- Paula Jones
Paula Corbin Jones (born Paula Rosalee Corbin on
September 17 ,1966 , inLonoke, Arkansas ) is a formerArkansas state employee who sued PresidentBill Clinton forsexual harassment and . Eventually, the court dismissed thelawsuit , before trial, on the grounds that Jones failed to demonstrate any damages. However, while the dismissal was on appeal, Clinton entered into an out-of-court settlement by agreeing to pay Jones $850,000.The impeachment trial of President Clinton on perjury and obstruction of justice charges was based on statements he made during the depositions for the Paula Jones lawsuit. The specific statements were about the nature of his relationship with White House intern
Monica Lewinsky , with whom he denied having a sexual relationship.Jones v. Clinton
Background
According to her story, on
May 8 ,1991 , Paula Jones was escorted to the room of Clinton, thengovernor of Arkansas , in the Excelsiorcite court
litigants=Clinton v. Jones
vol=No. 95-1853
reporter=U.S.
opinion=
pinpoint=
court=
date=1997-05-27
url= http://laws.findlaw.com/us/000/95-1853.html] [cite web
title = Key events in Paula Jones's sexual harassment case against President Clinton
url=http://www.gargaro.com/pjkeyevents.html
accessdate = 2007-09-26] [cite web
title = Top 8 Clinton Scandal Sites
url=http://littlerock.about.com/cs/thingstodo/tp/tpclintonscand.htm
accessdate = 2007-09-26] (now Peabody) Hotel in Little Rock, Arkansas, where he allegedly propositioned her. She claimed she kept quiet about the incident until 1994, when aDavid Brock story in "American Spectator " told a lurid account, sometimes referred to as Troopergate, about an Arkansas employee named "Paula" offering to be Clinton's girlfriend. Jones filed a sexual harassment and eschewal suit against Clinton onMay 6 ,1994 , two days prior to the 3-yearstatute of limitations .Arkansas state trooper Danny Ferguson was named as a co-defendant in Jones's lawsuit. According to Brock, Ferguson told Jones that [then] Governor Clinton would like to meet with her in his room. Ferguson then escorted Jones up to Clinton's room and stood outside the room until Jones came out. According to Ferguson, when Jones came out she said that she would not mind being Clinton's girlfriend. Jones denied Ferguson's version of the story, and subsequently named Ferguson as a co-defendant.
While there were no witnesses to back up Jones's account, many other women were willing to testify to similar behavior by Clinton. In late 1997, Judge Susan Webber Wright ruled Jones was "entitled to information regarding any individuals with whom President Clinton had sexual relations or proposed to or sought to have sexual relations and who were, during the relevant time frame, state or federal employees."
Initial lawsuit
Jones began to be represented by
Gilbert Davis andJoseph Cammarata , two Washington, D.C.-area lawyers. Later she befriended Susan Carpenter-McMillan, a California woman and conservative commentator, who became her press spokesperson. Carpenter-McMillan wasted no time in using the press to attack Clinton to a much greater degree, calling him "un-American," a "liar," and a "philanderer" on "Meet the Press ", "Crossfire ", "Equal Time ", "Larry King Live ", "Today", "TheGeraldo Rivera Show", "Burden of Proof ", "Hannity & Colmes ", "Talkback Live ", and other shows. "I do not respect a man who cheats on his wife, and exposes his penis to a stranger," she said. [cite news
first=David
last=Plotz
title=Susan Carpenter-McMillan - The woman who ate Paula Jones.
