D. December 31: Breakfast with Vernon Jordan Ms. Lewinsky testified that in late December 1997 she realized that she needed to "come up with some sort of strategy as to [what to do] if Linda Tripp" divulged what she knew.(906) On December 30, Ms. Lewinsky telephoned Mr. Jordan's office and conveyed either directly to him or through one of his secretaries that she was concerned about the Jones case.(907) The following day, Ms. Lewinsky and Mr. Jordan had breakfast together at the Park Hyatt Hotel.(908) According to Ms. Lewinsky, she told Mr. Jordan that a friend of hers, Linda Tripp, was involved in the Jones case. She told Mr. Jordan: "I used to trust [Ms. Tripp], but I didn't trust her any more."(909) Ms. Lewinsky said that Ms. Tripp might have seen some notes in her apartment. Mr. Jordan asked: "Notes from the President to you?" Ms. Lewinsky responded: "No, notes from me to the President." According to Ms. Lewinsky, Mr. Jordan said: "Go home and make sure they're not there." Ms. Lewinsky testified that she understood that Mr. Jordan was advising her to "throw . . . away" any copies or drafts of notes that she had sent to the President.(910) After breakfast, Mr. Jordan gave Ms. Lewinsky a ride back to his office.(911) When Ms. Lewinsky returned home to her apartment that day, she discarded approximately 50 draft notes to the President.(912) E. January 4: The Final Gift On Sunday, January 4, 1998, Ms. Lewinsky called Ms. Currie at home and told her that she wanted to drop off a gift for the President.(913) Ms. Currie invited Ms. Lewinsky to her home, and Ms. Lewinsky gave her the package.(914) The package contained a book entitled The Presidents of the United States and a love note inspired by the movie Titanic.(915) XIII. January 5-January 16, 1998: The Affidavit On January 5, 1998, Ms. Lewinsky's attorney, Francis Carter, drafted an affidavit for Ms. Lewinsky in an attempt to avert her deposition. She spoke with the President that evening. On January 6, Ms. Lewinsky talked to Mr. Jordan about the affidavit, which denied any sexual relations between her and the President. On January 7, Ms. Lewinsky signed the affidavit. On January 8, she interviewed for a job in New York City. After the interview went poorly, Mr. Jordan placed a phone call to the company's chairman on her behalf, and Ms. Lewinsky was given a second interview. The following week, after Ms. Lewinsky told Ms. Currie that she would need a reference from the White House, the President asked Chief of Staff Erskine Bowles to arrange one. A. January 5: Francis Carter Meeting At 3:00 p.m. on Monday, January 5, 1998, Ms. Lewinsky met with Mr. Carter at his office for approximately one hour.(916) Ms. Lewinsky testified that Mr. Carter described what a deposition was like and "threw out a bunch of different questions."(917) The questions that most concerned her related to the circumstances of her departure from the White House.(918) Mr. Carter told Ms. Lewinsky that he would draft an affidavit for her to sign in hopes of averting her deposition. They arranged for Ms. Lewinsky to pick up a draft of the affidavit the next day.(919) B. January 5: Call from the President After her meeting with Mr. Carter, Ms. Lewinsky sent word via Ms. Currie that she needed to speak to the President about an important matter.(920) Specifically, Ms. Lewinsky told Ms. Currie she was anxious about something she needed to sign.(921) A few hours later, according to Ms. Lewinsky, the President returned her call.(922) She mentioned an affidavit she would be signing and asked if he wanted to see it. According to Ms. Lewinsky, the President responded that he did not, as he had already seen about fifteen others.(923) Ms. Lewinsky testified that she told the President that she was troubled by potential questions about her transfer from the White House to the Pentagon. She was concerned that "people at the White House who didn't like [her]" might contradict her and "get [her] in trouble."(924) The President, according to Ms. Lewinsky, advised her: "[Y]ou could always say that the people in Legislative Affairs got it [the Pentagon job] for you or helped you get it."(925) The President acknowledged in the grand jury that he was aware that Ms. Lewinsky had signed an affidavit in early January, but had no specific recollection of a conversation with her in that time period.(926) He testified that he did not recall telling Ms. Lewinsky that she could say, if asked, that persons in the Legislative Affairs Office of the White House had helped her obtain the job at the Pentagon.(927) According to Ms. Lewinsky, she and the President also briefly discussed an antique book that she had dropped off with Ms. Currie the day before. With the book, she enclosed a letter telling the President that she wanted to have sexual intercourse with him at least once.(928) In their phone conversation, Ms. Lewinsky told the President, "I shouldn't have written some of those things in the note."(929) She testified that the President agreed.(930) Although the President had testified in the Jones case that any personal messages from Ms. Lewinsky to him had been "unremarkable," he told the grand jury that he had received "quite affectionate" messages from Ms. Lewinsky, even after their intimate relationship ended.