Arkansas Woman Claims
Clinton Attack

By Pete Yost
Associated Press Writer
Saturday, February 20, 1999; 12:19 p.m. EST

WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Clinton's lawyer says allegations that the president sexually assaulted an Arkansas woman more than 20 years ago are "absolutely false.'' [If you believe anything that comes from the White House, I have some oceanfront property in Nebraska you might be interested in acquiring.]

In her first published accounts, Juanita Broaddrick said "I was sexually assaulted by Bill Clinton'' at a Little Rock, Ark., hotel in 1978 when he was state attorney general.

The story of the alleged attack on Mrs. Broaddrick has been circulating for years. She has refused to comment until now.

According to Mrs. Broaddrick, she first met Clinton when he visited the nursing home she operated in 1978. He was running for governor at the time and she was a campaign worker. Clinton invited her to visit him sometime at campaign headquarters, she said.

Mrs. Broaddrick said she was in Little Rock for a nursing home seminar and called the headquarters and arranged to meet Clinton for coffee at her hotel. He suggested they have coffee in her room, she said.

In the hotel room, Clinton forced her to have sex, Mrs. Broaddrick said.

Clinton lawyer David Kendall issued a denial as The Associated Press and today's Washington Post and New York Post ran stories based on interviews with Mrs. Broaddrick.

"Any allegation that the president assaulted Mrs. Broaddrick more than 20 years ago is absolutely false,'' Kendall said. "Beyond that, we're not going to comment.'' [She wasn't married to Mr. Broaddrick twenty years ago, so her name couldn't have been Mrs. Broaddrick when he raped her].

White House spokesman Joe Lockhart was dismissive of the first published account of Mrs. Broaddrick's story, which appeared in Friday's Wall Street Journal.

"I spend very little time reading the Wall Street Journal editorial page,'' Lockhart told reporters. "They lost me after they accused the president of being a drug smuggler and a murderer.''

As Mrs. Broaddrick's story emerged, Paula Jones said Friday night she has few regrets about her sexual harassment lawsuit against the president and would go through it again.

"It's been a hard, hard world. ... it was really hard, because I knew what the truth was; people didn't want to believe me,'' Mrs. Jones said on CNN's "Larry King Live.''

She called the $850,000 that settled the case "somewhat of an apology. I don't think I would have ever gotten it from (Clinton's) mouth.''

In the AP interview, Mrs. Broaddrick said she did not go to the police at the time "because of the mentality of the '70s. There I was, I was married, I was also in a relationship with another man, and ... I was there alone in a hotel room with the attorney general and I didn't think anyone would possibly believe me.''

Asked why she was telling her story now, she said she was countering rumors that she had been bribed and intimidated to stay quiet. In a second interview with the AP today, Mrs. Broaddrick added that going public with her story has "been therapy for me.''

She also did an interview with NBC that has not been broadcast. Mrs. Broaddrick said she felt the network had let her "hang out to dry.''

NBC spokeswoman Alex Constantinople said, "We don't comment on our news gathering.''

As for Clinton, Mrs. Broaddrick said, "I don't have an agenda where he is concerned. I could care less what happens to the man.''

Mrs. Broaddrick's name first came to light in the 1992 presidential campaign, when a friend to whom she had confided wrote a letter recounting her story.

Lawyers for Mrs. Jones subpoenaed Mrs. Broaddrick and obtained an affidavit in which she denied that Clinton made "unwelcome sexual advances toward me in the late seventies.''

However, during Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr's investigation of the Monica Lewinsky matter, Mrs. Broaddrick told investigators that the affidavit was false, according to a written summary of their interview with her. Starr sent some materials relating to Mrs. Broaddrick to the House of Representatives, where they were available for members to review before voting on impeachment.

© Copyright 1999 The Associated Press

I would believe anyone else before I'd believe William Jefferson (insult to Thomas Jefferson) Clinton "The Lying King" or anyone associated with him.

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