date=1997-09-21
url =http://www.slate.com/id/1832/
work =Slate Magazine
accessdate = 2007-09-26]Clinton and his defense team challenged Jones's right to bring a civil lawsuit against a sitting president for an incident that occurred prior to the defendant's becoming president. The Clinton defense team took the position that the trial should be delayed until the president was no longer in office, because the job of the president is unique and does not allow him to take time away from it to deal with a private civil lawsuit. The case wound its way through the courts, eventually reaching the Supreme Court on
January 13 ,1997 . OnMay 27 , the Supreme Court unanimously ruled against Clinton, and allowed the lawsuit to proceed.Change in counsel
In September 1997, Jones' attorneys Gilbert Davis and Joseph Cammarata both quit the case, after Carpenter-McMillan advised Jones to reject the settlement offer from Clinton because it did not come with an apology. Jones was then represented by the
Rutherford Institute , a conservative legal organization, and by a Dallas law firm. Carpenter-McMillan continued to serve as Jones' spokesperson.Paula Jones' declaration
Under penalty of perjury, Paula Jones declared that Clinton had Trooper Danny Ferguson escort her to Clinton's hotel room where Clinton made sexual advances that Jones rejected. Clinton eventually dropped both his trousers and his underwear and exposed himself to Jones, at which time Jones said she had to go. [cite news
title=Declaration of Paula Jones
date=1998-03-13
url =http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/special/pjones/docs/jonesdec031398.htm
work =The Washington Post
accessdate = 2007-09-26]Conclusion of case
Before the case reached trial, Judge
Susan Webber Wright granted President Clinton's motion for summary judgment, ruling that Jones could not show that she had suffered any damages--according to Arkansas state law standards of outrage and intentional infliction of emotional distress--even if her claim of sexual harassment were otherwise proven. Jones appealed the dismissal to a panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, where, at oral argument, two of the three judges on the panel appeared sympathetic to her arguments. [cite news
first=Peter
last=Baker
title=Clinton Settles Paula Jones Lawsuit for $850,000
date=1998-11-14
url =http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/special/clinton/stories/jones111498.htm
work =The Washington Post
accessdate = 2007-09-26] OnNovember 13 ,1998 , Clinton settled with Jones for $850,000, the entire amount of her claim, but without an apology, in exchange for her agreement to drop the appeal. All but $151,000 went to pay what were by then her considerable legal expenses. Before the end of the entire litigation, her marriage broke apart and she appeared in the news media to show the results of a nose job paid for by a donor. [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,988958,00.html Paula Jones' New Nose] . ]In April 1999, Judge Wright found President Clinton in civil
contempt of court for misleading testimony in the Jones case. She ordered Clinton to pay Jones $91,000 for expenses incurred as the result of Clinton's dishonest and misleading answers.cite news
first=Bob
last=Franken
title=Clinton found in civil contempt for Jones testimony
date=1999-04-12
url =http://www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/stories/1999/04/12/clinton.contempt/
work =CNN
accessdate = 2007-09-26]Wright then referred Clinton's conduct to the Arkansas Bar for disciplinary action, and on January 19, 2001, the day before President Clinton left the White House, Clinton entered into an agreement with the Arkansas Bar and Independent Counsel Robert Ray under which Clinton was stripped of his license to practice law for a period of five years. [cite news
title=Transcript - Independent Counsel Robert Ray Holds News Conference on Deal Struck With President Clinton in Whitewater Probe
date=2001-01-19
url =http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0101/19/bn.10.html
work =CNN
accessdate = 2007-09-26] His fine was paid from a fund raised for his legal expenses.Perjury - Lewinsky scandal connection
Jones's lawyers decided to show to the court a pattern of behavior by Clinton that involved his allegedly repeatedly becoming sexually involved with state or government employees. Jones's lawyers therefore subpoenaed women they suspected Clinton had had affairs with, one of whom was Monica Lewinsky. In his deposition for the Jones lawsuit, Clinton denied having "sexual relations" with Monica Lewinsky. Based on evidence provided by
Linda Tripp , which identified the existence of a blue dress with Clinton's semen,Kenneth Starr concluded that this sworn testimony was false and perjurious.During the deposition in the Jones case, Clinton was asked, "Have you ever had sexual relations with Monica Lewinsky, as that term is defined in Deposition Exhibit 1, as modified by the Court?" The judge ordered that Clinton be given an opportunity to review the definition. It included contact with the genitalia, anus, groin, breast, inner thigh, or buttocks of a person with an intent to arouse or gratify the sexual desire of that person, any contact of the genitals or anus of another person, or contact of one's genitals or anus with any part of another person's body either directly or through clothing. [cite news
title=President Clinton's Deposition in the Paula Jones Case
