Kathleen Willey

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Kathleen Willey was a White House volunteer aide who, on March 15, 1998, alleged on the TV news program 60 Minutes that Bill Clinton had sexually assaulted her on November 29, 1993, during his first term as President. She had been subpoenaed to testify in the Paula Jones sexual harassment case.[1]

Claims

According to Willey, during a meeting in the private study of the Oval Office, Clinton had embraced her tightly, kissed her on the mouth. Clinton denied assaulting Willey. The Clinton White House released details of 15 letters and 12 telephone messages that Willey had sent to Clinton after the alleged incident. In all of these, she appeared friendly and eager for more contact with Clinton.

According to Linda Tripp’s grand jury testimony, she felt Willey pursued a romance with Clinton from the start of her White House affiliation. Willey had speculated with Tripp as to how she might be able to set up an assignation between herself and the president. She routinely attended events at which Clinton would be present, wearing a black dress she believed he liked. According to Tripp’s testimony, she wondered if she and Clinton could arrange to meet in a home to which she had access, on the Chesapeake Bay.[2]

Investigation and current status

The Final Report of the U.S. Office of the Independent Counsel report noted that "Willey gave false information to the FBI about her sexual relationship with a former boyfriend, and acknowledged having lied about it when the agents confronted her with contradictory evidence. Following Willey’s acknowledgment of the lie, the Independent Counsel agreed not to prosecute her for false statements in this regard."[3] According to Independent Counsel Robert Ray’s report, "Willey’s [Paula] Jones deposition testimony differed from her grand jury testimony on material aspects of the alleged incident."[4]

According to a book critical of Clinton by Candice E. Jackson, Tripp told Larry King in February 1999 that Willey is "an honest person" who was "telling the truth" about having been sexually assaulted by Clinton.[5] However, Tripp's grand jury testimony differs from Willey's claims regarding inappropriate sexual advances.[6]

Willey has a history of controversial claims including telling the FBI she was pregnant and she had a miscarriage when she did not.[7]

In March 2000, U.S. District Court Judge Royce Lamberth ruled that President Clinton had "committed a criminal violation" of the Privacy Act by releasing letters from Willey to the President that were written even after the alleged incident.[8] A three-judge panel of the U.S. District Court of Appeals later criticized this ruling,[9] though Willey subsequently filed suit against the White House, over this issue.[10]

On November 6, 2007, her book Target: Caught in the Crosshairs of Bill and Hillary Clinton was published by World Ahead Media. In her book, Willey claimed that on Labor Day weekend 2007, her house was burglarized, with the only thing stolen being a manuscript of her book. Willey stated that she believes individuals with ties to Bill and Hillary Clinton are responsible for the break-in. She also filed a police report.[11]

Personal life

Willey's second husband, Edward E. Willey Jr., committed suicide on November 29, 1993 — the same day that she had claimed Clinton's sexual misconduct took place. She has written in her book and also said in an interview in 60 Minutes that she suspected that the Clintons murdered her husband just as they allegedly did to Vince Foster, another aide to the Clintons, who actually committed suicide.

Willey remarried in November 1999 to Bill Schwicker.[12] Now divorced, she works and resides in Powhatan County, Virginia.[13]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Sparking the Scandal". TIME. February 2, 1998. Retrieved 2008-05-22. 
  2. ↑ http://a255.g.akamaitech.net/7/255/2422/11may20041152/icreport.access.gpo.gov/hd105-316/3753-4374.pdf
  3. ↑ (OIC Final Report, Appendix B)
  4. ↑ pdf)
  5. ↑ Candice E. Jackson, Their Lives: The Women Targeted by the Clinton Machine, (World Ahead Media, 2004) page 148
  6. ↑ "Stalking the president". Salon.com. January 1999. Retrieved 2007-11-17. 
  7. ↑ "The Lives Of Kathleen Willey". CNN. March 30, 1998. Retrieved 2007-11-17. 
  8. ↑ "Judge rules White House violated privacy of Kathleen Willey". CNN. March 29, 1998. Archived from the original on January 14, 2008. Retrieved 2008-05-22. 
  9. ↑ Stout, David (May 27, 2000). "White House Loses and Gains in Ruling on a Privacy Act Case". New York Times. Retrieved 2008-05-22. 
  10. ↑ "Willey Files Suit Against Clintons". CNN. September 21, 2000. Retrieved 2008-05-25. 
  11. ↑ Kathleen Willey, Target: Caught in the cross hairs of Bill and Hillary Clinton (World Ahead Media, Nov 2007)
  12. ↑ http://archive.salon.com/politics/feature/2001/07/28/condit/index.html
  13. ↑

External links

Authority control
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike; additional terms may apply for the media files.