Paula Jones | |
---|---|
Born | Paula Rosalee Corbin September 17, 1966 Lonoke, Arkansas, U.S. |
Known for | Clinton v. Jones |
Spouses | Steve Jones (m. 1991;div. 1999)Steven McFadden (m. 2001) |
Paula Corbin Jones (born Paula Rosalee Corbin; September 17, 1966) is an American civil servant. A former Arkansas state employee, Jones sued United States President Bill Clinton for sexual harassment in 1994. In the initial lawsuit, Jones cited Clinton for sexual harassment at the Excelsior Hotel in Little Rock, Arkansas on May 8, 1991. Following a series of civil suits and appeals through the U.S. District Court and the U.S. Court of Appeals from May 1994 to January 1996, Clinton v. Jones eventually reached the United States Supreme Court on May 27, 1997. The case was later settled on November 13, 1998. [1]
The Paula Jones case provided the impetus for Independent Counsel Ken Starr to broaden his ongoing investigation into Clinton's pre-presidency financial dealings with the Whitewater Land Company, and resulted in Clinton's impeachment in the House of Representatives and subsequent acquittal by the Senate on February 12, 1999. Specifically, Clinton was asked under oath about Monica Lewinsky in the Jones suit, denied having ever had sexual relations with her, and was accused of perjury after evidence of sexual contact was exposed. The Jones lawsuit also led to a landmark legal precedent by the U.S. Supreme Court which ruled that a sitting U.S. president is not exempt from civil litigation for acts committed outside of public office.
Jones's suit was dismissed as lacking legal merit prior to Clinton's impeachment and the exposure of the Lewinsky affair. But in August 1998, Clinton's relationship with Lewinsky, and compelling evidence that he had lied about it under oath in the Jones suit, was brought to light. At that point Jones appealed the ruling, and her appeal gained traction following Clinton's admission to having an affair with Lewinsky in August 1998. [2]
On appeal, Clinton agreed to an out-of-court settlement, paying Jones and her lawyers $850,000 to drop the suit. [3] Clinton's lawyer said that the President made the settlement only so he could end the lawsuit for good and move on with his life. [4] Jones and her lawyers said that the payment was evidence of Clinton's guilt.
Jones continues to maintain that Clinton sexually harassed her. [5] Clinton continues to deny it. [6]
Jones was born in Lonoke, Arkansas. She was the daughter of a minister in the Church of the Nazarene and raised within that congregation. [7]
Jones graduated from a high school in Carlisle, Arkansas, in 1984. [8] She briefly attended a secretarial school in Little Rock, Arkansas. [9] Living in Little Rock, she met her husband, Steve Jones, in 1989. [10] She worked a number of jobs before joining the Arkansas Industrial Development Commission (AIDC) in March 1991. [9] [10]
In a declaration sworn under penalty of felony, [11] Jones alleged that, on May 8, 1991, while working on official business in her capacity as a state employee of the AIDC, she attended the Annual Governor's Quality Conference at the Excelsior Hotel in Little Rock. Jones alleged she was asked by an Arkansas State Police Trooper to report to Arkansas Governor Clinton's hotel room in the Excelsior [12] [13] [14] Hotel (now the Little Rock Marriott), where Clinton propositioned and exposed himself to her. She claimed she kept quiet about the incident until 1994, when a David Brock story in The American Spectator magazine printed an account. Jones filed a sexual harassment suit against Clinton on May 6, 1994, two days before the expiration of the three-year statute of limitations, and sought $750,000 in damages. [15]
Jones was initially represented by Gilbert Davis and Joseph Cammarata, two Washington, D.C.–area lawyers. Susan Carpenter-McMillan, a California conservative commentator, became her press spokesperson. Carpenter-McMillan wasted no time bringing the issue to the press, calling Clinton "un-American", a "liar", and a "philanderer" on Meet the Press , Crossfire , Equal Time , Larry King Live , Today , The Geraldo 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. [16]
Judge Susan Webber Wright granted President Clinton's motion for summary judgment, ruling that Jones could not demonstrate that she had suffered any damages. As to the claim of intentional infliction of emotional distress, Wright ruled that Jones failed to show that Clinton's actions constituted "outrageous conduct" as required of the tort, alongside not showing proof of damages caused by distress. [17] Jones appealed the dismissal to 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. [4] Clinton and his defense team then challenged Jones' right to bring a civil lawsuit against a sitting president for an incident that occurred before 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 went through the courts, eventually reaching the Supreme Court. On May 27, 1997, the Court unanimously ruled against Clinton, and allowed the lawsuit to proceed. [12] Clinton dismissed Jones' story and agreed to move on with the lawsuit. [18]
