(i) Catherine Allday Davis

Catherine Allday Davis, a college friend of Monica Lewinsky's,⁽⁵³⁾ testified that Ms.Lewinsky told her in late 1995 or early 1996 about Ms.Lewinsky's sexual relationship with the President.⁽⁵⁴⁾ According to Ms.Davis, Ms.Lewinsky told her that the relationship included mutual kissing and hugging, as well as oral sex performed by Ms.Lewinsky on the President. She also stated that the President touched Monica "on her breasts and on her vagina."⁽⁵⁵⁾ Ms.Davis also described the cigar incident discussed above.⁽⁵⁶⁾ Ms.Davis added that Monica said that she had "phone sex" with the President five to ten times in 1996 or 1997.⁽⁵⁷⁾

(ii) Neysa Erbland

Neysa Erbland, a high school friend of Ms.Lewinsky's,⁽⁵⁸⁾ testified that Ms.Lewinsky told her in 1995 that she was having an affair with President Clinton.⁽⁵⁹⁾ According to Ms.Erbland, Ms.Lewinsky said that the sexual relationship began when Ms.Lewinsky was an intern.⁽⁶⁰⁾ Ms.Lewinsky told Ms.Erbland that the sexual contact included oral sex, kissing, and fondling.⁽⁶¹⁾ On occasion, as Ms.Erbland described it, the President put his face in Ms.Lewinsky's bare chest.⁽⁶²⁾ Ms.Erbland also said that Ms.Lewinsky described the cigar incident discussed above.⁽⁶³⁾ Ms.Erbland also understood from Ms.Lewinsky that she and the President engaged in phone sex, normally after midnight.⁽⁶⁴⁾

(iii) Natalie Rose Ungvari

Ms.Lewinsky told another high school friend, Natalie Rose Ungvari,⁽⁶⁵⁾ of her sexual relationship with the President. Ms.Lewinsky first informed Ms.Ungvari of the sexual relationship on November 23, 1995. Ms.Ungvari specifically remembers the date because it was her birthday.⁽⁶⁶⁾ Ms.Ungvari recalled that Ms.Lewinsky said that she performed oral sex on the President and that he fondled her breasts.⁽⁶⁷⁾ Ms.Lewinsky told Ms.Ungvari that the President sometimes telephoned Ms.Lewinsky late at night and would ask her to engage in phone sex.⁽⁶⁸⁾

(iv) Ashley Raines

Ashley Raines, a friend of Ms.Lewinsky who worked in the White House Office of Policy Development Operations,⁽⁶⁹⁾ testified that Ms.Lewinsky described the sexual relationship with the President. Ms.Raines testified that Ms.Lewinsky told her that the relationship began around the time of the government furlough in late 1995.⁽⁷⁰⁾ Ms.Raines understood that the President and Ms.Lewinsky engaged in kissing and oral sex, usually in the President's study.⁽⁷¹⁾ Ms.Lewinsky also told Ms.Raines that she and the President had engaged in phone sex on several occasions.⁽⁷²⁾

(v) Andrew Bleiler

In late 1995, Monica Lewinsky told Andrew Bleiler, a former boyfriend, that she was having an affair with a high official at the White House.⁽⁷³⁾ According to Mr.Bleiler, Ms.Lewinsky said that the relationship did not include sexual intercourse, but did include oral sex. She also told Mr.Bleiler about the cigar incident discussed above, and sexual activity in which the man touched Ms.Lewinsky's genitals and caused her to have an orgasm.⁽⁷⁴⁾

(vi) Dr.Irene Kassorla

Dr.Irene Kassorla counseled Ms.Lewinsky from 1992 through 1997.⁽⁷⁵⁾ Ms.Lewinsky told her of the sexual relationship with the President. Ms.Lewinsky said she performed oral sex on the President in a room adjacent to the Oval Office, that the President touched Ms.Lewinsky causing her to have orgasms, and that they engaged in fondling and touching of one another.⁽⁷⁶⁾ The President was in charge of scheduling their sexual encounters and "became Lewinsky's life."⁽⁷⁷⁾

