Jones’ Lawyers See Clinton Cover-Up Over Willey Notes

Attorneys for Paula Corbin Jones filed court papers Saturday contending President Clinton obstructed justice by withholding letters, notes and telephone messages between the president and Kathleen Willey until after she accused him of a crude sexual advance on national television.

In the new papers and an accompanying press release, the attorneys made an accusation against Clinton from 20 years ago involving a woman who had not been mentioned in the Jones case previously. Clinton’s attorney said it was an act of desperation.

Regarding the Willey documents, Jones’ lawyers said the White House had expressly denied any such papers existed, including records about Willey’s employment, appointments, duties, conferences, logs and telephone records.

The attorneys for Jones, who has accused the president of sexual harassment while he was governor of Arkansas, said they asked three months ago for documents concerning Willey, a White House volunteer.

In the days after Willey made her allegations in a CBS-TV “60 Minutes” interview on March 15, the White House released 17 documents, which consisted of notes, letters and telephone messages.

Some of the letters, signed “Fondly, Kathleen,” were cited as evidence that the two remained on good terms even after November 1993, when Willey claims the president fondled her outside the Oval Office.

The filing was made in Little Rock, Ark., where the harassment lawsuit is slated to go to trial May 27. The federal judge handling the case is weighing a motion by Clinton’s lawyers to dismiss Jones’ lawsuit.

Jones’ attorneys also said they have gathered evidence suggesting Clinton may have sexually assaulted an Arkansas woman in the late 1970s while he was the state’s attorney general. Clinton’s lawyer, Robert S. Bennett, said the unidentified woman has denied it under oath.