Conservatives Rally to Paula Jones

Paula Corbin Jones’ sexual-harassment battle with President Clinton is David versus Goliath no more.

What began as a struggle between a sitting president and a former low-level Arkansas state employee with two attorneys working on a contingency-fee basis has evolved into a more even contest in terms of financial and legal assets.

The 3-year-old lawsuit, due to go to trial in May, stems from Jones’ allegation that Clinton, while Arkansas governor in 1991, summoned her to a hotel room, exposed himself and asked her for a sexual favor, which she says she refused. Jones was a state employee at the time.

Clinton has said he does not recall ever meeting Jones, and he has adamantly denied propositioning her.

Jones has insisted from the start that she is suing Clinton to right a wrong and that she has no political motive and is not seeking financial gain. Indeed, she turned down a settlement offer in September that easily would have paid her lawyers’ expenses and fees, prompting the attorneys to quit.

But political motive or not, she is now being backed by a coalition of conservative activists and fund-raisers, who have begun collecting money for her through direct-mail solicitations and from two Web sites on the Internet.

In addition, two conservative organizations in Washington are helping her indirectly by running cable television and radio ads appealing for information on sexual harassment by the president and other high government officials.

The result is instantly apparent. Instead of two Washington area attorneys, Jones’ legal counsel is a team of politically conservative Dallas lawyers brought into the case by the Rutherford Institute of Charlottesville, Va., a nonprofit organization that often has gone to court for causes supported by the religious right. The attorneys’ travel, lodging, meals and other expenses are underwritten by the institute.

They are opposed by a formidable defense team put together for the president by Robert S. Bennett, whom many in the legal community call Washington’s super-lawyer. At $475 an hour, he has represented top officials ranging from former Defense Secretary Caspar W. Weinberger in the Iran-Contra investigation to former Rep. Dan Rostenkowski (D-Ill.) in a political corruption case.

Although Clinton has not had an easy time paying Bennett or his coterie of associate lawyers at the pricey Skadden Arps firm, he is likely to be able to relieve any remaining debt after he leaves office. Clinton, whose annual salary is $200,000, has said that, if he stays healthy, he will be able to “earn a pretty good living” and eventually pay all of his lawyers.

The fund-raising ability of Jones’ new backers has raised suspicions among Clinton supporters that sexual-harassment issues alone are not at the heart of the matter. Leaders of the Rutherford Institute have ties to the Rev. Jerry Falwell, the conservative Baptist minister who runs Liberty University in Virginia. Falwell marketed thousands of videotapes in 1994 alleging that Clinton was deeply involved in drug-running, multiple murders and financial corruption.

Clinton’s allies suspect that in taking sworn statements from former bodyguards of then-Gov. Clinton and a number of women, the institute primarily wants to discredit the president with lurid allegations of infidelity--whether those claims win the Jones case or not.

Responding to questions about his motive, John W. Whitehead, founder and president of the Rutherford Institute, declared that he has “no political agenda.” He added that he was none too impressed with Falwell’s videotaped charges.

However, in a column he writes for the institute’s monthly magazine, Whitehead has raised questions about the president’s “moral character,” and his publication has repeated undocumented claims by Falwell that Clinton had affairs with at least five women.

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Whitehead, a lawyer, worked for Falwell’s Moral Majority Legal Defense Fund before founding the Rutherford Institute in 1982. The institute’s co-founder, Jerry Mims, also has ties to Falwell, having succeeded the conservative minister as head of the now-defunct Moral Majority.

The institute has made two mass mailings to raise money for the Jones case and has underscored its pitch for funds on a Web site. The appeal, endorsed by Jones, seeks financial support for other institute projects as well.

A separate Web site has been established by the Paula Jones Legal Fund, which has a Pasadena post office box for contributions. That one has been arranged by Susan Carpenter McMillan of Pasadena, Jones’ chief spokeswoman.

U.S. District Judge Susan Webber Wright, who is assigned to the case in Little Rock, Ark., noted in a recent court order that Clinton’s lawyers have claimed that records of the legal fund show it has been used to pay Jones’ “personal expenses” as well as some litigation costs.

The legal fund, the president’s counsel alleged, has been used to cover thousands of dollars in expenses for clothing, hairstyling, boarding Jones’ dog and towing her car, according to documents unsealed recently.

The two organizations airing advertisements seeking victims of sexual harassment by high government officials are the Free Congress Foundation, headed by Paul M. Weyrich, a conservative and outspoken Clinton critic, and the National Center for Public Policy Research.

Amy Ridenour, who heads the center, said the advertisements do not mention Jones but are intended to offer counseling to other alleged victims. So far, more than 4,000 people have called to seek help, provide tips on specific incidents or get more information, Ridenour said. Twenty-four unverified allegations have been received against the president or other high-ranking officials, she said.

No effort is being made to raise money for Jones’ lawsuit “because we’re not taking sides,” Ridenour said. But some lawyers speculated that the ads could help Jones indirectly because the sponsors are collecting data that could be subpoenaed by her attorneys.

The actual legal fees accruing to Dallas lawyer Donovan Campbell, who was brought into the case by Whitehead, will come out of any judgment a jury might award Jones, Whitehead said. Campbell and his law partners joined with Jones after her first two attorneys--Joseph Cammarata and Gilbert Davis--withdrew when she rejected a potential out-of-court settlement of about $700,000. Jones said she objected because the settlement lacked a full apology from Clinton.

The president’s lawyers argued that no apology could accompany the settlement because the alleged harassment never occurred.

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The institute’s fund-raising letters, approved by Jones and sent over her signature, characterize the settlement offer she rejected as a payoff. “This lawsuit is not principally about money,” the letter says. “I simply want my character and reputation cleared and my expenses covered.”

Whitehead said the fund solicitations “have been moderately successful so far,” but he declined to provide figures.

As for Clinton, two insurance policies are believed to have provided nearly $1 million to his legal team over the last two years. But the president’s personal-liability insurers have informed Bennett they no longer feel obligated to provide additional funds for the trial of Jones’ lawsuit, a position sources say Bennett could decide to contest.

Some additional support has come from a legal defense fund established by the Clintons three years ago to pay defense costs of Whitewater investigations and the Jones lawsuit. However, the fund does not solicit contributions and donors are limited to $1,000 a year from their personal funds.