A. Evidence Regarding Affidavit and Use of Affidavit

Monica Lewinsky testified that President Clinton called her at around 2:00 or 2:30 a.m. on December 17, 1997,⁽²⁷⁹⁾ and told her that her name was on the Jones case witness list.⁽²⁸⁰⁾ As noted in her February 1 handwritten statement: "When asked what to do if she was subpoenaed, the Pres. suggested she could sign an affidavit . . . ."⁽²⁸¹⁾ Ms. Lewinsky said she is "100% sure" that the President suggested that she might want to sign an affidavit.⁽²⁸²⁾

Ms. Lewinsky understood the President's advice to mean that she might be able to execute an affidavit that would not disclose the true nature of their relationship. In order "to prevent me from being deposed," she said she would need an affidavit that "could range from anywhere between maybe just somehow mentioning, you know, innocuous things or going as far as maybe having to deny any kind of relationship."⁽²⁸³⁾

Ms. Lewinsky has stated that the President never explicitly told her to lie. Instead, as she explained, they both understood from their conversations that they would continue their pattern of covering up and lying about the relationship. In that regard, the President never said they must now tell the truth under oath; to the contrary, as Ms. Lewinsky stated:

[I]t wasn't as if the President called me and said, "You know, Monica, you're on the witness list, this is going to be really hard for us, we're going to have to tell the truth and be humiliated in front of the entire world about what we've done," which I would have fought him on probably. That was different. And by him not calling me and saying that, you know, I knew what that meant.⁽²⁸⁴⁾

Ms. Jones's lawyers served Ms. Lewinsky with a subpoena on December 19, 1997. Ms. Lewinsky contacted Vernon Jordan, who in turn put her in contact with attorney Frank Carter.⁽²⁸⁵⁾ Based on the information that Ms. Lewinsky provided, Mr. Carter prepared an affidavit which stated: "I have never had a sexual relationship with the President."⁽²⁸⁶⁾

After Mr. Carter drafted the affidavit, Ms. Lewinsky spoke to the President by phone on January 5th.⁽²⁸⁷⁾ She asked the President if he wanted to see the draft affidavit. According to Ms. Lewinsky, the President replied that he did not need to see it because he had already "seen 15 others."⁽²⁸⁸⁾

Mr. Jordan confirmed that President Clinton knew that Ms. Lewinsky planned to execute an affidavit denying a sexual relationship.⁽²⁸⁹⁾ Mr. Jordan further testified that he informed President Clinton when Ms. Lewinsky signed the affidavit.⁽²⁹⁰⁾ Ms. Lewinsky's affidavit was sent to the federal court in Arkansas on January 16, 1998 -- the day before the President's deposition -- as part of her motion to quash the deposition subpoena.

Two days before the President's deposition, his lawyer, Robert Bennett, obtained a copy of Ms. Lewinsky's affidavit from Mr. Carter.⁽²⁹¹⁾ At the President's deposition, Ms. Jones's counsel asked questions about the President's relationship with Ms. Lewinsky. Mr. Bennett objected to the "innuendo" of the questions, noting that Ms. Lewinsky had signed an affidavit denying a sexual relationship, which according to Mr. Bennett, indicated that "there is absolutely no sex of any kind in any manner, shape or form."⁽²⁹²⁾ Mr. Bennett said that the President was "fully aware of Ms. Lewinsky's affidavit."⁽²⁹³⁾ Mr. Bennett affirmatively used the affidavit in an effort to cut off questioning. The President said nothing -- even though, as he knew, the affidavit was false. Judge Wright overruled the objection and allowed the questioning to continue.