(vii) Linda Tripp

When she worked at the Pentagon, Ms.Lewinsky told a co-worker, Linda Tripp, that she had a sexual relationship with President Clinton.⁽⁷⁸⁾ Ms.Tripp stated that Ms.Lewinsky first told her about the relationship in September or October 1996. Ms.Lewinsky told Ms.Tripp that the first sexual encounter with the President had occurred on November 15, 1995, when Ms.Lewinsky performed oral sex on him. Ms.Lewinsky told Ms.Tripp that, during the course of this sexual relationship, she performed oral sex on the President, the President fondled Ms.Lewinsky's breasts, the President touched Ms.Lewinsky's genitalia, and they engaged in phone sex.⁽⁷⁹⁾

(viii) Debra Finerman

Ms.Lewinsky's aunt, Debra Finerman, testified that Monica told her about her sexual relationship with President Clinton.⁽⁸⁰⁾ Ms.Finerman testified that Ms.Lewinsky described a particular sexual encounter with the President.⁽⁸¹⁾ Ms.Finerman otherwise did not ask and was not told the specifics of the sexual activity between the President and Ms.Lewinsky.⁽⁸²⁾

(ix) Dale Young

Dale Young, a family friend, testified that Ms.Lewinsky told her that she had engaged in oral sex with President Clinton.⁽⁸³⁾

(x) Kathleen Estep

Kathleen Estep, a counselor for Ms.Lewinsky,⁽⁸⁴⁾ met with Ms.Lewinsky on three occasions in November 1996.⁽⁸⁵⁾ Based on her limited interaction with Ms.Lewinsky, Ms.Estep stated that she considered Ms.Lewinsky to be credible.⁽⁸⁶⁾ During their second session, Ms.Lewinsky told Ms.Estep about her sexual relationship with President Clinton.⁽⁸⁷⁾ Ms.Lewinsky told Ms.Estep that the physical part of the relationship involved kissing, Ms.Lewinsky performing oral sex on the President, and the President fondling her breasts.⁽⁸⁸⁾

6. Summary

The detailed testimony of Ms.Lewinsky, her corroborating prior consistent statements to her friends, family members, and counselors, and the evidence of the President's semen on Ms.Lewinsky's dress establish that Ms.Lewinsky and the President engaged in substantial sexual activity between November 15, 1995, and December 28, 1997.⁽⁸⁹⁾

The President, however, testified under oath in the civil case -- both in his deposition and in a written answer to an interrogatory -- that he did not have a "sexual relationship" or a "sexual affair" or "sexual relations" with Ms.Lewinsky. In addition, he denied engaging in activity covered by a more specific definition of "sexual relations" used at the deposition.⁽⁹⁰⁾

In his civil case, the President made five different false statements related to the sexual relationship. For four of the five statements, the President asserts a semantic defense: The President argues that the terms used in the Jones deposition to cover sexual activity did not cover the sexual activity in which he engaged with Ms.Lewinsky. For his other false statements, the President's response is factual -- namely, he disputes Ms.Lewinsky's account that he ever touched her breasts or genitalia during sexual activity.⁽⁹¹⁾

The President's denials -- semantic and factual -- do not withstand scrutiny.

First, in his civil deposition, the President denied a "sexual affair" with Ms.Lewinsky (the term was not defined). The President's response to lying under oath on this point rests on his definition of "sexual affair" -- namely, that it requires sexual intercourse, no matter how extensive the sexual activities might otherwise be. According to the President, a man could regularly engage in oral sex and fondling of breasts and genitals with a woman and yet not have a "sexual affair" with her.

Second, in his civil deposition, the President also denied a "sexual relationship" with Ms.Lewinsky (the term was not defined). The President's response to lying under oath on this point similarly rests on his definition of "sexual relationship" -- namely, that it requires sexual intercourse. Once again, under the President's theory, a man could regularly engage in oral sex and fondling of breasts and genitals with a woman, yet not have a "sexual relationship" with her.

