Judicial Watch, a Washington-based legal watchdog, filed a motion in
an Arkansas court yesterday with Judge Susan Webber Wright that will ask
President Clinton to explain himself in the Paula Jones civil lawsuit
and to defend the reasons why he shouldn’t be held in criminal contempt
and obstruction of justice in the Jones case.
The motion was filed on behalf of Dolly Kyle Browning, a key witness
in the Jones case who has also filed a RICO suit
against Clinton. During the Jones case, Clinton allegedly lied about his
sexual relationship with Browning and tried to destroy her by defaming
her.
During his deposition in the Jones case on Jan. 17, 1998, Clinton
also gave a false account of his meeting with Browning during their 1994
high school reunion, according to court affidavits that helped to verify
Browning’s account of the meeting.
During their high school reunion, Browning said that she and Clinton
discussed her manuscript, “Purposes of the Heart,” a fictionalized
account of her life story which included details of her encounters with
Clinton. Browning also stated that Clinton apologized to her about his
threats to destroy her during the meeting.
Speaking about criminal contempt and its application in the motion
against Clinton, Judicial Watch Chairman Larry Klayman said, “Criminal
contempt is the only appropriate way to address Bill Clinton’s lawless
behavior in Judge Wright’s court.”
Klayman added that civil contempt, which is meant to force remedial
behavior, is useless in addressing past unlawful behavior and would be
meaningless in the case against Clinton.
“Civil contempt is the equivalent of censure — it is meaningless,
has no teeth, and has already been hailed by Democrats and some
Republicans who, after corruptly refusing to remove him (Clinton) from
office, are desperate to be seen as against presidential criminality in
some way,” Klayman said.
Klayman, however, believes that the case for criminal contempt is
very strong and believes that the court will have no choice but to
initiate proceedings.
