-Caveat Lector- http://www.time.com/time/pr/ray.html Deal Clinton Made With the Independent Counsel Was More Than A Year In the Making; Clinton Helped Shape 'Every Clause, Every Word and Every Comma' "The underbrush had to be cleared away," Ray told TIME New York -- Friday's deal President Clinton made with Independent Counsel Robert Ray to avoid prosecution was more than a year in the making, TIME reports. It involved clandestine negotiations between the warring parties in which Clinton helped shape "every clause, every word and every comma," as one source describes it. The agreement required compromises from both the President, who until now had insisted that he never lied under oath, and the prosecutor who had vowed to uphold the rule of law. The initial crucial meeting took place in the Map Room at the White House. Within days of Ray's swearing-in as Ken Starr's successor in October 1999, he received a call from the President's private lawyer, David Kendall, who'd spent six years battling Starr. Ray and Kendall began a series of regular talks, and Ray tried to build faith in his fairness, TIME reports in the current issue (on newsstands Monday, Jan. 22nd). Over the next 11 months, he closed investigations that Starr had let drag on for years: the Whitewater land deal, the firing of the White House travel office and alleged misuse of FBI personnel files. Ray issued press releases clearing the President and First Lady of criminal wrongdoing--and made sure he finished several weeks before Election Day in Hillary Clinton's run for the Senate. "The underbrush had to be cleared away," Ray told TIME. However, his actions only made Clinton cockier, TIME's Michael Weisskopf reports. The President had suffered the ignominy of impeachment and a contempt of court finding, but now he was spinning hard, bragging in interviews that he had defended the Constitution by standing up to overzealous prosecutors. Ray knew he had to get Clinton's attention. In July, he empaneled a new grand jury, and after the November election, called in Lewinsky for questioning, increasing pressure on Clinton to cut a deal. If there was going to be a settlement, he wanted it before Clinton left office. About three weeks ago, he asked Kendall for a meeting with the President, according to sources outside Ray's office. He agreed to participate in the first negotiation of criminal matters between a President and prosecutor. Kendall set up the meeting and joined the discussion. Clinton agreed to acknowledge some form of wrongdoing; the issue was what. Ray wanted him to admit that he had lied under oath when he denied having had sexual relations with Lewinsky; at the meeting, Clinton wouldn't budge. The lawyers worked on language over the next two weeks, arriving at a formula in which Clinton admitted for the first time to giving false testimony under oath. By avoiding the word "knowingly," the President skirted the legal definition of perjury. With that breakthrough, the deal came together. <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/">www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance—not soap-boxing—please! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'—with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright frauds—is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. ======================================================================== Archives Available at: http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html <A HREF="http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html">Archives of [EMAIL PROTECTED]</A> http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ <A HREF="http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/">ctrl</A> ======================================================================== To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
