Clinton Denies Wrongdoing in New Sex Scandal

An infuriated President Clinton, struggling to fend off yet another damaging allegation about his personal behavior, denied Wednesday that he had an “improper sexual relationship” with a White House intern or encouraged her to lie under oath about their involvement.

Yet even as the president did his best to rebut the charges, independent counsel Kenneth W. Starr issued a subpoena for White House documents that might shed light on Clinton’s relationship with 24-year-old Monica S. Lewinsky.

Sources confirmed that Starr sought and won approval Friday to expand his probe after his office assisted a co-worker of Lewinsky’s in surreptitiously tape-recording a conversation in which the former aide allegedly discussed an affair with Clinton and subsequent White House efforts to influence her testimony.

The recent exchange between Lewinsky and Linda Tripp was recorded with the assistance of FBI agents, and corroborated information contained in a series of earlier exchanges that Tripp had taped on her own, the sources said.

In a series of interviews Wednesday, Clinton emphatically rejected the allegations that have exploded overnight into what some observers already are calling one of the gravest personal and political scandals he has faced in his roller-coaster presidency.

“The relationship was not improper,” Clinton insisted in an interview with Roll Call, a biweekly newspaper. “The relationship was not sexual.”

Clinton also flatly denied reports that he had asked Lewinsky to lie about their relationship or directed trusted friend and advisor Vernon E. Jordan to coach Lewinsky on his behalf.

“I did not urge anyone to say anything that was untrue,” Clinton said in a televised interview on PBS’ “NewsHour.”

Starr is attempting to determine whether Clinton deployed Jordan to talk with Lewinsky in advance about the sworn statement she was to provide in the Paula Corbin Jones sexual-harassment case. In that statement, Lewinsky denied having a sexual relationship with the president.

Standing up for Jordan, who so far has declined to comment on the allegations, Clinton declared: “He is in no way involved in trying to get anybody to say anything that’s not true at my request.”

In related developments:

* On Saturday, as Clinton provided his own deposition in the Jones case, the president was asked point-blank about his relationship with Lewinsky and he denied any sexual involvement with her, according to sources.

* A spokesman for Clinton’s ambassador to the United Nations, Bill Richardson, confirmed that Richardson offered Lewinsky a job last October, a few weeks before she testified in the Jones case.

* Several members of Congress said they believe impeachment proceedings are a possibility if the charges against Clinton are substantiated.

* First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton, discussing the matter after delivering a speech in Baltimore, said she believes the allegations are “absolutely” false, and politically motivated.

Ex-Southern California Resident Was Intern

Lewinsky, a former resident of Southern California, first worked at the White House as an unpaid intern in the summer of 1995. She returned to the White House in the fall of that year and spent five months working in a paid position in the legislative affairs office. She later transferred to a post in the Pentagon public affairs office, a job she quit only a few weeks ago.

Lewinsky has not spoken publicly about the allegations, and her whereabouts could not be immediately determined Wednesday.

The unusual link between the Whitewater and Jones cases was provided by Tripp, another Pentagon public affairs specialist who worked with Lewinsky.

Sources said Tripp started tape-recording conversations with Lewinsky last summer because she was angry that Clinton’s private lawyer, Robert S. Bennett, had publicly questioned her credibility.

Tripp had told Newsweek magazine she had observed the aftermath of a romantic encounter between Clinton and yet another aide. She said she saw Kathleen E. Willey, a longtime Clinton supporter who was volunteering at the White House, emerge from the Oval Office with her clothing askew and her makeup smeared.

Willey, who was later compelled to testify in the Jones case, reportedly said under oath that the president groped and kissed her when she went to his office to ask him for a paid job because her husband was experiencing financial problems.

The Newsweek account prompted Bennett to question Tripp’s veracity and intentions. Angered by his response, Tripp began to record conversations she was having with Lewinsky about her alleged involvement with Clinton, sources said.

Tripp made an undetermined number of recordings on her own over a period of several months, sources said. After Tripp approached Starr, investigators provided her with equipment to surreptitiously tape at least one corroborating exchange under their supervision.

News of Alleged Affair Rocks Washington

The news of the president’s alleged affair has rocked Washington at a time when Clinton was attempting to focus attention on his new legislative agenda in preparation for his State of the Union address next week and the release of his budget early next month.

Yet some Clinton critics were clearly squeamish about probing the alleged sexual liaison between the president and the young aide. They said the primary issue is whether Clinton perjured himself or tried to obstruct justice by encouraging someone to lie to cover up his misdeeds.

“We’re not interested in the president’s sexual proclivities or alleged infidelities, but if there is evidence of obstruction of justice we might look into that,” said Rep. Dan Burton (R-Ind.), who plans to conduct hearings through much of this year on fund-raising abuses concerning the White House. “I don’t want to get into the sexual thing.”

Although Clinton has been accused of sexual misconduct in the past, the Lewinsky allegations are the first serious charges about an affair that allegedly took place since he occupied the White House.

Political analysts said the allegations are likely to be taken more seriously by the public than charges involving Clinton’s actions before he became president.

Even so, with the American economy still expanding and the rest of the world relatively stable, they said they did not expect the charges to significantly damage Clinton’s presidency unless they result in an indictment for obstruction of justice.

“People have heard so much about this guy’s sleaze over the years, a lot of it is automatically discounted,” said Larry Sabato, professor of government at the University of Virginia. “But if it’s ever proven that his reckless behavior continued--particularly with a 21-year-old--then he would finally begin to suffer even in a good economy.”

Marlin Fitzwater, who was the spokesman for Presidents George Bush and Ronald Reagan, said he believes that Clinton will survive the scandal.

“On the adultery issue, he will weather this one like all the rest,” Fitzwater said. “The people who forgave him his other indiscretions will forgive him this one.”

The obstruction of justice and perjury accusations are more perilous, Fitzwater added, but carry with them an extremely heavy burden of proof.

White House officials tried to put the best spin possible on a very difficult situation. Although the president’s schedule was disrupted somewhat by the new charges and his need to meet with attorneys over the matter, Clinton and his staff said most of his day was spent on official business.

In addition to giving three long interviews, which had been previously scheduled to discuss next week’s State of the Union address, Clinton met with his national security advisors to talk about Iraq and the Middle East.

Although the Lewinsky episode had the press working at full tilt, White House officials insisted that they managed to get other work done.

“We have gotten used to living with accusations flying all around from one quarter to another,” said one White House official.

Controversy Comes Amid Domestic Push

The controversy comes at an inopportune time, distracting attention from Clinton’s efforts to spotlight a series of popular domestic policy proposals.

“The State of the Union is the bright and shining moment for the president to highlight his agenda for the year,” said Terry Holt, spokesman for the House Republican Conference. “Clearly this has cast a pall over this opportunity. I can’t imagine on the floor of the House of Representatives there will not be a little bit of discussion of the president’s most recent bimbo eruption.”

Fellow Democrats were reluctant to predict how politically damaging the controversy will be, but some said privately that it could pose the toughest test yet of Clinton’s ability to bounce back from scandal.

While Clinton has managed to achieve record high approval ratings in spite of the allegations by Jones and the previous allegations of adultery with Gennifer Flowers, some said the latest imbroglio threatens to be much harder for Clinton to shake off.

“These are probably the most serious allegations yet leveled against the president,” said former Clinton aide George Stephanopoulos in an interview on “Good Morning America.” “There’s no question that . . . if they’re true, they’re not only politically damaging, but it could lead to impeachment proceedings.”

* FREQUENT VISITOR: Ex-intern at center of allegations reportedly visited the White House many times. A15