Clinton stands by denial
WASHINGTON (AP) -
President Clinton sought to calm
the firestorm over his alleged
affair with a White House intern
Thursday as his friend Vernon
Jordan acknowledged that he tried
to get the young woman a job
when she left Washington - and
took her to see a lawyer after she
came under scrutiny.
Monica Lewinsky remained
out of sight as she prepared for a
deposition Friday in the Paula
Jones sexual harassment case.
Clinton made his firmest
denial yet to Lewinsky’s claims
that she had an affair with Clinton
and that he and Jordan asked her
to deny it to Jones’ attorneys.
“The allegations are false, and
I would never ask anybody to do
anything other than tell the truth,”
Clinton said.‘Lewinsky herself
has denied the claims she made in
tape-recorded conversations with
her friend Linda Tripp. Jordan
added to the denials at a press
conference Thursday afternoon in
remarks the White House hoped
would dampen political specula
tion in Washington.
“I want to say to you absolute
ly and unequivocally that Ms.
Lewinsky told me in no uncertain
terms that she did not have a sexu
al relationship with the presi
dent,” Jordan told reporters. He
would not answer any questions.
Jones’ attorneys had a wide
ranging subpoena served on the
White House Thursday seeking all
documents and evidence concern
ing Lewinsky’s employment there,
her contacts with the president
and others and other information
sought in a similar subpoena
issued by Whitewater prosecutor
Kenneth Starr a day earlier, offi
cials said;
The fresh denials from Clinton
and Jordan came as details
emerged about Lewinsky’s entries
to the White House and gifts she
got from the president.
Clinton sought to avoid any
defensiveness as he faced ques
tions about the Lewinsky matter
during a photo session with
Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.
“You and the American people
have a right to get answers,” he
told reporters. “We will give you
as many answers as we can, as
soon as we can, at the appropriate
time ... and that’s not a dodge.”
Lewinsky was scheduled to be
deposed m Washington by lawyers
for Jones, and was said to be con
sidering declining to testify and
invoking her Fifth Amendment
right to avoid self-incrimination.
She has sworn in an affidavit that
she did not have an affair with
Clinton, a declaration apparently
at odds with what investigators
heard on Tripp’s tapes.
White House aides, speaking
on condition of anonymity, made
a point of raising questions about
Lewinsky. One described her as
“totally infatuated” and “getting
too close” to the president. The
officials said they did not suspect
an affair but felt she was spending
too much time around the presi
dent.
The investigation was prompt
ed when Tripp, a former White
«
You and the
American people
have a right to get
answers”
Bill Clinton
president
House staffer, provided Starr with
tapes of almost 20 hours of con
versations she had with Lewinsky.
The tape recordings of
Lewinsky began last summer,
after Clinton attorney Robert
Bennett suggested Tripp wasn’t
telling the truth about another
allegation regarding Clinton and
another White House staffer,
Kathleen E. Willey.
In one tape obtained by
Newsweek, Lewinsky is heard
saying she had an affair with
Clinton and that later both the
president and Jordan asked her to
lie about it. Newsweek reported
that the tapes show Lewinsky
soured on the president and refers
to him as “the big he” and “the
creep.”
But she also said on the tapes,
“I have lied my entire life,” the
magazine said. Newsweek report
ed Starr’s office arranged a sting
operation with Tripp and tried
unsuccessfully to get Lewinsky to
participate in a sting against
Jordan.
Roe decision could
still be overturned
ABORTION from page 1
contraceptives. Seven years later, the
court overturned a similar law involving
unmarried people. The Griswold deci
sion laid the groundwork for the right
to-privacy basis of the Roe decision,
Duncan said.
The last opportunity the court had to
overturn Roe vs. Wade was with 1992’s
Planned Parenthood vs. Casey, in which
the court imposed a new standard to
determine the validity of laws restrict
ing abortion, Duncan said. In the 5-4
decision, the court said it was unconsti
tutional for any law to impose an
“undue burden” or a “substantial obsta
cle” in the path of a woman’s right to
abortion.
However, while maintaining Roe,
the court also upheld waiting periods
before having an abortion, informed
consent, and laws requiring minors to
receive parental consent before an abor
tion.
Funk said those laws made it more
difficult for women - especially those
living in rural areas - to get an abortion.
Kriss and Funk said serious ramifi
cations would result if the court over
turned the decision, including a higher
health risk for women, deaths from ille
gal abortions, more children born in
poverty or non-nurturing environments,
and die restricting of women’s rights of
privacy.
“Abortion is never a decision that a
woman wants to make,” Kriss said.
“But if the option is taken away, it only
causes more desperation.”
Norma McCorvey, known as “Jane
Roe” in the Roe vs. Wade case, had
questioned the validity of a Texas law
that made abortion a crime unless the
mother’s life was at stake. McCorvey
gave her child up for adoption while
fighting the law. In 1995, McCorvey
announced die had reversed her posi
tion on abortion and became a volunteer
for Operation Rescue, an active anti
abortion group.
When:
January 25,1998 ;
Where:
Ross Film Theatre-Sheldon
Times:
3:00,5:00,7:00, 9:00 PM
Cost:
$4.00 Students,
$6.00 Non Students
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