date=1998-01-17
url =http://www.australianpolitics.com/usa/clinton/paulajones/deposition.shtml
work =australianpolitics.com
accessdate = 2007-09-26] [cite news
first=John
last=King
title=New Details Of Clinton's Jones Deposition Leaked
date=1998-03-05
url =http://edition.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/1998/03/05/clinton.deposition
work =CNN
accessdate = 2007-09-26] [cite web
first=Steve
last= Kangas
title=Perjury about sexual relations from the Paula Jones deposition
url =http://www.huppi.com/kangaroo/L-clintonjonesperjury.html
work = Liberalism Resurgent web site
accessdate = 2007-09-26] Clinton flatly denied having sexual relations with Ms. Lewinsky. [cite web
last =Starr
first =Kenneth
title =Independent Counsel Kenneth's Starr report to the House of Representatives
publisher =MSNBC
date =1998-09-09
url =http://www.msnbc.com/modules/starr_rpt/6narrit1.htm#L12
accessdate = 2007-09-26] Later, at the Starr Grand Jury, Clinton stated that he believed the definition of sexual relations agreed upon for the Jones deposition excluded his receiving oral sex. It was upon the basis of this statement that the perjury charges in his impeachment were drawn up. Clinton was impeached by the House of Representatives onDecember 19 ,1998 on charges ofperjury andobstruction of justice . But despite Republican control of the Senate, Clinton was found not guilty on both charges.Life following the Clinton lawsuit
Jones now claims she was victimized by both Clinton and his Republican opponents. Her legal fund did not cover the attorneys' fees, and Jones's personal life was disrupted during the controversy: she was divorced by her husband, purchased a house after the settlement, and incurred a large tax bill, then posed nude for
Penthouse magazine , claiming that she would use the money to pay the tax and fund her two grade-school-aged children's college education. This caused her to be publicly denounced as "trailer-park trash" by authorAnn Coulter , who said, "I totally believed she was the good Christian girl who had suffered sexual harassment and eschewal. That is what she made herself out to be.... [N] ow it turns out she's a fraud, at least to the extent of pretending to be an honorable and moral person." Jones attempted to defend herself on "Larry King Live", stating, "I haven't been out doing anything and trying to make a lot of money. I haven't been offered a book deal like everybody else in this huge thing has done. Ann Coulter's done books. I haven't seen her call me up and say: 'Paula, would you like for me to help you write a book, a really nice, decent book?' I haven't had any help from anybody whatsoever."Jones subsequently appeared in a boxing match against
Tonya Harding inFox TV 's "Celebrity Boxing " in 2002, filling in forAmy Fisher ; Jones lost the match.In March 2005, Paula Jones appeared on the debut show of "Lie Detector" on
Pax TV , produced by Mark Phillips Philms & Telephision, and was given apolygraph exam. She was asked if then Governor Bill Clinton had—in a hotel room in 1991—dropped his pants, exposed himself, and asked for sexual favors from her. Jones said yes and the polygraph operator determined she was telling the truth. Lie Detector offered to test Clinton, but he did not respond to the request. No American mainstream news sources commented on the polygraph test results, with the exception ofHannity and Colmes , who dedicated a couple of segments to it, and Sean Hannity's radio show. [cite news
title =Paula Jones Talks with Sean & Alan
work =FOX News
date =2005-03-09
url =http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,150036,00.html
accessdate = 2007-09-26]Jones' first husband, Stephen "Steve" Jones, filed for divorce in June of 1999. They had two boys, Stephen and Preston. Two years later in December of 2001, Jones remarried a Little Rock salesman named Steven Mark McFadden. [ [http://www.famoushookups.com/site/celebrity_profile.php?celebid=9795&name=Paula_Jones Paula Jones' Relationship History] on Famous Hookups.com] As of December 2007 Jones works as a real estate agent in central Arkansas. [cite web
title = About us
work =Crye-Leike, Realtors
url =http://paulajmcfadden.crye-leike.com/about.php
accessdate = 2007-09-26]'The Blue Dress' a movie about the
Lewinsky scandal regarding PresidentBill Clinton is planned for theatrical release in Fall 2009, starring Ms Jones as herself. [cite news|url=http://bluedressmovie.com/2008/09/bill-monica-movie-is-all-red-one-and-blue/
title=Blue Dress Movie press release|date=2008-09-22|publisher=Blue Dress, LLC] A movie trailer was released in September 2008. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i8tFk3ZPWtU]See also
*
Juanita Broaddrick , "aka" Jane Doe #5 in Jones' lawsuit
*Gennifer Flowers
*Kathleen Willey
*Monica Lewinsky References
External links
*cite news
last =Barak
first =Daphne
title =Jones would have been happy with an apology
work =Irish Examiner
date =1998-09-23
url =http://archives.tcm.ie/irishexaminer/1998/09/23/fhead.htm
accessdate = 2007-09-26
*Citation
last1 = Conason | first1 = Joe
last2 = Lyons | first2 = Gene
title =The Hunting of the President
publisher =Thomas Dunne Books
date = 2000
isbn = 0-312-24547-5
*cite news
last =Givhan
first =Robin
title =Paula Jones's About-Face
work =The Washington Post
date =1998-01-16
url =http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/special/pjones/stories/pj011698.htm
accessdate = 2007-09-26
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