Tuesday, March 31

Quotes of the Day:

"These allegations are untrue and I had hoped that they would no longer haunt me."

"Jane Doe #5," denying that President Clinton raped her while he was attorney general of Arkansas. The rape allegations were raised by David Phillip Yoakum, an acquaintance of the woman
(The Washington Post, "Clinton Side Accuses Jones of 'Sabotage' ")

"[We have] good reason to believe [Yoakum's version of events] . . .The focus doesn't need to be on shooting the messenger. The focus should be getting to the bottom of very serious allegations."

T. Wesley Holmes, one of Paula Jones's attorneys, backing up Yoakum's rape allegation
(The Washington Post, "Clinton Side Accuses Jones of 'Sabotage' ")

"[The] latest filing is pure harassment and should be sanctioned. . .The events of the past few days have demonstrated that greater sanctions are appropriate."

Robert Bennett, attorney for President Clinton, on the allegations in the latest filing by Paula Jones's attorneys
(The Washington Post, "Clinton Side Accuses Jones of 'Sabotage' ")

Monday, March 30

Quotes of the Day:

"It is hard for the American people to believe it is anything other than yet one more wasteful partisan witch hunt of the president."

Rep. John Conyers Jr. (D-Mich.), ranking minority member of the House Judiciary Committee, on possible impeachment proceedings
(The Washington Post, "Judiciary Committee In Impeachment Light ")

"[Republicans] intend to be mannerly, civilized and focused. I can't speak for the other side."

Rep. Henry J. Hyde (R-Ill.), chairman of the Judiciary Committee
(The Washington Post, "Judiciary Committee In Impeachment Light ")

Sunday, March 29

Quote of the Day:

"President Clinton objects to this Request for Production as it is intended solely to harass, embarrass, and humiliate the President and the Office he occupies. . . . Notwithstanding the above objections, President Clinton has no documents responsive to this Request. Also notwithstanding the above objections, the Clinton Campaign has no documents responsive to this Request."

Excerpt from a Jan. 15 letter from President Clinton's lawyer, Bob Bennett, responding to Ken Starr's request for documents pertaining to Kathleen Willey. Two months later, the White House released letters from Willey to the president
(The Washington Post, "Clinton Told Jones Team He Had No Willey Notes")

Saturday, March 28

Quotes of the Day:

"When you have a president that in my opinion has cheated on his wife, he will cheat on the American people. When you have a president that can't tell the truth about his mistakes and own up to them, he won't be able to tell the truth to the American people. And he hasn't."

House Majority Whip Tom DeLay (R-Tex.)
(The Washington Post, "Clinton 'Seems to Have No Shame,' GOP's DeLay Says")

"People are telling him [DeLay] to leave the president alone, and yet he persists. . . . Even Mr. DeLay admits that in those [anti-Clinton views], he is out of step with his own district."

Clinton aide Paul Begala, countering DeLay's comments
(The Washington Post, "Clinton 'Seems to Have No Shame,' GOP's DeLay Says")

Thursday, March 26

Quotes of the Day:

"Starr is mining for dirty data in an unprincipled and illegal way. No bookstore should cave in to his intimidation. ... Starr should get down on his kneepads and beg the country's pardon for undermining the Constitution in this way."

Nicholson Baker, author of the phone-sex novel "Vox," on Kenneth Starr's asking Kramerbooks to provide a list of books purchased by Monica Lewinsky
(The Washington Post, "The Reliable Source")

"Any taxpayer funds being used to prepare for impeachment proceedings is a purely partisan attempt to kowtow to the conservative base of the Republican Party. And to dip into a slush fund that requires no vote of the House makes the funding of such even more unseemly. My fear is that the Republican leadership is steering the House directly into a partisan confrontation on the issue of impeachment."

Minority Leader Richard A. Gephardt (D-Mo.), commenting on a GOP decision to allocate $1.3 million to the Judiciary Committee for a possible investigation
(The Washington Post, "First Skirmishes in Impeachment War")

Wednesday, March 25

Quote of the Day:

"Look, that's a question that's being asked and answered back home by the people who are responsible to do that. I don't believe I should be discussing that here."

President Clinton, in Africa, responding angrily to reporters' questions about Kenneth Starr's investigation
(The Washington Post, "Lott Assails Executive Privilege Claim")

Tuesday, March 24

Quote of the Day:

"We have long sensed that it's in the national interest to bring these matters to a conclusion and closure in an orderly and very professional way."

Kenneth Starr, independent counsel, on his desire to wrap up his investigation
(The Associated Press, March 24, "Starr Hints He's Wrapping Up")

Monday, March 23

Quotes of the Day:

"It looks like they are hiding something."

Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott (R-Miss.), on President Clinton's decision to claim executive privilege to try to keep two aides from testifying
(The Washington Post, "Lott Assails Executive Privilege Claim")

"So how was your week?"