(931) The President testified that he cautioned Ms. Lewinsky about such messages: "I remember telling her she should be careful what she wrote, because a lot of it was clearly inappropriate and would be embarrassing if somebody else read it. I don't remember when I said that. I don't remember whether it was in '96 or when it was."(932) The President did remember the antique book Ms. Lewinsky had given him, but said he did not recall a romantic note enclosed with it.(933) C. January 6: The Draft Affidavit According to Ms. Lewinsky, in the afternoon of January 6, 1998, she visited Mr. Carter's office and picked up a draft of the affidavit.(934) Later that day, according to Ms. Lewinsky, she and Mr. Jordan discussed the draft by telephone.(936) Ms. Lewinsky testified that having Mr. Jordan review the affidavit was like getting it "blessed" by the President.(937) Ms. Lewinsky testified that she told Mr. Jordan that she was worried about a sentence that implied that she had been alone with the President and thus might incline Paula Jones's attorneys to question her.(938) She eventually deleted it.(939) In addition, Paragraph 8 of the draft affidavit provided in part: I have never had a sexual relationship with the President. . . . The occasions that I saw the President, with crowds of other people, after I left my employment at the White House in April, 1996 related to official receptions, formal functions or events related to the U.S. Department of Defense, where I was working at the time.(941) Deeming the reference to "crowds" "too far out of the realm of possibility,"(942) Ms. Lewinsky deleted the underscored phrase and wrote the following sentence at the end of this paragraph: "There were other people present on all of these occasions."(943) She discussed this proposed sentence, as well as her general anxiety about Paragraph 8, with Mr. Jordan.(944) When questioned in the grand jury, Mr. Jordan acknowledged that Ms. Lewinsky called him with concerns about the affidavit,(945) but maintained that he told her to speak with her attorney.(946) Phone records for January 6 show that Mr. Jordan had a number of contacts with Ms. Lewinsky, the President, and Mr. Carter. Less than thirty minutes after Mr. Jordan spoke by phone to Ms. Lewinsky, he talked with the President for thirteen minutes. Immediately after this call, at 4:33 p.m., Mr. Jordan called Mr. Carter. Less than an hour later, Mr. Jordan placed a four-minute call to the main White House number. Over the course of the day, Mr. Jordan called a White House number twice, Ms. Lewinsky three times, and Mr. Carter four times.(947) Mr. Carter testified that his phone conversations with Mr. Jordan this day and the next "likely" related to Ms. Lewinsky and his litigation strategy for her.(948) In fact, Mr. Carter billed Ms. Lewinsky for time for "[t]elephone conference with Atty Jordan."(949) When questioned in the grand jury, Mr. Jordan testified that he could not specifically remember the January 6 calls. He said he "assumed" that he talked with Ms. Lewinsky about her job search, and he believed that he called Mr. Carter to see "how he was dealing with this highly emotional lady."(950) He said that he might have talked with the President about Ms. Lewinsky, but he maintained that "there [was] no connection" between his 13-minute conversation with the President and the call he placed immediately thereafter to Mr. Carter.(951) D. January 7: Ms. Lewinsky Signs Affidavit Ms. Lewinsky set an appointment with Mr. Carter to finalize the affidavit for 10 a.m. on January 7, 1998.(952) She signed the affidavit; however, she acknowledged in the grand jury that statements in it were false.(953) Mr. Carter indicated to her that he "intend[ed] to hold onto this until after I talk to plaintiff's lawyers." He told her to "keep in touch," and said: "Good luck on your job search."(956) According to Mr. Jordan, Ms. Lewinsky came to his office on January 7 and showed him the signed affidavit.(957) Over the course of the day, Mr. Jordan placed three calls of significant duration to the White House.(958) He testified: "I knew the President was concerned about the affidavit and whether it was signed or not."(959) When asked whether the President understood that the affidavit denied a sexual relationship, Mr. Jordan testified: "I think that's a reasonable assumption."(960) According to Mr. Jordan, when he informed the President that Ms. Lewinsky had signed the affidavit, the President said, "Fine, good."(961) Mr. Jordan said he was continuing to work on her job, and the President responded, "Good."(962) Ten days after this conversation, in the Jones deposition, President Clinton was asked whether he knew that Ms. Lewinsky had met with Vernon Jordan and talked about the Jones case. He answered: I knew he met with her. I think Betty suggested that he meet with her. Anyway, he met with her. I, I thought that he talked to her about something else. I didn't know that -- I thought he had given her some advice about her move to New York. Seems like that's what Betty said. <963> Continue
