to say?" rather than "What are the [actual] answers . . .?"(837) When the meeting ended, she "asked [Mr. Jordan] if he would give the President a hug."(838) That evening, Mr. Jordan visited the President at the White House. According to Mr. Jordan, the two met alone in the Residence and talked for about ten minutes.(839) He testified: I told him that Monica Lewinsky had been subpoenaed, came to me with a subpoena. I told him that I was concerned by her fascination, her being taken with him. I told him how emotional she was about having gotten the subpoena. I told him what she said to me about whether or not he was going to leave the First Lady at the end of the term.(840) Mr. Jordan asked the President "[t]he one question that I wanted answered."(841) That question was, "Mr. President, have you had sexual relations with Monica Lewinsky?" The President told Mr. Jordan, "No, never."(842) Mr. Jordan told the President: "I'm trying to help her get a job and I'm going to continue to do that. I'm going to get her counsel and I'm going to try to be helpful to her as much as I possibly can, both with the lawyer, and I've already done what I could about the job, and I think you ought to know that."(843) Mr. Jordan testified: "He thanked me for telling him. Thanked me for my efforts to get her a job and thanked me for getting her a lawyer."(844) In his grand jury testimony, the President recalled that he met with Mr. Jordan on December 19; however, he testified that his memory of that meeting was somewhat vague: I do not remember exactly what the nature of the conversation was. I do remember that I told him that there was no sexual relationship between me and Monica Lewinsky, which was true. And that -- then all I remember for the rest is that he said he had referred her to a lawyer, and I believe it was Mr. Carter.(845) Asked whether he recalled that Mr. Jordan told him that Ms. Lewinsky appeared fixated on him and hoped that he would leave Mrs. Clinton, the President testified: "I recall him saying he thought that she was upset with -- somewhat fixated on me, that she acknowledged that she was not having a sexual relationship with me, and that she did not want to be [brought] into that Jones lawsuit."(846) B. December 22: Meeting with Vernon Jordan Mr. Jordan arranged for Ms. Lewinsky to meet with attorney Francis Carter at 11:00 a.m. on Monday, December 22.(847) On that morning, according to Ms. Lewinsky, she called Mr. Jordan and asked to meet before they went to Mr. Carter's office.(848) She testified: "I was a little concerned. I thought maybe [Mr. Jordan] didn't really understand . . . what it was that was happening here with me being subpoenaed and what this really meant."(849) She also wanted to find out whether he had in fact told the President of her subpoena. Mr. Jordan said that he had.(850) Ms. Lewinsky also told Mr. Jordan that she was worried that someone might have been eavesdropping on her telephone conversations with the President.(851) When Mr. Jordan asked why she thought that would be of concern, Ms. Lewinsky said, "Well, we've had phone sex."(852) Ms. Lewinsky testified that she brought some of her gifts from the President, showed them to Mr. Jordan, and implied that these items were not all of the gifts that the President had given her.(853) Mr. Jordan, in contrast, testified that Ms. Lewinsky never showed him any gifts from the President.(854) Continue