Later, Mr. Bennett read Ms. Lewinsky's affidavit denying a "sexual relationship" to the President and asked him: "Is that a true and accurate statement as far as you know it?" The President answered: "That is absolutely true."⁽²⁹⁴⁾

B. Summary of President's Grand Jury Testimony

The President told the grand jury: "[D]id I hope [Ms. Lewinsky would] be able to get out of testifying on an affidavit? Absolutely. Did I want her to execute a false affidavit? No, I did not."⁽²⁹⁵⁾ The President did not explain how a full and truthful affidavit -- for example, an affidavit admitting that they engaged in oral sex and that Vernon Jordan had been involved, at the President's request, in late 1997 and early 1998 in obtaining Ms. Lewinsky a job -- would have helped her avoid a deposition.

When questioned about his phone conversation with Ms. Lewinsky on December 17, 1997 -- during which the President suggested filing an affidavit -- the President testified that he did not remember exactly what he had said.⁽²⁹⁶⁾ The President also maintained that Ms. Lewinsky's affidavit, as it ultimately was filed denying a "sexual relationship," was not necessarily inaccurate. He testified that, depending on Ms. Lewinsky's state of mind, her statement denying a sexual relationship could have been true.

I believe at the time that she filled out this affidavit, if she believed that the definition of sexual relationship was two people having intercourse, then this is accurate. And I believe that is the definition that most ordinary Americans would give it.⁽²⁹⁷⁾

At his grand jury appearance, the President also was asked about his counsel's statement to Judge Wright that Ms. Lewinsky's affidavit denying a "sexual relationship" was equivalent to saying "there is absolutely no sex of any kind in any manner, shape or form" with President Clinton. Given the President's interpretation of the term "sexual relationship" to require sexual intercourse, the President was asked how he lawfully could have sat silent while his attorney -- in the President's presence and on his behalf -- made a false statement to a United States District Judge in an effort to forestall further questioning. The President offered several responses.

First, the President maintained that he was not paying "much attention" when Mr. Bennett said that there is "absolutely no sex of any kind" between the President and Ms. Lewinsky."⁽²⁹⁸⁾ The President further stated: "That moment, that whole argument just passed me by. I was a witness."⁽²⁹⁹⁾ The President's explanation is difficult to reconcile with the videotape of the deposition, which shows that the President was looking in Mr. Bennett's direction when his counsel made this statement.

Alternatively, the President contended that when Mr. Bennett said that "there is absolutely no sex of any kind," Mr. Bennett was speaking only in the present tense and thus was making a completely true statement. The President further stated: "It depends on what the meaning of the word 'is' is,"⁽³⁰⁰⁾ and that "actually, in the present tense that is an accurate statement."⁽³⁰¹⁾ Before the grand jury, counsel for the OIC then asked the President: "Do you mean today that because you were not engaging in sexual activity with Ms. Lewinsky during the deposition that the statement of Mr. Bennett might be literally true?"⁽³⁰²⁾ The President responded: "No, sir. I mean that at the time of the deposition, it had been -- that was well beyond any point of improper contact between me and Ms. Lewinsky."⁽³⁰³⁾ The President's suggestion that he might have engaged in such a detailed parsing of the words at his deposition is at odds with his assertion that the "whole argument passed me by."

Finally, the President took issue with the notion that he had any duty to prevent his attorney from making a false statement to Judge Wright: "Mr. Bennett was representing me. I wasn't representing him."⁽³⁰⁴⁾ That is a truism. Yet when a witness is knowingly responsible for a misstatement of fact to a federal judge that misleads the Court and attempts to prevent questioning on a relevant subject, that conduct rises to the level of an obstruction of justice.

C. Evidence Regarding Cover Stories

The affidavit was not the only part of the scheme in which both the President and Ms. Lewinsky would lie under oath. Ms. Lewinsky testified that, as part of their mutual concealment efforts, she and President Clinton formulated "cover stories" to explain Ms. Lewinsky's presence in the West Wing and Oval Office. When Ms. Lewinsky worked at the White House, she and the President agreed that Ms. Lewinsky would tell people that she was coming to the Oval Office to deliver papers or to have papers signed, when in truth she was going to the Oval Office to have a sexual encounter with the President.⁽³⁰⁵⁾