The President's claim as to his interpretation of "sexual relationship" is belied by the fact that the President's own lawyer -- earlier at that same deposition -- equated the term "sexual relationship" with "sex of any kind in any manner, shape or form." The President's lawyer offered that interpretation when requesting Judge Wright to limit the questioning to prevent further inquiries with respect to Monica Lewinsky. As the videotape of the deposition reveals, the President was present and apparently looking in the direction of his attorney when his attorney offered that statement.⁽⁹²⁾ The President gave no indication that he disagreed with his attorney's straightforward interpretation that the term "sexual relationship" means "sex of any kind in any manner, shape, or form." Nor did the President thereafter take any steps to correct the attorney's statement.

Third, in an answer to an interrogatory submitted before his deposition, the President denied having "sexual relations" with Ms.Lewinsky (the term was not defined). Yet again, the President's apparent rejoinder to lying under oath on this point rests on his definition of "sexual relations" -- that it, too, requires sexual intercourse. According to President Clinton, oral sex does not constitute sexual relations.

Fourth, in his civil deposition, the President denied committing any acts that fell within the specific definition of "sexual relations" that was in effect for purposes of that deposition. Under that specific definition, sexual relations occurs "when the person knowingly engages in or causes contact with the genitalia, anus, groin, breast, inner thigh, or buttocks of any person with an intent to arouse or gratify the sexual desire of any person."⁽⁹³⁾ Thus, the President denied engaging in or causing contact with the genitalia, breasts, or anus of "any person" with an intent to arouse or gratify the sexual desire of "any person."

Concerning oral sex, the President's sole answer to the charge that he lied under oath at the deposition focused on his interpretation of "any person" in the definition. Ms.Lewinsky testified that she performed oral sex on the President on nine occasions. The President said that by receiving oral sex, he would not "engage in" or "cause"⁽⁹⁴⁾ contact with the genitalia, anus, groin, breast, inner thigh, or buttocks of "any person" because "any person" really means "any other person." The President further testified before the grand jury: "[I]f the deponent is the person who has oral sex performed on him, then the contact is with -- not with anything on that list, but with the lips of another person."⁽⁹⁵⁾

The President's linguistic parsing is unreasonable. Under the President's interpretation (which he says he followed at his deposition), in an oral sex encounter, one person is engaged in sexual relations, but the other person is not engaged in sexual relations.⁽⁹⁶⁾

Even assuming that the definitional language can be manipulated to exclude the deponent's receipt of oral sex, the President is still left with the difficulty that reasonable persons would not have understood it that way. And in context, the President's semantics become even weaker: The Jones suit rested on the allegation that the President sought to have Ms.Jones perform oral sex on him. Yet the President now claims that the expansive definition devised for deposition questioning should be interpreted to exclude that very act.

Fifth, by denying at his civil deposition that he had engaged in any acts falling within the specific definition of "sexual relations," the President denied engaging in or causing contact with the breasts or genitalia of Ms.Lewinsky with an intent to arouse or gratify one's sexual desire. In contrast to his explanations of the four preceding false statements under oath, the President's defense to lying under oath in this instance is purely factual.

As discussed above, Ms.Lewinsky testified credibly that the President touched and kissed her bare breasts on nine occasions, and that he stimulated her genitals on four occasions.⁽⁹⁷⁾ She also testified about a cigar incident, which is discussed above. In addition, a deleted computer file from Ms.Lewinsky's home computer contained an apparent draft letter to the President that explicitly referred to an incident in which the President's "mouth [was] on [her] breast" and implicitly referred to direct contact with her genitalia.⁽⁹⁸⁾ This draft letter further corroborates Ms.Lewinsky's testimony.

Ms.Lewinsky's prior consistent statements to various friends, family members, and counselors -- made when the relationship was ongoing -- likewise corroborate her testimony on the nature of the President's touching of her body. Ms.Lewinsky had no apparent motive to lie to her friends, family members, and counselors. Ms.Lewinsky especially had no reason to lie to Dr.Kassorla and Ms.Estep, to whom she related the facts in the course of a professional relationship. And Ms.Lewinsky's statements to some that she did not have intercourse with the President, even though she wanted to do so, enhances the credibility of her statements. Moreover, the precise nature of the sexual activity only became relevant after the President interposed his semantic defense regarding oral sex on August 17, 1998.

