XIV. January 17, 1998-Present: The Deposition and Afterward The President was asked a number of questions about Ms. Lewinsky during his January 17, 1998, deposition in the Jones case. In sworn testimony, the President denied having a sexual affair or sexual relations with her. That evening, the President called Ms. Currie and asked her to meet him the following day to discuss Ms. Lewinsky. After allegations that the President had an affair with a White House intern became public, the President emphatically denied the reports to aides and to the American public. A. January 17: The Deposition On Saturday, January 17, 1998, the President testified under oath at a deposition in the Jones case.(1028) Judge Susan Webber Wright traveled from Little Rock, Arkansas, to preside at the deposition in Washington, D.C.(1029) Prior to any questions, Judge Wright reminded the parties about her standing Protective Order. She specifically stated: "[I]f anyone reveals anything whatsoever about this deposition, . . . it will be in violation of the Protective Order. This includes the questions that were asked, . . . You may acknowledge that [the deposition] took place, but that is it."(1030) Judge Wright accepted the following definition of the term "sexual relations:" For the purposes of this deposition, a person engages in "sexual relations" when the person knowingly engages in or causes . . . contact with the genitalia, anus, groin, breast, inner thigh, or buttocks of any person with an intent to arouse or gratify the sexual desire of any person . . . . "Contact" means intentional touching, either directly or through clothing.(1031) After the President had answered a few questions about Ms. Lewinsky, his attorney, Robert Bennett, urged Judge Wright to limit further inquiries. Mr. Bennett stated that Ms. Lewinsky had executed an affidavit "saying that there is absolutely no sex of any kind of any manner, shape or form, with President Clinton."(1032) When Judge Wright cautioned Mr. Bennett not to make remarks that "could be arguably coaching the witness," Mr. Bennett represented to Judge Wright: "In preparation of the witness for this deposition, the witness is fully aware of Ms. Lewinsky's affidavit, so I have not told him a single thing he doesn't know . . . ."(1033) President Clinton, who was present when Mr. Bennett made his objection, did not contradict his attorney's comment. Rejecting Mr. Bennett's argument, Judge Wright permitted the questioning about Ms. Lewinsky to continue.(1034) Over the course of extensive questioning, the President testified that he had seen Ms. Lewinsky "on two or three occasions" during the government shutdown in the fall of 1995, including one occasion when she brought pizza to him, and one or two other occasions when she delivered documents to him.(1035) He could not recall whether he had been alone with Ms. Lewinsky on such occasions, although he acknowledged that it was possible.(1036) The President further testified that he could not remember the subject of any conversations with Ms. Lewinsky.(1037) President Clinton recalled that he received only a couple of unremarkable personal messages from Ms. Lewinsky, and he could not recall ever having received a cassette tape from her.(1038) He received presents from her "[o]nce or twice" -- a book or two and a tie.(1039) The President originally testified that he could not recall any gifts he might have given her; later in the deposition, however, he remembered that some merchandise he had purchased from a Martha's Vineyard restaurant might have reached her through Ms. Currie.(1040) The President stated that he might have given Ms. Lewinsky a hat pin, though he could not recall for certain.(1041) The President testified that his last conversation with Ms. Lewinsky had been before Christmas, when she had visited the White House to see Ms. Currie. The President stated: "I stuck my head out, said hello to her."(1042) He said it was also possible that, during that encounter, he had joked with Ms. Lewinsky that the plaintiff's attorneys were going to subpoena "every woman I ever talked to" and Ms. Lewinsky "would qualify."(1043) The President testified that he was unaware that Mr. Jordan had talked with Ms. Lewinsky about the Jones case, in which she had also been subpoenaed to testify at a deposition.(1044) The President emphatically denied having had sexual relations with Ms. Lewinsky.(1045) At the conclusion of the deposition, Judge Wright said: "Before [the President] leaves, I want to remind him, as the witness in this matter, and everyone else in the room, that this case is subject to a Protective Order regarding all discovery, . . . and . . . all parties present, including . . . the witness are not to say anything whatsoever about the questions they were asked, the substance of the deposition, . . . any details, . . . and this is extremely important to this Court."(1046) Sometime after the President's deposition, Mr. Podesta saw Bruce Lindsey, Deputy White House Counsel, at the White House and inquired how the deposition went. According to Mr. Podesta, Mr. Lindsey said that the President had been asked about Monica Lewinsky.