While employed at the White House, Ms. Lewinsky used this cover story on several occasions.⁽³⁰⁶⁾ It worked: Several Secret Service officers testified that they understood that Ms. Lewinsky was at the Oval Office to deliver or to pick up papers.⁽³⁰⁷⁾ In fact, however, Ms. Lewinsky stated that her White House job never required her to deliver papers or obtain the President's signature, although she carried papers as a prop.⁽³⁰⁸⁾

After she was transferred to the Pentagon, Ms. Lewinsky testified that she and the President formulated a second "cover story": that Ms. Lewinsky was going to the White House to visit Betty Currie rather than the President. Ms. Lewinsky testified that she and the President discussed how "Betty always needed to be the one to clear me in so that, you know, I could always say I was coming to see Betty."⁽³⁰⁹⁾ Ms. Lewinsky testified that she met with the President privately on ten occasions after she left her job at the White House.⁽³¹⁰⁾ Ms. Currie signed her in for each of those private visits.⁽³¹¹⁾

Ms. Lewinsky has stated that her true purpose in visiting the White House on these occasions was to see President Clinton, not Ms. Currie.⁽³¹²⁾ President Clinton agreed that "just about every time" that Ms. Lewinsky came to see Ms. Currie when he was there, Ms. Lewinsky saw him as well.⁽³¹³⁾

Ms. Lewinsky testified that President Clinton encouraged her to continue to use the cover stories to conceal their relationship after her name appeared on the witness list in the Jones case. In her early-morning phone conversation with President Clinton on December 17, 1997 -- the same conversation in which the President told her that her name was on the witness list and suggested that she file an affidavit if subpoenaed⁽³¹⁴⁾ -- Ms. Lewinsky discussed cover stories with the President:

ML: At some point in the conversation, and I don't know if it was before or after the subject of the affidavit came up, he sort of said, "You know, you can always say you were coming to see Betty or that you were bringing me letters." Which I understood was really a reminder of things that we had discussed before.

Q: So when you say things you had discussed, sort of ruses that you had developed.

ML: Right. I mean, this was -- this was something that -- that was instantly familiar to me.

Q: Right.

ML: And I knew exactly what he meant.

Q: Had you talked with him earlier about these false explanations about what you were doing visiting him on several occasions?

ML: Several occasions throughout the entire relationship. Yes. It was the pattern of the relationship, to sort of conceal it.⁽³¹⁵⁾

President Clinton used those same deceptive cover stories during his deposition in the Jones case. In the civil deposition, when asked if he had met with Ms. Lewinsky "several times" while she worked at the White House, the President responded that he had seen her on two or three occasions during the government shutdown, "and then when she worked at the White House, I think there was one or two other times when she brought some documents to me."⁽³¹⁶⁾ When asked if he was ever alone with Ms. Lewinsky in the Oval Office, the President stated:

[W]hen she worked at the legislative affairs office, they always had somebody there on the weekends. . . . Sometimes they'd bring me things on the weekends. In that case, whatever time she would be in there, drop it off, exchange a few words and go, she was there. . . . It's possible that she, in, while she was working there, brought something to me and that at the time she brought it to me, she was the only person there, That's possible.⁽³¹⁷⁾

The pattern of devising cover stories in an effort to forestall an inquiry into the relationship continued even after Ms. Lewinsky was subpoenaed to testify. On January 5, 1998, she met with her attorney, Frank Carter, and discussed questions that she might be asked at a deposition. One of the questions was how she had obtained her Pentagon job. Ms. Lewinsky worried that if the Jones lawyers checked with the White House about the transfer, some at the White House would say unflattering things about why she had been terminated.⁽³¹⁸⁾ Ms. Lewinsky spoke to President Clinton on the phone that evening and asked for advice on how to answer the question. Ms. Lewinsky testified that the President responded, "[Y]ou could always say that the people in Legislative Affairs got it for you or helped you get it" -- a story that Ms. Lewinsky stated was misleading because Ms. Lewinsky in fact had been transferred because she was around the Oval Office too much.⁽³¹⁹⁾ President Clinton knew the truth.