President Clinton's opening line during an appearance before the Gridiron Club's annual dinner
(The Washington Post, "At Gridiron, Pulling Only Certain Punches")

Sunday, March 22

Quote of the Day:

"I've never seen a situation where a president has this sort of popularity in the rest of the country and cannot even find, privately, a defender in Washington, unless they're related to him, employed by him or supplicant to him. I've never felt that we lived in two separate worlds more than this."

Stephen Hess, a Brookings Institution scholar, on President Clinton's continued high approval ratings in polls
(The Washington Post, "In Lewinsky Matter, Views Shift Rapidly")

Saturday, March 21

Quotes of the Day:

"This week's vicious campaign, orchestrated by the White House and its surrogates, to smear and discredit Kathleen Willey for telling her compelling story on '60 Minutes' suggests defendant Clinton's and his White House's true callous attitude toward all women."

John W. Whitehead, president of the Rutherford Institute, which is funding Paula Jones's legal battle
(The Washington Post, "Clinton's Attorney Denounces 'Smear' ")

"The 700-page filing by [Jones's] attorneys last week was little more than a web of deceit and distortions."

Robert S. Bennett, Clinton's chief attorney on the case
(The Washington Post, "Clinton's Attorney Denounces 'Smear' ")

Friday, March 20

Quotes of the Day:

"[President Clinton] stands accused of at least two counts of perjury. ... These are felonies ... [if proven,] they are impeachable offenses in my mind."

Rep. Bob Inglis (R-S.C.), a House Judiciary Committee member
(The Washington Post, "Republicans Wary of Plan for Starr Panel")

"There is no chance of taking any action against President Clinton."

Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.), another member of the House Judiciary Committee
(The Washington Post, "Republicans Wary of Plan for Starr Panel")

Thursday, March 19

Quotes of the Day:

"Maybe there is sexual harassment, but it is negligible considering what he has done for the country."

Scott Saxe, a 38-year-old pharmacy technician from Fort Lauderdale, Fla., on Kathleen Willey's allegations
(The Washington Post, "Willey's Story Gets a Shrug From Public")

"You're assuming that the American public at some stage said that this is a person of high moral values. In truth, they've never believed that."

Peter Hart, a Democratic pollster, explaining why public opinion toward President Clinton has remained stable, despite the allegations
(The Washington Post, "Willey's Story Gets a Shrug From Public")

"If this were a stock, you would say the market has already discounted this information. The interview provided relatively little new information."

Whit Ayres, GOP pollster from Atlanta, on the effects of Willey's allegations on Clinton's popularity
(The Washington Post, "Willey's Story Gets a Shrug From Public")

Wednesday, March 18

Quotes of the Day:

''[N]aturally, we wanted to help Americans understand the fuller context of the story.''

Mike McCurry, White House press secretary, explaining why the White House released letters Kathleen Willey wrote to President Clinton
(The Washington Post, "Cornered, White House Brandishes Facts on Willey")

Tuesday, March 17

Quotes of the Day:

''I told the truth in the deposition. I am mystified and disappointed by this turn of events.''

President Clinton, responding to Kathleen Willey's allegations on "60 Minutes"
(The Associated Press, "Clinton 'Mystified' By Willey Account")

"If [Willey's allegations are] true, it's sexual assault. He [Clinton] put his hand on her breast. He put her hand on his erection. . . . Now we're talking about, really, sexual predators and people who in positions of power use that power to take advantage of women."

Patricia Ireland, president of the National Organization for Women
(The Washington Post, "Willey Interview Weakens Women's Support for Clinton")

Monday, March 16

Quotes of the Day:

CBS's Ed Bradley interviews Kathleen Willey. (AP)

"I was embarrassed for the president's behavior. And I saw no benefit whatsoever in filing a complaint. I mean, who do you file a complaint with, anyway, when it's the president? Where do you go?"

Former White House aide Kathleen Willey, describing on CBS's "60 Minutes" why she did not go public earlier with the story of her alleged close encounter with the president
(The Washington Post, "Willey Tells of Clinton Advance")

Former White House aide Kathleen Willey, describing on CBS's "60 Minutes" why she is airing her allegations publicly now
(The Washington Post, "Willey Tells of Clinton Advance")

Robert S. Bennett, the president's chief attorney on the Paula Jones case, on Kathleen Willey's believability
(The Washington Post, "Willey Tells of Clinton Advance")

Sunday, March 15

Quote of the Day:

"Her concern was retaliation. ... A preemptive strike, if you will. It was important to get this investigation launched quickly, to get whatever whistleblower protection we could get out of federal law."

James Moody, Linda Tripp's lawyer, commenting on her motivation for seeking out Kenneth Starr
(The Washington Post, "Linda's Trip")