Kendall: Clinton Will Tell The Truth
Sources: Clinton will likely acknowledge inappropriate relationship with Lewinsky
From CNN White House Correspondents Wolf Blitzer and John King
WASHINGTON (AllPolitics, Aug. 16) -- President Bill Clinton's lead private attorney, David Kendall, said Sunday that the president would tell nothing but the truth during Monday's grand jury questioning about Clinton's relationship with former White House intern Monica Lewinsky.
"There is apparently an enormous amount of groundless speculation about the president's testimony tomorrow," Kendall said in a formal statement.
"The truth is the truth -- period. And that is how the president will testify," Kendall's rare public statement said, without elaborating.
Clinton was likely to acknowledge that he had an inappropriate relationship with Lewinsky during Monday's testimony, according to sources speaking to CNN.
Clinton was meeting again Sunday with his legal team to finalize his testimony strategy. He had already spent five hours with his legal team Saturday, discussing how to respond to Independent Counsel Ken Starr's prosecutors probing his relationship with Lewinsky and whether Clinton urged her to lie about it.
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CNN's Eileen O'Connor reports the latest on Clinton's testimony
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CNN's Wolf Blitzer Reports
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President reportedly 'anguishing'
Among those present at Saturday's sessions were Kendall, partner Nicole Seligman, former Commerce Secretary Mickey Kantor and White House Counsel Charles Ruff. Kendall met Clinton before breakfast Sunday.
While one close presidential adviser said the president was "anguishing" over his testimony, Clinton and his legal team have already discussed the possibility of the president acknowledging an intimate relationship with Lewinsky.
However, the sources told CNN that the president would make the case that he did not commit perjury during his January 17 deposition in the Paula Jones sexual harassment case.
In that deposition -- and later in public -- Clinton denied having "sexual relations" with Lewinsky.
Some sources have argued the president's sworn denial of "sexual relations" with Lewinsky was technically truthful under an interpretation of the definition provided to Clinton during the deposition.
Clinton will also deny that he encouraged Lewinsky or anyone else to lie under oath or that he obstructed justice, the sources said.
Clinton talks to first family about relationship
Two of the advisers told CNN that they did not believe the president had fully acknowledged the extent of his relationship with Lewinsky to his wife, Hillary Rodham Clinton, or their daughter, Chelsea, until this weekend.
"I suspect he's having that discussion with his family this weekend," one adviser said.
Asked if acknowledging an intimate relationship or sexual encounters with Lewinsky was discussed at Saturday's strategy session, one source said: "That issue was discussed -- yes. I wouldn't take it any further than discussed."
Prior to Saturday's meeting, two close presidential advisers told CNN that one scenario under discussion was for the president to acknowledge sexual encounters with Lewinsky, but that Clinton would emphasize those encounters were not within the definition of sex he was presented with for his questioning in the Jones case. These advisers said then that the president himself had not settled on a strategy.
The former White House intern reportedly told the grand jury she had more than a dozen sexual encounters with the president over an 18-month period beginning in late 1995.
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Newsweek Poll:
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"If President Bill Clinton admits he had an ongoing sexual relationship, how would your opinion of him change?"
| Better |
22% |
| Worse |
24% |
| Same |
52% |
| Unsure |
2% |
| Sampling Error +/- 4% |
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Clinton considering public statement Monday
Clinton's political advisers are urging him to make a public statement after his testimony, and most senior White House aides expect him to do so.
But several sources have said Kendall, Clinton's lead attorney, had voiced reservations about any detailed public statement because of the attorney's loyalty to the first lady.
Also, advisers have said the language of a possible public explanation would be tricky. The president specifically told reporters in January he did not have an "improper" relationship with Lewinsky and forcefully denied having "sexual relations with that woman."
The president's testimony is to begin about 1 p.m. EDT Monday. He will testify from the Map Room on the ground floor of the White House, and the session is to be broadcast to the grand jury via a live, one-way feed. Kendall, Seligman, and Ruff are to be present during the questioning.
CNN White House Correspondent John King contributed to this report.
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