D. The President's Grand Jury Testimony on Cover Stories

The President testified that before he knew that Ms. Lewinsky was a witness in the Jones case, he "might well" have told Ms. Lewinsky that she could offer the cover stories if questioned about her presence in the West Wing and Oval Office:

Q: Did you ever say anything like that, you can always say that you were coming to see Betty or bringing me letters? Was that part of any kind of a, anything you said to her or a cover story, before you had any idea she was going to be part of Paula Jones?

WJC: I might well have said that.

Q: Okay.

WJC: Because I certainly didn't want this to come out, if I could help it. And I was concerned about that. I was embarrassed about it. I knew it was wrong.⁽³²⁰⁾

However, no doubt aware of the significance of the question, the President testified that he did not remember whether he had discussed the cover stories with Ms. Lewinsky during the December 17, 1997, conversation,⁽³²¹⁾ or at any time after Ms. Lewinsky's name appeared on the Jones witness list:

Q: Did you tell [Ms. Lewinsky] anytime in December something to that effect: You know, you can always say that you were coming to see Betty or you were bringing me letters? Did you say that, or anything like that, in December '97 or January '98, to Monica Lewinsky?

WJC: Well, that's a very broad question. I do not recall saying anything like that in connection with her testimony. I could tell you what I do remember saying, if you want to know. But I don't -- we might have talked about what to do in a nonlegal context at some point in the past, but I have no specific memory of that conversation.

I do remember what I said to her about the possible testimony.

* * * *

Q: Did you say anything like [the cover stories] once you knew or thought she might be a witness in the Jones case? Did you repeat the statement, or something like it to her?

WJC: Well, again, I don't recall, and I don't recall whether I might have done something like that, for example, if somebody says, what if the reporters ask me this, that or the other thing. I can tell you this: In the context of whether she could be a witness, I have a recollection that she asked me, well, what do I do if I get called as a witness, and I said, you have to get a lawyer. And that's all I said. And I never asked her to lie.

Q: Did you tell her to tell the truth?

WJC: Well, I think the implication was she would tell the truth.⁽³²²⁾

E. Summary

There is substantial and credible information that the President and Ms. Lewinsky reached an understanding that both of them would lie under oath when asked whether they had a sexual relationship (a conspiracy to obstruct justice or to commit perjury, in criminal law terms). Indeed, a tacit or express agreement to make false statements would have been an essential part of their December and January discussions, lest one of the two testify truthfully in the Jones case and thereby incriminate the other as a perjurer.

There also is substantial and credible information that President Clinton endeavored to obstruct justice by suggesting that Ms. Lewinsky file an affidavit to avoid her deposition, which would "lock in" her testimony under oath, and to attempt to avoid questions at his own deposition -- all to impede the gathering of discoverable evidence in the Jones v. Clinton litigation.⁽³²³⁾

During the course of their relationship, the President and Ms. Lewinsky also discussed and used cover stories to justify her presence in and around the Oval Office area. The evidence indicates -- given Ms. Lewinsky's unambiguous testimony and the President's lack of memory, as well as the fact that they both planned to lie under oath -- that the President suggested the continued use of the cover stories even after Ms. Lewinsky was named as a potential witness in the Jones litigation. At no time did the President tell Ms. Lewinsky to abandon these stories and to tell the truth about her visits, nor did he ever indicate to her that she should tell the truth under oath about the relationship. While the President testified that he could not remember such conversations about the cover stories, he had repeated the substance of the cover stories in his Jones deposition. The President's use of false cover stories in testimony under oath in his Jones deposition strongly corroborates Ms. Lewinsky's testimony that he suggested them to her on December 17 as a means of avoiding disclosure of the truth of their relationship.

VII. There is substantial and credible information that President Clinton endeavored to obstruct justice by helping Ms. Lewinsky obtain a job in New York at a time when she would have been a witness against him were she to tell the truth during the Jones case.

