Paula Jones | |
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.jpg) Jones at theWhite House Correspondents Dinner, 1998 | |
| Born | Paula Rosalee Corbin (1966-09-17)September 17, 1966 (age 58) Lonoke, Arkansas, U.S. |
| Known for | Clinton v. Jones |
| Spouses | |
Paula Corbin Jones (bornPaula Rosalee Corbin; September 17, 1966) is an American civil servant. A formerArkansas state employee, Jones suedUnited States PresidentBill Clinton forsexual harassment in 1994. In the initiallawsuit, Jones cited Clinton for sexual harassment at the Excelsior Hotel inLittle Rock, Arkansas on May 8, 1991. Following a series of civil suits andappeals through theU.S. District Court and theU.S. Court of Appeals from May 1994 to January 1996,Clinton v. Jones eventually reached theUnited States Supreme Court on May 27, 1997. The case was later settled on November 13, 1998.[1]
The Paula Jones case provided the impetus forIndependent CounselKen Starr to broaden his ongoing investigation into Clinton's pre-presidency financial dealings with theWhitewater Land Company, and resulted in Clinton'simpeachment in the House of Representatives and subsequent acquittal by the Senate on February 12, 1999. Specifically, Clinton was asked under oath aboutMonica Lewinsky in the Jones suit, denied having ever had sexual relations with her, and was accused ofperjury after evidence of sexual contact was exposed. The Jones lawsuit also led to alandmark legal precedent by theU.S. Supreme Court which ruled that a sitting U.S. president is not exempt from civil litigation for acts committed outside of public office.
Jones's suit was dismissed as lacking legal merit prior to Clinton's impeachment and the exposure of the Lewinsky affair. But in August 1998, Clinton's relationship with Lewinsky, and compelling evidence that he had lied about it under oath in the Jones suit, was brought to light. At that point Jones appealed the ruling, and her appeal gained traction following Clinton's admission to having an affair with Lewinsky in August 1998.[2]
On appeal, Clinton agreed to an out-of-court settlement, paying Jones and her lawyers $850,000 to drop the suit.[3] Clinton's lawyer said that the President made the settlement only so he could end the lawsuit for good and move on with his life.[4] Jones and her lawyers said that the payment was evidence of Clinton's guilt.
Jones continues to maintain that Clinton sexually harassed her.[5] Clinton continues to deny it.[6]
Jones was born inLonoke, Arkansas. She was the daughter of a minister in theChurch of the Nazarene and raised within that congregation.[7]
Jones graduated from a high school inCarlisle, Arkansas, in 1984.[8] She briefly attended a secretarial school inLittle Rock, Arkansas.[9] Living in Little Rock, she met her husband, Steve Jones, in 1989.[10] She worked a number of jobs before joining the Arkansas Industrial Development Commission (AIDC) in March 1991.[9][10]
In a declaration sworn under penalty of felony,[11] Jones alleged that, on May 8, 1991, while working on official business in her capacity as a state employee of the AIDC, she attended the Annual Governor's Quality Conference at the Excelsior Hotel in Little Rock. Jones alleged she was asked by anArkansas State Police Trooper to report toArkansas Governor Clinton's hotel room in the Excelsior[12][13][14] Hotel (now the Little RockMarriott), where Clinton propositioned and exposed himself to her. She claimed she kept quiet about the incident until 1994, when aDavid Brock story inThe American Spectator magazine printed an account. Jones filed a sexual harassment suit against Clinton on May 6, 1994, two days before the expiration of the three-yearstatute of limitations, and sought $750,000 in damages.[15]
Jones was initially represented by Gilbert Davis andJoseph Cammarata, two Washington, D.C.–area lawyers.Susan Carpenter-McMillan, a California conservative commentator, became her press spokesperson. Carpenter-McMillan wasted no time bringing the issue to the press, calling Clinton "un-American", a "liar", and a "philanderer" onMeet the Press,Crossfire,Equal Time,Larry King Live,Today,The Geraldo Rivera Show,Burden of Proof,Hannity & Colmes,Talkback Live, and other shows. "I do not respect a man who cheats on his wife, and exposes his penis to a stranger," she said.[16]
JudgeSusan Webber Wright granted President Clinton's motion for summary judgment, ruling that Jones could not demonstrate that she had suffered any damages. As to the claim ofintentional infliction of emotional distress, Wright ruled that Jones failed to show that Clinton's actions constituted "outrageous conduct" as required of thetort, alongside not showing proof of damages caused by distress.[17] Jones appealed the dismissal to theUnited States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, where, at oral argument, two of the three judges on the panel appeared sympathetic to her arguments.[4] Clinton and his defense team then challenged Jones' right to bring a civil lawsuit against a sitting president for an incident that occurred before the defendant's becoming president. The Clinton defense team took the position that the trial should be delayed until the president was no longer in office because the job of the president is unique and does not allow him to take time away from it to deal with a private civil lawsuit. The case went through the courts, eventually reaching theSupreme Court. On May 27, 1997, the Courtunanimously ruled against Clinton, and allowed the lawsuit to proceed.[12] Clinton dismissed Jones' story and agreed to move on with the lawsuit.[18]
