Title: Bill Clinton 15 Years Ago: 'I Did Not Have Sexual Relations With That Woman' | National News | US News
Headings: Bill Clinton 15 Years Ago: 'I Did Not Have Sexual Relations With That Woman'
Bill Clinton 15 Years Ago: 'I Did Not Have Sexual Relations With That Woman'
The "girl"
The floater
The fixer
The prosecutor

Content: If the allegations are true, the woman—the "girl," her lawyer keeps calling her—was only a few years older than Chelsea Clinton is now when she began a sexual relationship with Clinton. If the allegations are true, the affair began while he was president, not before; after he began a life in which every action was scrutinized, not before; with someone who worked for him, not with him—with someone described by friends as gushy and giggly. If the allegations are true, he didn't encourage her merely to fib to the press (as he once seemed to urge Gennifer Flowers) but actually to lie under oath. If the allegations are true, he didn't just try to talk her out of testifying honestly by himself but also enlisted the help of Vernon Jordan, one of the most powerful and well-connected lawyers in Washington. If the allegations are true, the questions speak not only to Clinton's judgment but also to his self-control, his character, even his stability. Bill Clinton has survived so many seemingly fatal reversals that few in Washington are willing to predict that this will be the one to finally capsize his political career. But even many of his most ardent defenders understand that these charges could present Clinton with the most formidable challenge of his career. At week's end, despite an accelerating cascade of accusations—including persistent rumors linking Clinton to other women—decisive proof of any of these allegations remained distant.