(1047) Mr. Lindsey testified that, during a break in the President's deposition, the President had told him that Ms. Lewinsky's name had come up.(1048) That same evening, Mr. Lindsey met with the President in the Oval Office, where they discussed the deposition.(1049) Mr. Lindsey, relying on the attorney-client, presidential communication, deliberative process, and work-product privileges, declined to say what specifically was discussed at this meeting. B. The President Meets with Ms. Currie Soon after the deposition, the President called Ms. Currie and asked her to come to the White House the next day.(1050) Ms. Currie acknowledged that, "It's rare for [the President] to ask me to come in on Sunday."(1051) The President wanted to discuss Ms. Lewinsky's White House visits.(1052) At approximately 5:00 p.m. on Sunday, January 18, 1998, Ms. Currie met with the President.(1053) The meeting took place at her desk outside the Oval Office. According to Ms. Currie, the President appeared "concerned."(1054) He told Ms. Currie that, during his deposition the previous day, he had been asked questions about Monica Lewinsky.(1055) Ms. Currie testified: "I think he said, 'There are several things you may want to know.'"(1056) He proceeded to make a series of statements,(1057) one right after the other:(1058) * "You were always there when she was there, right?" * "We were never really alone." * "Monica [Lewinsky] came on to me, and I never touched her, right?" * "You can see and hear everything, right?"(1059) Ms. Currie testified that, based on his demeanor and the way he made the statements, the President wanted her to agree with them.(1060) Ms. Currie testified that she did, in fact, agree with the President when he said, "You were always there when she was there, right?"(1063) Before the grand jury, however, Ms. Currie acknowledged the possibility that Ms. Lewinsky could have visited the President when she was not at the White House.(1064) With respect to whether the President was "never really alone" with Ms. Lewinsky, Ms. Currie testified that there were several occasions when the President and Ms. Lewinsky were either in the Oval Office or in the study without anyone else present.(1065) Ms. Currie explained that she did not consider the President and Ms. Lewinsky to be "alone" on such occasions because she was at her desk outside the Oval Office; accordingly, they were all together in the same "general area."(1066) Ms. Currie testified that "the President, for all intents and purposes, is never alone. There's always somebody around him."(1067) As to whether Ms. Lewinsky "came on" to him, Ms. Currie testified that she "would have no reason to know" whether Ms. Lewinsky ever "came on" to the President because Ms. Currie was not present all the time.(1068) Finally, as to whether she "could see and hear everything," Ms. Currie testified that she should not have agreed with the President.(1069) She testified that when the President and Ms. Lewinsky were alone together in the study, while Ms. Currie was at her desk, she could "hear nothing."(1070) The President also made the following statement during their January 18, 1998 meeting, according to Ms. Currie: "[Monica Lewinsky] wanted to have sex with me, but I told her I couldn't do that."(1071) When the President was questioned about this meeting with Ms. Currie in the grand jury, he testified that he recalled the conversation, but he denied that he was "trying to get Betty Currie to say something that was untruthful."(1072) Rather, the President testified that he asked a "series of questions" in an effort to quickly "refresh [his] memory."(1073) The President explained: "I wanted to establish . . . that Betty was there at all other times in the complex, and I wanted to know what Betty's memory was about what she heard, what she could hear . . . . [a]nd I was trying to figure [it] out . . . in a hurry because I knew something was up."(1074) In his grand jury testimony, the President acknowledged that, "in fairness," Ms. Currie "may have felt some ambivalence about how to react" to his statements.(1075) The President maintained that he was trying to establish that Ms. Currie was "always there," and could see and hear everything.(1076) At the same time, he acknowledged that he had always tried to prevent Ms. Currie from learning about his relationship with Ms. Lewinsky.(1077) "[I] did what people do when they do the wrong thing. I tried to do it where nobody else was looking at it."(1078) The President was also asked about his statement that Ms. Currie was always in the Oval Office when Ms. Lewinsky visited. He explained that he may have intended the term "Oval Office" to include the entire Oval Office complex.(1079) The President further explained, "I was talking about 1997. I was never, ever trying to get Betty Currie to claim that on the occasions when Monica Lewinsky was there when she wasn't anywhere around, that she was."(1080) When asked whether he restricted his remarks to the year 1997, the President responded, "Well, I don't recall whether I did or not, but . . . I assumed [Ms. Currie] knew what I was talking about."(1081) Continue
