August 16, 1998

Clinton Faces Moment Of Truth In Grand Jury Hearing

In every duel there is a “moment of truth” when one antagonist realizes he is doomed.

So it is tomorrow when President William Clinton and Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr square off before a grand jury. At stake is possible perjury, conspiracy to obstruct justice and abuse of power.

Contrary to well-spun public opinion, the case is not about what she said versus what he said -- though these are the weapons of choice.

The core issue is corruption of public morals.

Something dreadful has happened to our ethical compass when 70 percent of adults are said to believe adultery doesn’t matter. But let us leave this aberration to clerics.

Instead, consider the practical effects of sex in high places. There is a profound difference between unbridled sex by ordinary citizens and by leaders.

For example, Delilah seduced Sampson to reveal the secret of his power. Mata Hari the German spy dispensed sexual favors for military information during the First World War. Judy Exner, the Mafia moll; and Ellen Romesch, the East German spy, slept with President John F. Kennedy.

Strangely Kennedy’s peccadilloes were shrugged off by the public even though reliably publicized. Well, maybe not strangely, considering that many Americans feel kings can do no wrong.

Nonetheless, one can ponder the dangers of a sex-kitten cuddling up to a U.S. president and teasing: “Tell me the lock code to that black briefcase under your desk, honey, and I’ll do anything you want me to.”

Say what you will, a president’s extra-marital sexcapades are not a “private matter.”

Tomorrow night the nation will be in a dither about Clinton’s supposed testimony. He may even address the nation directly. Starr may turn over his final report to Congress before this month is over. However, we should understand one thing: the issue has very little to do about sex.

The investigations hinge on Whitewater, travel office firings, lifting documents from the office of Vince Foster the day he committed suicide, mysterious discovery of Rose law firm billing records in the White House living quarters two years after being subpoenaed, and misuse of FBI confidential files. In other words: corruption, obstruction of justice and abuse of power.

Miss Lewinsky is merely the catalyst for the more serious mix of crimes.

It should be remembered that Linda Tripp worked in the White House for Lawyer Bernard Nussbaum. He held police at bay while he removed Foster’s paper’s. Tripp was so upset about what she saw going on she considered writing a tell-all book. Instead she taped 20 hours of Lewinsky’s boasts about sex with Clinton. The Starr grand jury has those tapes.

It should be remember that Lewinsky has testified before the Starr grand jury under a blanket immunity deal. She admits lying under oath in the Paula Jones suit about sexual relations with Clinton.

More importantly Lewinsky disclosed to Starr that she sent to her mother a navy-blue dress stained with the president’s semen. The dress is being tested for DNA evidence by the FBI. It is safe to say the stain is hard evidence Clinton can not deny. Otherwise he would be pounding on the door of the FBI lab demanding to be tested. Nor would Lewinsky’s lawyers have produced the dress.

In the Jones case, Clinton also declared under oath -- and to the American people on television -- that he did not have sexual relations with “that woman.”

In the closed-circuit grand jury hearing tomorrow, Clinton will not have immunity or the semantical wiggle room of a court deposition. The Starr interrogator will ask a single yes-or-no question: “Did Miss Lewinsky do thus and so to you?

Clinton will have four options:

• Say “no” -- and be trapped in a perjury proved by a navy-blue dress.
  
• Say “yes” -- and thereby admit perjury in the Jones case.
  
• Refuse to answer per the Fourth Amendment right to be secure against “unreasonable” searches.
  
• Invoke the Fifth Amendment protecting him from being a witness against himself.

An attempt to embellish “yes” or “no” with a creative definition of sex would bring a speedy contempt of court citation. A Fourth Amendment assertion would bring a prompt warrant commanding compliance in accordance with “probable cause” procedure also specified in the amendment. A Fifth Amendment plea would destroy Clinton politically.

After a brief Lewinsky question, Starr’s deputies will move on to the crucial issues of corruption.

It should be remembered that in the Whitewater investigation Starr got 12 convictions, one being Arkansas Governor Jim Guy Tucker. Mrs. Clinton’s involvement in the $60 million embezzlement of tax-payers’ money is yet to be settled. No report has been presented yet about the White House matters relegated to Starr by the Attorney General and a three-judge panel.

My guess is Starr’s final report will indict a couple of administration operatives and name Clinton an un-indicted co-conspirator -- then send his findings to Congress.

Turn out the lights. The party is over.

By Lindsey Williams, columnist for Sun Coast Media Group newspapers