The President had an incentive to keep Ms. Lewinsky from jeopardizing the secrecy of the relationship. That incentive grew once the Supreme Court unanimously decided in May 1997 that the case and discovery process were to go forward.

At various times during the Jones discovery process, the President and those working on his behalf devoted substantial time and attention to help Ms. Lewinsky obtain a job in the private sector.

A. Evidence

The entire saga of Ms. Lewinsky's job search and the President's assistance in that search is discussed in detail in the Narrative section of this Referral. We summarize and analyze the key events and dates here.

Ms. Lewinsky first mentioned her desire to move to New York in a letter to the President on July 3, 1997. The letter recounted her frustration that she had not received an offer to return to work at the White House.⁽³²⁴⁾

On October 1, the President was served with interrogatories asking about his sexual relationships with women other than Mrs. Clinton.⁽³²⁵⁾ On October 7, 1997, Ms. Lewinsky couriered a letter expressing dissatisfaction with her job search to the President.⁽³²⁶⁾ In response, Ms. Lewinsky said she received a late-night call from President Clinton on October 9, 1997. She said that the President told her he would start helping her find a job in New York.⁽³²⁷⁾

The following Saturday, October 11, 1997, Ms. Lewinsky met with President Clinton alone in the Oval Office dining room from 9:36 a.m. until about 10:54 a.m. In that meeting, she furnished the President a list of New York jobs in which she was interested.⁽³²⁸⁾ Ms. Lewinsky mentioned to the President that she would need a reference from someone in the White House; the President said he would take care of it.⁽³²⁹⁾ Ms. Lewinsky also suggested to the President that Vernon Jordan might be able to help her, and President Clinton agreed.⁽³³⁰⁾ Immediately after the meeting, President Clinton spoke with Mr. Jordan by telephone.⁽³³¹⁾

According to White House Chief of Staff Erskine Bowles, at some time in the summer or fall of 1997, President Clinton raised the subject of Monica Lewinsky and stated that "she was unhappy where she was working and wanted to come back and work at the OEOB [Old Executive Office Building]; and could we take a look."⁽³³²⁾ Mr. Bowles referred the matter to Deputy Chief of Staff John Podesta.⁽³³³⁾

Mr. Podesta said he asked Betty Currie to have Ms. Lewinsky call him, but heard nothing until about October 1997, when Ms. Currie told him that Ms. Lewinsky was looking for opportunities in New York.⁽³³⁴⁾ The Ambassador to the United Nations, Bill Richardson, said that Mr. Podesta told him that Ms. Currie had a friend looking for a position in New York.⁽³³⁵⁾

According to Ms. Lewinsky, Ambassador Richardson called her on October 21, 1997,⁽³³⁶⁾ and interviewed her soon thereafter. She was then offered a position at the UN.⁽³³⁷⁾ Ms. Lewinsky was unenthusiastic.⁽³³⁸⁾ During the latter part of October 1997, the President and Ms. Lewinsky discussed enlisting Vernon Jordan to aid in pursuing private-sector possibilities.⁽³³⁹⁾

On November 5, 1997, Ms. Lewinsky met Mr. Jordan in his law office. Mr. Jordan told Ms. Lewinsky that she came "highly recommended."⁽³⁴⁰⁾ Ms. Lewinsky explained that she hoped to move to New York, and went over her list of possible employers.⁽³⁴¹⁾ Mr. Jordan telephoned President Clinton shortly after the meeting.⁽³⁴²⁾

Ms. Lewinsky had no contact with the President or Mr. Jordan for another month.⁽³⁴³⁾ On December 5, 1997, however, the parties in the Jones case exchanged witness lists. Ms. Jones's attorneys listed Ms. Lewinsky as a potential witness. The President testified that he learned that Ms. Lewinsky was on the list late in the day on December 6.⁽³⁴⁴⁾