By contrast, the President's testimony strains credulity. His apparent "hands-off" scenario -- in which he would have received oral sex on nine occasions from Ms.Lewinsky but never made direct contact with Ms.Lewinsky's breasts or genitalia -- is not credible. The President's claim seems to be that he maintained a hands-off policy in ongoing sexual encounters with Ms.Lewinsky, which coincidentally happened to permit him to truthfully deny "sexual relations" with her at a deposition occurring a few years in the future. As Ms.Lewinsky noted, it suggests some kind of "service contract -- that all I did was perform oral sex on him and that that's all this relationship was."⁽⁹⁹⁾

The President also had strong personal, political, and legal motives to lie in the Jones deposition: He did not want to admit that he had committed extramarital sex acts with a young intern in the Oval Office area of the White House. Such an admission could support Ms.Jones's theory of liability and would embarrass him. Indeed, the President admitted that during the relationship he did what he could to keep the relationship secret, including "misleading" members of his family and Cabinet.⁽¹⁰⁰⁾ The President testified, moreover, that he "hoped that this relationship would never become public."⁽¹⁰¹⁾

At the time of his civil deposition, the President also could have presumed that he could lie under oath without risk because -- as he knew -- Ms.Lewinsky had already filed a false affidavit denying a sexual relationship with the President. Indeed, they had an understanding that each would lie under oath (explained more fully in Ground VI below). So the President might have expected that he could lie without consequence on the belief that no one could ever successfully challenge his denial of a sexual relationship with her.

In sum, based on all of the evidence and considering the President's various responses, there is substantial and credible information that the President lied under oath in his civil deposition and his interrogatory answer in denying a sexual relationship, a sexual affair, or sexual relations with Ms.Lewinsky.⁽¹⁰²⁾

II. There is substantial and credible information that President Clinton lied under oath to the grand jury about his sexual relationship with Monica Lewinsky.

A. Background

>In January 1998, upon application of the Attorney General, the Special Division of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit expanded the OIC's jurisdiction to investigate, among other matters, whether Monica Lewinsky and the President obstructed justice in the Jones case. The criminal investigation was triggered by specific and credible evidence that Monica Lewinsky denied her relationship with President Clinton in a false affidavit in the Jones case, that she had spoken to the President and Vernon Jordan about her testimony, and that she may have been influenced to lie by the President through the assistance of Vernon Jordan and others in finding her a job. After the President, in his January 17 deposition, denied any sexual relationship with Monica Lewinsky and otherwise minimized his overall relationship with her, the President's testimony became an additional subject of the OIC investigation.

The threshold factual question was whether the President and Monica Lewinsky in fact had a sexual relationship. If they did, the President would have committed perjury in his civil deposition and interrogatory answer: The President, as noted in Ground I above, had denied a sexual affair, sexual relationship, or sexual relations with Monica Lewinsky, including any direct contact with her breasts or genitalia. The answer to the preliminary factual question also could alter the interpretation of several possibly obstructionist acts by the President -- the employment assistance for Ms.Lewinsky, the concealment of gifts he had given to Ms.Lewinsky, the discussion between the President and Ms.Lewinsky of her testimony or affidavit, the President's post-deposition communications with Betty Currie, and the President's emphatic denials of a relationship to his aides who later testified before the grand jury.

During the investigation, the OIC gathered a substantial body of information that established that the President and Monica Lewinsky did, in fact, have a sexual relationship. That information is outlined in Ground I above. In particular, the information includes: (i)the detailed and credible testimony of Ms.Lewinsky regarding the 10 sexual encounters; (ii)the President's semen stain on Ms.Lewinsky's dress; and (iii)the testimony of friends, family members, and counselors to whom she made near-contemporaneous statements about the relationship. All of this evidence pointed to a single conclusion -- that she and the President did have a sexual relationship.

B. The President's Grand Jury Testimony

The President was largely aware of that extensive body of evidence before he testified to the grand jury on August 17, 1998. Not only did the President know that Ms.Lewinsky had reached an immunity agreement with this Office in exchange for her truthful testimony, but the President knew from public reports and his own knowledge that his semen might be on one of Ms.Lewinsky's dresses. The OIC had asked him for a blood sample on August 3, 1998 (two weeks before his grand jury testimony) and assured his counsel that there was a substantial predicate for the request, which reasonably implied that there was semen on the dress.