On August 29, 1997, Jones' attorneys Davis and Cammarata asked to resign from the case, believing the settlement offer they had secured, which Jones refused, was the appropriate way to end the case. [19] Jones had reportedly told her lawyers she wanted an apology from Clinton, in addition to a settlement. [20] In September, Judge Wright accepted their request. [15]
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. In December 1997, Jones reduced the damages sought in her suit against Clinton to $525,000 and agreed to remove Clinton's co-defendant and former bodyguard, Danny Ferguson, from the suit. [15]
On April 1, 1998, before the case could reach trial, [21] Judge Wright granted Clinton's motion for dismissal, ruling that Jones could not show that she had suffered any damages. [21] [22] Jones soon appealed the dismissal to the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. [4]
On November 13, 1998, Clinton settled with Jones for $850,000 in exchange for her agreement to drop the appeal. [4] However, in the four page settlement deal, Clinton acknowledged no wrongdoing and offered no apology. [4] Robert S. Bennett, Clinton's attorney, still maintained that Jones's claim was baseless and that Clinton only settled to end the lawsuit and move on. [4] In March 1999, Judge Wright ruled that Jones would get only $200,000 from the settlement and that the rest of the money would pay for her legal expenses. [23]
Before the end of the entire litigation, her marriage broke apart. [24] [25]
In April 1999, Judge Wright found Clinton in civil contempt of court for misleading testimony in the Jones case. She ordered Clinton to pay $1,202 to the court and an additional $90,000 to Jones's lawyers for expenses incurred, [26] [27] [28] far less than the $496,000 that the lawyers originally requested. [28]
Wright then referred Clinton's conduct to the Arkansas Bar Association for disciplinary action, and on January 19, 2001, the day before Clinton left the office of president, he entered into an agreement with the Arkansas Bar and independent counsel Robert Ray under which Clinton's license to practice law in Arkansas was suspended for a period of five years. [29] [30] His fine was paid from a fund raised for his legal expenses.[ citation needed ]
In December 1994, federal judge Peter K. Leisure ordered Penthouse magazine not to distribute semi-nude photographs of Jones that had been taken by her ex-boyfriend Mike Turner. Owner Bob Guccione argued that the photos counted under "illustrations of newsworthy articles" and called the order prohibiting distribution of the magazine an instance of prior restraint, a position reflected by several law professors; he also said the issue was already out in the hands of distributors. [31] This temporary restraining order was lifted two days later. [32] She later posed for photos illustrating an article, "The Perils of Paula Jones", in the December 2000 issue, citing the pressures of a large tax bill and two young sons to support. [33] [34]
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, including Arkansas Appeal Tribunal employee Gennifer Flowers, [35] as well as White House employee Monica Lewinsky. In his deposition for the Jones lawsuit, Clinton denied having "sexual relations" with Monica Lewinsky. Based on testimony provided by Linda Tripp, which identified the existence of a blue dress with Clinton's semen on it, Kenneth Starr concluded that Clinton's 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 said that "a person engages in sexual relations when the person knowingly engages in or causes contact with the genitalia, anus, groin, breast, inner thigh, or buttocks of any person with an intent to arouse or gratify the sexual desire of any person". [36] [37] [38] Clinton flatly denied having sexual relations with Lewinsky. [39] 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 House of Representatives voted to impeach Clinton on December 19, 1998, on charges of perjury and obstruction of justice. Clinton was subsequently tried before the Senate, where votes on either charge both fell far short of the 2/3 supermajority required for conviction. [40]
In February 2016, Jones endorsed Donald Trump for the 2016 United States presidential election. [41] That same week, she attended a rally for Trump held in Little Rock, Arkansas, where she asked for a selfie with him. [42]
In October 2016, Jones joined Trump for a press conference before the second 2016 Presidential Debate to air grievances against Hillary and Bill Clinton. The conference also included Juanita Broaddrick and Kathleen Willey, who had also accused Bill Clinton of sexual misconduct. [43] [44]
Jones was portrayed by Annaleigh Ashford in the third season of the series American Crime Story . [45]
William Jefferson Clinton is an American lawyer and politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and again from 1983 to 1992. Clinton, whose policies reflected a centrist "Third Way" political philosophy, became known as a New Democrat.
