WhiteWater Web Close-up: Whitewater Rapids The White House The Democratic Party The Republican Party

PRESIDENT Clinton escaped a pre-election hearing of a sexual harassment lawsuit yesterday after an intervention by the US Supreme Court.

It agreed to hear the constitutional argument that his "unique responsibilities" allowed him to avoid a private action while in office, effectively delaying the case until early 1997. A former Miss Arkansas, Paula Jones, 29, alleges he lured her to hotel room while state governor in 1991 and made sexual advances. A trial during the White House race would have been a nightmare for the president.

Mr Clinton, who denies the accusation, welcomed the postponement during a trip to Nashville with his wife, Hillary. Both were all smiles after what Mr Clinton described as a "crazy" week.

Even his Democratic Party is now wondering how far a scandal about keeping FBI background files on Republican opponents extends in the White House. Senator Paul Simon, a firm supporter of the president over the Whitewater scandal, called it an "abuse of power".

Mrs Clinton went on the offensive in the face of another disclosure: that, with the aid of New Age guru Jean Houston, she had imaginary dialogues with Eleanor Roosevelt and Mahatma Gandhi. She told a conference on the value of a family: "Shortly before I arrived here I had one of my conversations with Mrs Roosevelt, and she thinks this is a terrific idea." The audience gave her a cheer.

But the fun may dissipate tomorrow when congressional hearings focus on her involvement in the keeping of the FBI files in a vault at the White House. Among witnesses to be called is Gary Aldrich, now retired from the FBI after being assigned to the White House for the past five years. He has linked the documents to what he called "special attention, Hillary Clinton style" given to rooting out staff whose loyalty to her was in question.

A suspicion is growing that she wanted information on White House employees to see who she could trust. Her fears about betrayal apparently dated back to leaks about a fight she had with her husband in the White House. She also sacked an usher caught talking on the phone to George Bush's wife, Barbara.

Mr Aldrich said Craig Livingstone, who was in charge of the files, was hand-picked by Mrs Clinton as White House chief of personnel security. Mr Livingstone, a former nightclub bouncer, is also to face congressional questioning. He is known for telling fellow Clinton appointees, possibly in jest, that he had read their files.

Reply to Electronic Telegraph

Electronic Telegraph is a Registered Service Mark of The Telegraph plc