Lawyer for Troopers Apologizes for Causing Clinton ‘Public Pain’

A lawyer for two Arkansas troopers who allege that they helped arrange sexual trysts for Bill Clinton as governor apologized Wednesday for the “public pain” the story caused the President.

In a letter to Clinton, Little Rock attorney Cliff Jackson said he hoped that the public airing of the allegations would bring about the “best possible future for you and our country.”

“I feel for your pain and that of your family,” Jackson wrote in the letter distributed to news media.

“Forgive my role as an attorney for the troopers (a role which I did not seek and undertook only with great trepidation when the truth of their allegations became apparent) in inflicting such public pain upon you and yours,” the letter said.

Clinton has denied the allegations by troopers Roger L. Perry and Larry G. Patterson that he misused his security detail while governor and after the presidential election when he was still living in the Arkansas governor’s mansion.

White House officials said the President was aware of Jackson’s letter but would not comment on it. One official said Jackson might have sent the letter to try to further publicize the troopers’ story.

“It doesn’t make a lot of sense to try to communicate with the President by releasing a letter to the press,” the official said

The White House has characterized Jackson as a man out to cause problems for Clinton. The two attended Oxford University together in the late 1960s. During last year’s campaign, Jackson raised questions about Clinton’s avoidance of the draft during the Vietnam War.

Jackson wrote in his letter that he had no vendetta against Clinton.

“You and I both know that we have always treated each other with dignity and respect and that there is no incident in the past from which present criticism stems,” he wrote. “I think that at some level you must know that I wish you only the best.”