The effort to obtain a job for Ms. Lewinsky then intensified. On December 7, President Clinton met with Mr. Jordan at the White House.⁽³⁴⁵⁾ Ms. Lewinsky met with Mr. Jordan on December 11 to discuss specific job contacts in New York. Mr. Jordan gave her the names of some of his business contacts.⁽³⁴⁶⁾ He then made calls to contacts at MacAndrews & Forbes (the parent corporation of Revlon), American Express, and Young & Rubicam.⁽³⁴⁷⁾

Mr. Jordan also telephoned President Clinton to keep him informed of the efforts to help Ms. Lewinsky. Mr. Jordan testified that President Clinton was aware that people were trying to get jobs for her, that Mr. Podesta was trying to help her, that Bill Richardson was trying to help her, but that she wanted to work in the private sector.⁽³⁴⁸⁾

On the same day of Ms. Lewinsky's meeting with Mr. Jordan, December 11, Judge Wright ordered President Clinton, over his objection, to answer certain written interrogatories as part of the discovery process in Jones. Those interrogatories required, among other things, the President to identify any government employees since 1986 with whom he had engaged in sexual relations (a term undefined for purposes of the interrogatory).⁽³⁴⁹⁾ On December 16, the President's attorneys received a request for production of documents that mentioned Monica Lewinsky by name.

On December 17, 1997, according to Ms. Lewinsky, President Clinton called her in the early morning and told her that she was on the witness list, and they discussed their cover stories.⁽³⁵⁰⁾ On December 18 and December 23, she interviewed for jobs with New York-based companies that had been contacted by Mr. Jordan.⁽³⁵¹⁾ On December 19, Ms. Lewinsky was served with a deposition subpoena by Ms. Jones's lawyers.⁽³⁵²⁾ On December 22, 1997, Mr. Jordan took her to her new attorney; she and Mr. Jordan discussed the subpoena, the Jones case, and her job search during the course of the ride.⁽³⁵³⁾

The President answered the "other women" interrogatory on December 23, 1997, by declaring under oath: "None."⁽³⁵⁴⁾

On Sunday, December 28, 1997, Monica Lewinsky and the President met in the Oval Office.⁽³⁵⁵⁾ During that meeting, the President and Ms. Lewinsky discussed both her move to New York and her involvement in the Jones suit.⁽³⁵⁶⁾

On January 5, 1998, Ms. Lewinsky declined the United Nations offer.⁽³⁵⁷⁾ On January 7, 1998, Ms. Lewinsky signed the affidavit denying the relationship with President Clinton (she had talked on the phone to the President on January 5 about it).⁽³⁵⁸⁾ Mr. Jordan informed the President of her action.⁽³⁵⁹⁾

The next day, on January 8, 1998, Ms. Lewinsky interviewed in New York with MacAndrews & Forbes, a company recommended by Vernon Jordan. The interview went poorly. Mr. Jordan then called Ronald Perelman, the Chairman of the Board at MacAndrews & Forbes. Mr. Perelman said Ms. Lewinsky should not worry, and that someone would call her back for another interview. Mr. Jordan relayed this message to Ms. Lewinsky, and someone called back that day.⁽³⁶⁰⁾

Ms. Lewinsky interviewed again the next morning, and a few hours later received an informal offer for a position.⁽³⁶¹⁾ She told Mr. Jordan of the offer, and Mr. Jordan then notified President Clinton with the news: "Mission accomplished."⁽³⁶²⁾

On January 12, 1998, Ms. Jones's attorneys informed Judge Wright that they might call Monica Lewinsky as a trial witness.⁽³⁶³⁾ Judge Wright stated that she would allow witnesses with whom the President had worked, such as Ms. Lewinsky, to be trial witnesses.⁽³⁶⁴⁾