As a result, the President had three apparent choices in his testimony to the grand jury. First, the President could adhere to his previous testimony in his civil case, as well as in his public statements, and deny any sexual relationship. But he knew (or at least, had reason to know) that the contrary evidence was overwhelming, particularly if his semen were in fact on Ms. Lewinsky's dress. Second, the President could admit a sexual relationship, which would cause him also to simultaneously admit that he lied under oath in the Jones case. Third, the President could invoke his Fifth Amendment privilege against compelled self-incrimination.

Confronting those three options, the President attempted to avoid them altogether. The President admitted to an "inappropriate intimate" relationship, but he maintained that he had not committed perjury in the Jones case when he denied having a sexual relationship, sexual affair, or sexual relations with her.⁽¹⁰³⁾ The President contended that he had believed his various statements in the Jones case to be legally accurate.⁽¹⁰⁴⁾ He also testified that the inappropriate relationship began not in November 1995 when Ms.Lewinsky was an intern, as Ms.Lewinsky and other witnesses have testified, but in 1996.

During his grand jury testimony, the President was asked whether Monica Lewinsky performed oral sex on him and, if so, whether he had committed perjury in his civil deposition by denying a sexual relationship, sexual affair, or sexual relations with her. The President refused to say whether he had oral sex. Instead, the President said (i)that the undefined terms "sexual affair," "sexual relationship," and "sexual relations" necessarily require sexual intercourse, (ii)that he had not engaged in intercourse with Ms.Lewinsky, and (iii)that he therefore had not committed perjury in denying a sexual relationship, sexual affair, or sexual relations.⁽¹⁰⁵⁾

A more specific definition of "sexual relations" had also been used at the civil deposition. As to that definition, the President said to the grand jury that he does not and did not believe oral sex was covered.

53. Catherine Davis 3/17/98 GJ at 9-10. Ms.Catherine Davis talked to Ms.Lewinsky by telephone an average of once a week until April 1997 when Ms.Davis moved to Tokyo; thereafter she and Ms.Lewinsky remained in touch through e-mail. Id. at 14, 27.

54. Id. at 19-20.

55. Id. at 20.

56. Id. at 169.

57. Id. at 37.

58. Erbland 2/12/98 GJ at 9-10. Ms.Erbland testified that she spoke on the phone with Ms.Lewinsky at least once a month. Id. at 18-19.

59. Id. at 24, 30, 31.

60. Id. at 27.

61. Id. at 26 ("She told me that she had given him [oral sex] and that she had had all of her clothes off, but that he only had his shirt off and that she had given him oral sex and they kissed and fondled each other and that they didn't have sex. That was kind of a little bit of a letdown for her."); id. at 29 ("He put his face in her chest. And, you know, just oral sex on her part, you know, to him.").

62. Id. at 29.

63. Id. at 45.

64. Id. at 39 ("They were like phone sex conversations. They would, you know, talk about what they wanted to do to each other sexually.").

65. Ms.Ungvari spoke with Monica Lewinsky on the telephone an average of once a week, and visited her in Washington in October 1995 and March 1996. Ungvari 3/19/98 GJ at 9-11, 14-15.

66. Id. at 18.

67. Id. at 23-24.

68. Id. at 81.

69. Raines 1/29/98 GJ at 11. Ms.Raines and Monica Lewinsky have become "close friend[s]" since Ms.Lewinsky left the White House. Id. at 19.

70. Id. at 35-36, 38.

71. Id. at 30, 43, 48.

72. Id. at 51.

73. Andrew Bleiler 1/28/98 Int. at 3.

74. Id. at 3.

75. Ms.Lewinsky gave this Office permission to interview Dr.Kassorla.

76. Kassorla 8/28/98 Int. at 2.

77. Id. at 2-3. Dr.Kassorla advised Ms.Lewinsky against the relationship, stating that she was an employee having an office romance with a superior and that the relationship would cost Ms.Lewinsky her job. Id. at 2.

