Lying Under Oath Discussed On Tapes

Former White House intern Monica Lewinsky said she would lie under oath to deny an affair with President Clinton, but her friend Linda Tripp responded she wouldn’t do so, according to excerpts of taped conversations obtained by Newsweek.

Tripp said in taped conversations hat if she denied Lewinsky mentioned having an affair with Clinton, “that is … perjury. That’s the bottom line. I will do everything I can not to be in that position.”

Lewinsky responds, ‘I believe you, but obviously I don’t have the same feelings about the situation … Because if I had the same feelings that it was so wrong to deny something then I would not be doing it.”

Lewinsky also said she’s “absolutely positive” that nobody saw Clinton give her gifts and “nobody saw anything happen between us.”

Whether real or fanciful, tapes of have dribbled out over the past week. Here is a summary, based on numerous news accounts, of what was said in those conversations:

On having an affair with Clinton:

Lewinsky said she would deny any sexual relationship to lawyers of Paula Jones, the former Arkansas state employee who contends Clinton propositioned her.

“I will deny it so he will not get screwed in the case, but I’m going to get screwed personally,” she said.

Saying she can’t tell the president that she has told others of the relationship:

“If I do that, I’m just going to (expletive) kill myself.”

On telephone conversations with Clinton:

Lewinsky said Clinton would sometimes call her in the middle of the night. During those calls, she told Tripp, there was much explicit sexual talk.

On presidential confidant Vernon Jordan telling her to keep quiet:

According to Tripp, Lewinsky said she met with attorney Vernon Jordan, a close friend of the president, and Jordan asked that Lewinsky vent any frustration toward the president at him. He offered to get her in contact with attorney Frank Carter.

Carter met with Lewinsky but did not remain as her attorney.

Tripp told the independent counsel that Lewinsky said she and Jordan met again in his limousine, and Jordan advised her to remain silent. She alleged he told her: “They can’t prove anything. If they thought they could, your answer is it didn’t happen. It wasn’t me.”

He allegedly told her that witnesses are never indicted for perjury in civil cases and promised to help her get a job outside government.

Jordan denied he ever told Lewinsky to lie under oath.

How Lewinsky refers to Clinton:

She calls Clinton “the big he” and “the creep.”

On her truthfulness:

“I have lied my entire life.”

On exchanging letters and gifts with Clinton:

She speaks of exchanging gifts and letters with the president, mentioning he bought her a dress. But she worries that prosecutors would use the items as evidence.

Lewinsky told Tripp in the taped conversations that a dress given to her as a gift by Clinton contains a semen stain from the president.