Lewinsky:
I'll apologise to Chelsea Clinton
FRESH allegations of sexual assaults by the
young Bill Clinton have emerged in the wake of last
week's televised claim by Juanita Broaddrick that he
raped her in her hotel bedroom in 1978.
At least two more women, one of them English, may
have been his victims on earlier occasions, according to
an Internet website that claims to have spoken to both
in the past few days. The new charges, which have not
been independently confirmed, are signals that the
controversy over President Clinton's sexual conduct is
far from over.
Ms Broaddrick's sometimes tearful account of Mr
Clinton's alleged assault was watched in 23 million
American homes and had a profound effect on many who saw
it. According to an opinion poll, published by Fox News
yesterday, 54 per cent of Americans believe Ms
Broaddrick's version of events - which is denied by the
President's lawyers - and half say her claim represents
a "pattern of behaviour" by Mr Clinton. Some
believe that Ms Broaddrick's interview may encourage
other women to come forward.
Lucianne Goldberg, the literary agent who encouraged
Linda Tripp to record her telephone conversations with
Miss Lewinsky, has been hinting to friends that she has
someone lined up to go public within a month.
Capitol Hill Blue, a conservative-leaning website,
claims that a 19-year-old Englishwoman complained of
being sexually assaulted by Mr Clinton at a pub near
Oxford in 1969, when he was a Rhodes Scholar. It claims
to have confirmation from a former State Department
official. The alleged victim's family is said to have
decided against pursuing the case.
According to Capitol Hill Blue, the woman - who it
says is now married and lives near London - confirmed
that there had been an incident when contacted last week
but refused to go public. It said she had since changed
her telephone number.
The same website also claims to have spoken to an
unnamed woman who was sexually assaulted by Mr Clinton,
then a Yale law student, in 1972. She was 22 at the
time. According to the report, the woman confirmed the
incident but declined to discuss it further. The
Internet magazine said the incident was also confirmed
by a retired campus policeman.
The website, run from suburban Virginia, is regarded
by Washington insiders as significantly less reliable
than rivals such as the Drudge Report, which was the
first to reveal that the President had had an affair
with Monica Lewinsky but which itself has not always
proved correct.
Capitol Hill Blue's slogan, "Because nobody's
life, liberty or property is safe while Congress is in
session", suggests that its political leanings are
well to the Right, qualifying it as part of what Clinton
defenders regard as a "vast Right-wing
conspiracy". Its report admits that a request for
any records of the Oxford incident, filed under freedom
of information legislation, failed to turn up anything.
The allegations are being made amid signs that
women's organisations, whose support for Mr Clinton has
been vital to his survival, are beginning to desert him.
Patricia Ireland, president of the National Organisation
for Women, said: "The story was devastating because
she doesn't have an apparent political motivation and
she doesn't seem to be in it for the money."
She urged people to treat Ms Broaddrick "fairly
and respectfully" and, in a devastating sideswipe
at the White House, called on Mr Clinton "to
denounce this 'nuts or sluts' defence, the argument that
she either made it up or asked for it".
Miss Ireland's intervention marks a significant shift
in the position of one of America's most influential
feminist groups, which earlier staunchly opposed
impeachment. Republicans are calling on so-called
"ethical Democrats" - senators such as Joseph
Lieberman and Daniel Patrick Moynihan who took a moral
stance on the President's behaviour after he admitted
his affair with Miss Lewinsky - to confront Mr Clinton
on Ms Broaddrick's allegations.
How likely they are to do so is another matter.
Senator Lieberman did not even watch the NBC broadcast -
"it was his birthday", said a spokesman.
Another Democrat said: "People are disturbed by the
possibility that the President behaved like that. But
will anyone who matters press him on it? They didn't do
so before and I would be very surprised if they do so
now."
22
February 1999: Woman in rape claim vents fury at
Clinton
21
February 1999: Clinton faces new sex
allegations
20
February 1999: Woman in Clinton rape claim tells
story
29
January 1999: White House 'puts pressure' on TV network
over alleged rape