78. Tripp 7/2/98 GJ at 104.

79. Id. at 97-105.

80. Finerman 3/18/98 Depo. at 29-33.

81. She testified that the encounter concluded with the President masturbating into a bathroom sink. Id. at 30-31. Ms.Finerman indicated that "it was something I didn't want to talk about," and Ms.Lewinsky "sort of clammed up" thereafter. Id. at 35. See also Lewinsky 8/26/98 Depo. at 18.

82. Finerman 3/18/98 Depo. at 33-35.

83. Young 6/23/98 GJ at 37-38.

84. Estep 8/23/98 Int. at 1. Ms.Estep is a licensed certified social worker; Ms.Lewinsky gave this Office permission to interview her.

85. Id. at 1, 4.

86. Id. at 3. Ms.Estep also thought that Ms.Lewinsky had her "feet in reality." Id.

87. Id. at 2.

88. Id.

89. The President and Ms.Lewinsky had ten sexual encounters that included direct contact with the genitalia of at least one party, and two other encounters that included kissing. On nine of the ten occasions, Ms.Lewinsky performed oral sex on the President. On nine occasions, the President touched and kissed Ms.Lewinsky's bare breasts. On four occasions, the President also touched her genitalia. On one occasion, the President inserted a cigar into her vagina to stimulate her. The President and Ms.Lewinsky also had phone sex on at least fifteen occasions.

90. This denial encompassed touching of Ms.Lewinsky's breasts or genitalia.

91. He provided his responses during his August 17, 1998 grand jury appearance; those responses are separately analyzed in Ground II.

92. Chief Judge Norma Holloway Johnson, United States District Court for the District of Columbia, and Judge Susan Webber Wright, United States District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas, each has one copy of the videotape, and the Congress may see fit to seek the videotape from either court. The videotape is valuable in facilitating a proper assessment of the facts and evidence presented in this Referral.

93. Clinton 1/17/98 Depo., Exh. 1.

94. Clinton 8/17/98 GJ at 151.

95. Clinton 8/17/98 GJ at 151 (emphasis added).

96. The definition used at the President's deposition also covers acts in which the deponent "cause[d] contact" with the genitalia or anus of "any person." When he testified to the grand jury, the President said that this aspect of the definition still does not cover his receiving oral sex. The President said that the word "cause" implies "forcing to me" and "forcible abusive behavior." Clinton 8/17/98 GJ at 17. And thus the President said that he did not lie under oath in denying that he "caused" contact with the genitalia of any person because his activity with Ms.Lewinsky did not include any nonconsensual behavior. Id. at 18.

97. She testified that she had orgasms on three of the four occasions. We note that fact because (i)the definition referred to direct contact with the genitalia with the "intent to arouse or gratify" and (ii)the President has denied such contact. Ms.Lewinsky also testified that on one occasion, the President put his hand over her mouth during a sexual encounter to keep her quiet. Lewinsky 7/31/98 Int. at 3.

98. MSL-55-DC-0094; MSL-55-DC-0124.

99. Lewinsky 8/20/98 GJ at 54.

100. Text of President's Address to Nation, reprinted in Washington Post, August 18, 1998, at A5 (emphasis added).

101. Clinton 8/17/98 GJ at 107.

102. Following the President's public admission of an inappropriate relationship, Judge Wright stated sua sponte in an order issued on September 1, 1998: "Although the Court has concerns about the nature of the President's January 17, 1998 deposition testimony given his recent public statements, the Court makes no findings at this time regarding whether the President may be in contempt." Jones v. Clinton, No. LR-C-94-290 (September 1, 1998), Unpublished Order at 7 n.5.

103. Clinton 8/17/98 GJ at 9-10.

104. Id. at 9-10. See also Excerpt from President Clinton's Televised Address to the American People, 8/17/98, reprinted in The Washington Post, at A5 (8/18/98) ("In a deposition in January, I was asked questions about my relationship with Monica Lewinsky. While my answers were legally accurate, I did not volunteer information.").

105. Clinton 8/17/98 GJ at 23-24.

This Referral is respectfully submitted on the Ninth day of September, 1998.

______________________________

Kenneth W. Starr

Independent Counsel