Clinton Trying To Keep Law License

By PETE YOST, Associated Press Writer

 WASHINGTON (AP) -- Trying to keep his law license, President
Clinton argues in still-sealed court papers that he didn't lie in
the Monica Lewinsky scandal and deserves no worse than a
reprimand, a conservative group that wants him disbarred said
Monday.

 The Southeastern Legal Foundation of Atlanta characterized
Clinton's 80-page filing with an attorney disciplinary committee
of the Supreme Court of Arkansas as ''attempting to show that his
testimony was not 'false' as he defines that term.''

 In its 26-page response, the private group says that the
president's oft-stated admission that he gave ''misleading''
testimony about his relationship with the former White House
intern is grounds enough to disbar him. The private group also
argued that Clinton, as a public official, is subject to more
stringent standards under Arkansas rules of ethical conduct for
attorneys.

 Regarding his sexual relationship with Lewinsky, ''President
Clinton flatly admits that he misled us all, court and public
alike,'' says the group. ''He admitted it on national television
and he admitted it, repeatedly, in his response to this
committee's formal complaints. Even his own lawyers characterized
his testimony as 'evasive, incomplete and misleading.'''

 David Kendall, the president's personal attorney, noted that the
foundation gets money from conservative billionaire Richard
Scaife and former independent counsel Kenneth Starr helps raise
money for the group.

 ''The foundation isn't interested in issues relating to Arkansas
lawyers and legal services, it's just interested in attacking the
president in any way it can,'' he said. ''Releasing its paper to
the public is just another part of the long-running partisan
mudslinging campaign against the president.''

 The group's court papers say that in calling for ''a mere
reprimand,'' Clinton ''ignores the plain language of the ... most
obvious, analogous case of presidential misconduct, that of
Richard Nixon.''

 Nixon was disbarred by a New York court despite the absence of
criminal conviction or impeachment conviction. He resigned before
a Senate trial.

 In their still-unreleased court filing late last month,
Clinton's lawyers reviewed hundreds of attorney disciplinary
cases in Arkansas to suggest ''that a sanction no harsher and
perhaps more lenient than a letter of reprimand would be
appropriate,'' foundation president Matt Glavin said at a news
conference.

 Clinton ''is no ordinary Arkansas lawyer,'' the group said in
its filing. ''Rather, he is the president of the United States of
America and, as such, is held to the model rules requiring the
higher ethical standard for attorneys who hold public office,
even those who may become litigants or defendants.

 ''What goes unacknowledged'' by Clinton ''is the tremendous
damage that his misconduct has caused to the courts and legal
profession in Arkansas and throughout the country,'' the group
added. ''It is that consequence of the president's misconduct
that he must particularly answer for.''

 The group noted that Clinton paid $90,000 and never challenged a
civil contempt finding by U.S. District Court Judge Susan Webber
Wright that he lied when he denied a sexual relationship with
Lewinsky and testified he couldn't recall being alone with the
former White House intern.

 Imposing fines for civil contempt ''does not mitigate the need
to protect the integrity of the legal system,'' said the group,
which filed the first complaint seeking revocation of Clinton's
Arkansas law license on Sept. 15, 1998.

 A second complaint arose automatically under state law when
Wright found Clinton in contempt on April 12, 1999, for lying
about his sexual relationship with Lewinsky.

 Both complaints focus on Clinton's statements about Lewinsky in
the January 17, 1998, deposition in the Paula Jones sexual
harassment case.

 ^--------

 On the Net: The Southeastern Legal Foundation of Atlanta:
http://southeasternlegal.org/

  AP-NY-05-08-00 1552EDT<


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