On August 29, 1997, Jones' attorneys Davis and Cammarata asked to resign from the case, believing the settlement offer they had secured, which Jones refused, was the appropriate way to end the case.[19] Jones had reportedly told her lawyers she wanted an apology from Clinton, in addition to a settlement.[20] In September, Judge Wright accepted their request.[15]
Jones was then represented by theRutherford Institute, a conservative legal organization, and by aDallas law firm. Carpenter-McMillan continued to serve as Jones' spokesperson. In December 1997, Jones reduced the damages sought in her suit against Clinton to $525,000 and agreed to remove Clinton's co-defendant and former bodyguard, Danny Ferguson, from the suit.[15]
On April 1, 1998, before the case could reach trial,[21] Judge Wright granted Clinton'smotion for dismissal, ruling that Jones could not show that she had suffered any damages.[21][22] Jones soon appealed the dismissal to the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit.[4]
On November 13, 1998, Clinton settled with Jones for $850,000 in exchange for her agreement to drop the appeal.[4] However, in the four page settlement deal, Clinton acknowledged no wrongdoing and offered no apology.[4]Robert S. Bennett, Clinton's attorney, still maintained that Jones's claim was baseless and that Clinton only settled to end the lawsuit and move on.[4] In March 1999, Judge Wright ruled that Jones would get only $200,000 from the settlement and that the rest of the money would pay for her legal expenses.[23]
Before the end of the entire litigation, her marriage broke apart.[24][25]
In April 1999, Judge Wright found Clinton incivilcontempt of court for misleading testimony in the Jones case. She ordered Clinton to pay $1,202 to the court and an additional $90,000 to Jones's lawyers for expenses incurred,[26][27][28] far less than the $496,000 that the lawyers originally requested.[28]
Wright then referred Clinton's conduct to theArkansas Bar Association for disciplinary action, and on January 19, 2001, the day before Clinton left the office of president, he entered into an agreement with the Arkansas Bar andindependent counselRobert Ray under which Clinton's license to practice law in Arkansas was suspended for a period of five years.[29][30] His fine was paid from a fund raised for his legal expenses.[citation needed]
In December 1994, federal judge Peter K. Leisure orderedPenthouse magazine not to distribute semi-nude photographs of Jones that had been taken by her ex-boyfriend Mike Turner. OwnerBob Guccione argued that the photos counted under "illustrations of newsworthy articles" and called the order prohibiting distribution of the magazine an instance ofprior restraint, a position reflected by several law professors; he also said the issue was already out in the hands of distributors.[31] Thistemporary restraining order was lifted two days later.[32] She later posed for photos illustrating an article, "The Perils of Paula Jones", in the December 2000 issue, citing the pressures of a large tax bill and two young sons to support.[33][34]
Jones's lawyers decided to show to the court a pattern of behavior by Clinton that involved his allegedly repeatedly becoming sexually involved with state or government employees. Jones's lawyers therefore subpoenaed women they suspected Clinton had had affairs with, including Arkansas Appeal Tribunal employeeGennifer Flowers,[35] as well as White House employeeMonica Lewinsky. In his deposition for the Jones lawsuit, Clinton denied having "sexual relations" with Monica Lewinsky. Based on testimony provided byLinda Tripp, which identified the existence of a blue dress with Clinton'ssemen on it,Kenneth Starr concluded that Clinton's sworn testimony was false andperjurious.
During the deposition in the Jones case, Clinton was asked, "Have you ever had sexual relations with Monica Lewinsky, as that term is defined in Deposition Exhibit 1, as modified by the Court?" The judge ordered that Clinton be given an opportunity to review the definition. It said that "a person engages in sexual relations 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".[36][37][38] Clinton flatly denied having sexual relations with Lewinsky.[39] Later, at the Starr Grand Jury, Clinton stated that he believed the definition of sexual relations agreed upon for the Jones deposition excluded his receivingoral sex.
It was upon the basis of this statement that theHouse of Representatives voted to impeach Clinton on December 19, 1998, on charges ofperjury andobstruction of justice. Clinton was subsequently tried before the Senate, where votes on either charge both fell far short of the 2/3 supermajority required for conviction.[40]
In February 2016, Jones endorsedDonald Trump for the2016 United States presidential election.[41] That same week, she attended a rally for Trump held in Little Rock, Arkansas, where she asked for aselfie with him.[42]
In October 2016, Jones joined Trump for a press conference before the second2016 Presidential Debate to air grievances againstHillary andBill Clinton. The conference also includedJuanita Broaddrick andKathleen Willey, who had also accused Bill Clinton of sexual misconduct.[43][44]
Jones was portrayed byAnnaleigh Ashford in thethird season of the seriesAmerican Crime Story.[45]
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