Monica Samille Lewinsky is an American activist. Lewinsky became internationally known in the late 1990s after U.S. President Bill Clinton admitted to having had an affair with her during her days as a White House intern between 1995 and 1997. The affair and its repercussions became known as the Clinton–Lewinsky scandal.
Kenneth Winston Starr was an American lawyer and judge who as independent counsel authored the Starr Report, which served as the basis of the impeachment of Bill Clinton. He headed an investigation of members of the Clinton administration, known as the Whitewater controversy, from 1994 to 1998. Starr previously served as a federal appellate judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit from 1983 to 1989 and as the U.S. solicitor general from 1989 to 1993 during the presidency of George H. W. Bush.
The Clinton–Lewinsky scandal was a sex scandal involving Bill Clinton, the president of the United States, and Monica Lewinsky, a White House intern. Their sexual relationship began in 1995—when Clinton was 49 years old and Lewinsky was 22 years old—and lasted 18 months, ending in 1997. Clinton ended televised remarks on January 26, 1998, with the later infamous statement: "I did not have sexual relations with that woman, Ms. Lewinsky." Further investigation led to charges of perjury and to the impeachment of Clinton in 1998 by the U.S. House of Representatives. He was subsequently acquitted on all impeachment charges of perjury and obstruction of justice in a 21-day U.S. Senate trial.
The Starr Report, officially the Referral from Independent Counsel Kenneth W. Starr in Conformity with the Requirement of Title 28, United States Code, Section 595(c), is a United States federal government report by Independent Counsel Ken Starr concerning his investigation of President Bill Clinton. Delivered to the United States Congress on September 9, 1998, the allegations in the report led to the impeachment of Bill Clinton and the five-year suspension of Clinton's law license.
Gennifer Flowers is an American author, singer, model, actress, former State of Arkansas employee, and former TV journalist. In January 1998, President Bill Clinton testified under oath that he had a sexual encounter with Flowers.
Linda Rose Tripp was an American civil servant who played a prominent role in the Clinton–Lewinsky scandal of 1998. Tripp's action in illegally and secretly recording Monica Lewinsky's confidential phone calls about her relationship with President Bill Clinton caused a sensation with their links to the earlier Clinton v. Jones lawsuit and with the disclosing of intimate details. Tripp maintained that her motives were purely patriotic, and she avoided a wiretap charge by agreeing to hand over the tapes.
"Vast right-wing conspiracy" is a phrase popularized by a 1995 memo by political opposition researcher Chris Lehane and then referenced in 1998 by the then First Lady of the United States Hillary Clinton, in defense of her husband, President Bill Clinton, characterizing the continued allegations of scandal against her and her husband, including the Lewinsky scandal, as part of a conspiracy by Clinton's political enemies. The term has been used since, including in a question posed to Bill Clinton in 2009 to describe verbal attacks on Barack Obama during his early presidency. Hillary Clinton mentioned it again during her 2016 presidential campaign.