In a call on January 13, 1998, a Revlon employee formalized the job offer, and asked Ms. Lewinsky to provide references.⁽³⁶⁵⁾ Either that day or the next, President Clinton told Erskine Bowles that Ms. Lewinsky "had found a job in the . . . private sector, and she had listed John Hilley as a reference, and could we see if he could recommend her, if asked."⁽³⁶⁶⁾ Thereafter, Mr. Bowles took the President's request to Deputy Chief of Staff John Podesta, who in turn spoke to Mr. Hilley about writing a letter of recommendation. After speaking with Mr. Podesta, Mr. Hilley agreed to write such a letter, but cautioned it would be a "generic" one.⁽³⁶⁷⁾ On January 14, at approximately 11:17 a.m., Ms. Lewinsky faxed her letter of acceptance to Revlon and listed Mr. Hilley as a reference.⁽³⁶⁸⁾

On January 15, the President responded to the December 15 request for production of documents relating to Monica Lewinsky by answering "none." On January 16, Ms. Lewinsky's attorney sent to the District Court in the Jones case her affidavit denying a "sexual relationship" with the President.⁽³⁶⁹⁾ The next day, on January 17, the President was deposed and his attorney used her affidavit as the President similarly denied a "sexual relationship."

B. Summary

When a party in a lawsuit (or investigation) provides job or financial assistance to a witness, a question arises as to possible witness tampering. The critical question centers on the intent of the party providing the assistance. Direct evidence of that intent often is unavailable. Indeed, in some cases, the witness receiving the job assistance may not even know that the party providing the assistance was motivated by a desire to stay on good terms with the witness during the pending legal proceeding.⁽³⁷⁰⁾ Similarly, others who are enlisted in the party's effort to influence the witness's testimony by providing job assistance may not be aware of the party's motivation and intent.

One can draw inferences about the party's intent from circumstantial evidence. In this case, the President assisted Ms. Lewinsky in her job search in late 1997, at a time when she would have become a witness harmful to him in the Jones case were she to testify truthfully. The President did not act half-heartedly. His assistance led to the involvement of the Ambassador to the United Nations, one of the country's leading business figures (Mr. Perelman), and one of the country's leading attorneys (Vernon Jordan).

The question, therefore, is whether the President's efforts in obtaining a job for Ms. Lewinsky were to influence her testimony⁽³⁷¹⁾ or simply to help an ex-intimate without concern for her testimony. Three key facts are essential in analyzing his actions: (i) the chronology of events, (ii) the fact that the President and Ms. Lewinsky both intended to lie under oath about the relationship, and (iii) the fact that it was critical for the President that Ms. Lewinsky lie under oath.

There is substantial and credible information that the President assisted Ms. Lewinsky in her job search motivated at least in part by his desire to keep her "on the team" in the Jones litigation.

VIII. There is substantial and credible information that the President lied under oath in describing his conversations with Vernon Jordan about Ms. Lewinsky.

President Clinton was asked during his civil deposition whether he had talked to Mr. Jordan about Ms. Lewinsky's involvement in the Jones case. The President stated that he knew Mr. Jordan had talked to Ms. Lewinsky about her move to New York, but stated that he did not recall whether Mr. Jordan had talked to Ms. Lewinsky about her involvement in the Jones case. The testimony was false. A lie under oath about these conversations was necessary to avoid inquiry into whether Ms. Lewinsky's job and her testimony were improperly related.

A. President's Testimony in the Jones Case

The President was questioned in his civil deposition about his conversations with Vernon Jordan regarding Ms. Lewinsky and her role in the Jones case. Beforehand, the President was asked a general question:

Q: Did anyone other than your attorneys ever tell you that Monica Lewinsky had been served with a subpoena in this case?

WJC: I don't think so.⁽³⁷²⁾

The President later testified in more detail about conversations he may have had with Mr. Jordan concerning Ms. Lewinsky's role in the case:

Q: Excluding conversations that you may have had with Mr. Bennett or any of your attorneys in this case, within the past two weeks has anyone reported to you that they had had a conversation with Monica Lewinsky concerning this lawsuit?

WJC: I don't believe so. I'm sorry, I just don't believe so.

