Sources: Clinton Will Likely Acknowledge Intimate Relationship With Lewinsky
From CNN White House Correspondents Wolf Blitzer and John King
WASHINGTON (AllPolitics, August 16) -- President Bill Clinton met privately with his legal team Saturday and discussed the possibility of acknowledging an intimate relationship with ex-White House intern Monica Lewinsky when he answers to a grand jury Monday, sources close to the discussions told CNN late Saturday.
One close presidential adviser said the president was "anguishing" over his testimony.
The sources said the president had not settled on a final strategy, but that they expected him to acknowledge an inappropriate relationship with Lewinsky. However, the sources said 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 briefs first family on relationship
Two of the advisers told CNN that they do 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."
This source said the president had not definitively settled on a strategy and was
planning to speak with his family and his legal team throughout the weekend.
Clinton met for nearly five hours with his attorneys Saturday over how to respond to Independent Counsel Ken Starr's prosecutors. Afterward, the president took a break on the White House grounds, putting on a practice green, jogging, and playing fetch with his dog, Buddy, on the South Lawn.
The president was to meet with his attorneys again on Sunday. Among those present at
Saturday's sessions were Clinton's lead private attorney David Kendall, partner Nicole Seligman, former Commerce Secretary Mickey Kantor and White House Counsel Charles Ruff.
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.
In the Jones case, Clinton denied having a sexual relationship with Lewinsky.
But 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.
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, has 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."
Two senior political advisers not directly involved in the legal
deliberations told CNN late Saturday that they were hoping to meet with the
president's lawyers on Sunday to discuss a political and communications
strategy. But they said it was possible a decision on whether the president would
make a public statement after his testimony could slip to the last minute.
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.
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