Bill Clinton, the 42nd president of the United States, was impeached by the United States House of Representatives of the 105th United States Congress on December 19, 1998, for "high crimes and misdemeanors". The House adopted two articles of impeachment against Clinton, with the specific charges against Clinton being lying under oath and obstruction of justice. Two other articles had been considered but were rejected by the House vote.
Juanita Broaddrick is an American former nursing home administrator. She alleged that she was raped by U.S. President Bill Clinton on April 25, 1978, when he was the Attorney General of Arkansas. Clinton declined to comment on the issue.
Troopergate is the popular name for a political controversy that emerged in the 1990s in which several Arkansas State Troopers claimed that they had arranged sexual liaisons for Arkansas governor Bill Clinton during his time in office and had helped deceive his wife, Hillary Rodham Clinton.
Kathleen Willey is a former White House volunteer aide who, on March 15, 1998, alleged on the TV news program 60 Minutes that Bill Clinton had sexually assaulted her on November 29, 1993, during his first term as President. She had been subpoenaed to testify in the Paula Jones sexual harassment case.
Betty Grace Currie is an American government official who served as the personal secretary for Bill Clinton during his tenure as president of the United States. She became well known as a figure in the Lewinsky scandal for her alleged handling of gifts given to Monica Lewinsky by President Clinton.
Clinton v. Jones, 520 U.S. 681 (1997), was a landmark United States Supreme Court case establishing that a sitting President of the United States has no immunity from civil law litigation, in federal court, for acts done before taking office and unrelated to the office. In particular, there is no temporary immunity and thus no delay of federal cases until the President leaves office.
Former U.S. President Bill Clinton's public image is most notably characterized by high public approval ratings, aided by his youthful appearance, as well as his charismatic, and soundbite-ready style of speech. His personal background and lifestyle led to Nobel Prize-winning novelist Toni Morrison to call him the first "black president". Clinton was also dogged by investigations throughout his presidency, particularly of sexual misconduct, damaging the public's beliefs of his trustworthiness, though his approval ratings remained high, even as his impeachment trial continued.
Susan Webber Wright is a senior United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas. Wright is a former judge on the United States Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court. She received national attention when she first dismissed the sexual harassment lawsuit brought by Paula Jones against President Bill Clinton in 1998, and then, in 1999, found Clinton to be in civil contempt of court.
Bill Clinton, the 42nd president of the United States (1993–2001), has been publicly accused of sexual misconduct, including rape, harassment, and sexual assault. Additionally, some commentators have characterized Clinton's sexual relationship with former White House intern Monica Lewinsky as predatory or non-consensual, despite the fact that Lewinsky called the relationship consensual at the time. These allegations have been revisited and lent more credence in 2018, in light of the #MeToo movement, with many commentators and Democratic leaders now saying Clinton should have been compelled to resign after the Lewinsky scandal.
The impeachment trial of Bill Clinton, the 42nd president of the United States, began in the U.S. Senate on January 7, 1999, and concluded with his acquittal on February 12. After an inquiry between October and December 1998, President Clinton was impeached by the U.S. House of Representatives on December 19, 1998; the articles of impeachment charged him with perjury and obstruction of justice. It was the second impeachment trial of a U.S. president, preceded by that of Andrew Johnson.
The impeachment inquiry against Bill Clinton, the 42nd president of the United States, was initiated by a vote of the United States House of Representatives on October 8, 1998, roughly a month after the release of the Starr Report. The United States House of Representatives, led by Republican Speaker Newt Gingrich, voted to authorize a broad impeachment inquiry against President Clinton. The inquiry was conducted by the House Committee on the Judiciary.
Joseph Cammarata is an American attorney mainly known for handling the high-profile case against President Bill Clinton, in which he represented Paula Jones in a sexual harassment lawsuit against President Clinton. Cammarata also represented seven women who alleged they were sexually assaulted by Bill Cosby in a defamation lawsuit.
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