* * * *

Q. Has it ever been reported to you that [Vernon Jordan] met with Monica Lewinsky and talked about this case?

WJC: I knew that 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.⁽³⁷³⁾

B. Evidence That Contradicts the President's Civil Deposition Testimony

Vernon Jordan testified that his conversations with the President about Ms. Lewinsky's subpoena were, in fact, "a continuing dialogue."⁽³⁷⁴⁾ When asked if he had kept the President informed about Ms. Lewinsky's status in the Jones case in addition to her job search, Mr. Jordan responded: "The two -- absolutely."⁽³⁷⁵⁾

On December 19, Ms. Lewinsky phoned Mr. Jordan and told him that she had been subpoenaed in the Jones case.⁽³⁷⁶⁾ Following that call, Mr. Jordan telephoned the President to inform him "that Monica Lewinsky was coming to see me, and that she had a subpoena"⁽³⁷⁷⁾ -- but the President was unavailable.⁽³⁷⁸⁾ Later that day, at 5:01 p.m., Mr. Jordan had a seven-minute telephone conversation with the President:⁽³⁷⁹⁾

I said to 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."⁽³⁸⁰⁾

Later on December 19, after meeting with Ms. Lewinsky, Mr. Jordan went to the White House and met with the President alone in the Residence.⁽³⁸¹⁾ Mr. Jordan testified: "I told him that Monica Lewinsky had been subpoenaed, came to me with a subpoena."⁽³⁸²⁾ According to Mr. Jordan, the President "thanked me for my efforts to get her a job and thanked me for getting her a lawyer."⁽³⁸³⁾

According to Mr. Jordan, on January 7, 1998, Ms. Lewinsky showed him a copy of her signed affidavit denying any sexual relationship with the President.⁽³⁸⁴⁾ He testified that he told the President about the affidavit, probably in one of his two logged calls to the White House that day:⁽³⁸⁵⁾

Q: [W]alk us through what exactly you would have said on the portion of the conversation that related to Ms. Lewinsky and the affidavit.

VJ: Monica Lewinsky signed the affidavit.

* * * *

Q: [L]et's say if it was January 7th, or whenever it was that you informed him that she signed the affidavit,⁽³⁸⁶⁾ is it accurate that based on the conversations you had with him already, you didn't have to explain to him what the affidavit was?

VJ: I think that's a reasonable assumption.

Q: So that it would have made sense that you would have just said, "She signed the affidavit," because both you and he knew what the affidavit was?

VJ: I think that's a reasonable assumption.

Q: All right. When you indicated to the President that she had signed the affidavit, what, if anything, did he tell you?

VJ: I think he -- his judgment was consistent with mine that that was -- the signing of the affidavit was consistent with the truth.⁽³⁸⁷⁾

Mr. Jordan testified that "I knew that the President was concerned about the affidavit and whether or not it was signed. He was, obviously."⁽³⁸⁸⁾ When asked why he believed the President was concerned, Mr. Jordan testified:

Here is a friend of his who is being called as a witness in another case and with whom I had gotten a lawyer, I told him about that, and told him I was looking for a job for her. He knew about all of that. And it was just a matter of course that he would be concerned as to whether or not she had signed an affidavit foreswearing what I told you the other day, that there was no sexual relationship.⁽³⁸⁹⁾

Mr. Jordan summarized his contacts with the President about Monica Lewinsky and her involvement in the Jones litigation as follows:

I made arrangements for a lawyer and I told the President that. When she signed the affidavit, I told the President that the affidavit had been signed and when Frank Carter told me that he had filed a motion to quash, as I did in the course of everything else, I said to the President that I saw Frank Carter and he had informed me that he was filing a motion to quash. It was as a simple information flow, absent a substantive discussion about her defense, about which I was not involved.⁽³⁹⁰⁾

The President himself testified in the grand jury that he talked to Mr. Jordan about Ms. Lewinsky's involvement in the case. Despite his earlier statements at the deposition, the President testified to the grand jury that he had no reason to doubt that he had talked to Mr. Jordan about Ms. Lewinsky's subpoena, her lawyer, and her affidavit.⁽³⁹¹⁾