Washington Post coverage of Paula Jones case Politics Now: Clinton v Paula Jones Corruption in America

A LAWYER representing Paula Jones, a former Arkansas beauty queen suing Bill Clinton for sexual harassment in 1991, said yesterday that the President was "chicken" in trying to avoid the case while in office.

Joseph Cammarata said that the leader seemed to have plenty of time to "golf every major course in Hawaii and Australia", write a book, attend "numerous" fund-raising sessions and give court depositions in the Whitewater scandal. He also spent a lot of time jogging and "going to McDonald's".

He spoke on the eve of a Supreme Court hearing in which Mr Clinton is opposing a ruling by the US Circuit Court of Appeals that the case must go to trial immediately. His lawyers will urge that the trial be shelved until 2001 because the President is too busy.

Mr Cammarata said Mr Clinton was offering the "the Chicken Little defence: the judiciary is against me, there's going to be a parade of horribles, lawsuits will be unleashed and I'll be tied up forever". He added: "He is confusing his person with his office. If you believe the President, then we have a monarchy, we have a king. If you believe Paula Jones, then we have public servants who remain accountable for their private conduct."

If the justices overrule the President, a civil case will go ahead in Little Rock, Arkansas, before a female judge. Observers believe that the Supreme Court will delay the trial, but permit the collecting of evidence, in which case Mr Clinton could be subjected to a medical examination.

Ms Jones has already waved a sealed envelope before reporters. In tears, she said: "I have the proof and I want the opportunity to be heard." Inside, she insisted, was a description of the President's penis. "Mr Clinton exposed himself to me that day," she said. "In the envelope is a statement about his distinguishing characteristics. I signed it under oath."

She says that as Arkansas governor, Mr Clinton lured her to a hotel room where he lowered his trousers and asked her to perform oral sex. Mr Cammarata observed: "There is more to this case than her word against that of Mr Clinton."

The lawyer, 37, is well-versed in the ways of Washington, having worked in the Justice Department's tax division, where he was noted as an aggressive, operator. His partner on the assignment is Gil Davis, 52, a corncob pipe-smoking lawyer working out of modest offices at Fairfax, Virginia, who acknowledges he is a Republican, but says he wants to establish the principle that the President is not above the law.

The two men say they have run up hundreds of thousands dollars in expenses, some of which has been paid from the Paula Jones Defence Fund, which has taken in around $200,000 (£118,000), including half of the $50,000 fee Ms Jones earned for promoting jeans.

But Robert Bennett, 55, the President's lawyer, says the case is "tabloid trash with a legal caption".

Legal estimates of Mr Bennett's service so far are $2 million, $1,300,000 more than Ms Jones is suing for. Much of this is being paid from "umbrella" insurance liability policies taken out by President Clinton some years ago.

Some Clinton advisers thought at first that it might be better to appoint an obscure Arkansas lawyer to handle the matter. But Mr Bennett was chosen for his media expertise.

A partner in the Washington office of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, he is called by the elite when they find themselves in a jam requiring heavy-lawyering and good public relations.

12 January 1997: Why is Clinton persecuting me?

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