April Response Date Set in Clinton Disbarment Case

An Arkansas committee that will determine whether President Clinton should keep his law license has given him until April 21 to respond to a request that he be disbarred, a conservative legal group said Friday.

Clinton had asked the state Supreme Court’s Committee on Professional Conduct to give him until Feb. 19, 2001, to respond to allegations that he is unfit to be a lawyer in Arkansas. Clinton’s lawyer David E. Kendall said the president wants to wait until the month after he leaves office.

In a fax provided to Associated Press by the Southeastern Legal Foundation, which filed the complaint, the committee’s chairman said it decided to give Clinton until April 21.

The Southeastern Legal Foundation wants Clinton disbarred for giving false or misleading testimony during the Paula Corbin Jones sexual harassment case. A federal judge who found Clinton in contempt of her Little Rock court last year filed a separate complaint but did not request a specific penalty.

“We’re pleased they have a clear date,” said Matt Glavin, president of the Atlanta-based conservative foundation. “We’re anxious to see how he defends the indefensible.”

Kendall did not immediately respond to a call to his Washington office, and Clinton’s Little Rock lawyer, Stephen Engstrom, refused to comment Friday.

The state Supreme Court ordered the Committee on Professional Conduct to take up the case Jan. 27. The Atlanta group had complained to the high court that its disbarment request was going nowhere.