Bennett: No 'Distinguishing Characteristics'

WASHINGTON (AllPolitics, Oct. 8) -- President Bill Clinton's lead attorney Robert Bennett dismissed Paula Jones' claim that she can describe "distinguishing characteristics" of the president as "baseless and without merit."

According to Bennett, Clinton does not have the distinguishing characteristics in his genital area detailed by Jones in an affidavit. "This was just an effort to humiliate and embarrass the president, and at the appropriate time we will show that it is absolutely baseless and without merit," Bennett said.

When asked if he was saying that the president did not have the described marks, Bennett responded, "That's obviously what I'm saying."

Jones claims Clinton exposed himself to her in a Little Rock hotel room six years ago, when he was Arkansas governor and she was a state employee. The president denies the charge.

In a news conference held after she filed her sexual harassment suit three years ago, Jones referred to the affidavit in which she recalls "distinguishing characteristics" she saw on Clinton during the alleged incident.

Bennett, who only received the document last week, accused the Jones camp of stonewalling in providing the document: "I can see why they waited so long in getting it to me. They didn't want me to have it because they know I can easily rebut it."

Jones' spokeswoman, Susan Carpenter McMillan, asked, "How in the world would Mr. Bennett know" if the president did or did not have the ascribed characteristics.

Attorney T. Wesley Holmes, one of Jones' new lawyers, said the document was only part of their case. "I wouldn't characterize that as a cornerstone of our case at all," Holmes said,

The case is scheduled to go to trial May 27, 1998.

In Other News:

Wednesday Oct. 8, 1997

• Senators Grill Ickes On Democratic Fund-Raising
• Democratic Fund-Raisers Will Testify If Immunized
• Bennett: No 'Distinguishing Characteristics'
• Clinton Replies To Thompson

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• White House Works To Shore Up Democratic Fast Track Support
• Lott: Fund-Raising Investigation May Be Extended

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