Sue Hartigan <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: Tabloid Talks About Willey Interest > WASHINGTON (AP) -- A supermarket tabloid said today it > pursued an interview with presidential accuser Kathleen > Willey for six months, and that last month her lawyer > indicated she might be willing to sell her story for > $300,000. > > Phil Bunton, editor of Star Magazine, said his > publication countered with an offer of $50,000 to Mrs. > Willey's lawyer, Dan Gecker, but the idea fizzled after > Mrs. Willey gave an interview to ``60 Minutes'' last > weekend. > > ``We've been trying to persuade Kathleen Willey to talk > to us for about six months now, and basically some time > in the last month Mr. Gecker said she might talk for > $300,000,'' Bunton said. > > ``It seemed to be a number that he was really sort of > fixated on and was not prepared to bend on,'' he said. > > The tabloid's disclosure, first reported in today' > editions of The Daily News in New York, is the latest to > raise the possibility that Mrs. Willey may have had a > financial motive in coming forward with her allegation > Clinton made an unwanted sexual advance. > > Court records indicate Mrs. Willey has six-figure debts > left over from before her husband committed suicide in > 1993. > > Mrs. Willey, both in the ``60 Minutes'' interview and in > a sworn deposition in the Paula Jones sexual harassment > lawsuit, has described the alleged advance she said > occurred during a Nov. 29, 1993 meeting in the Oval > Office when she came to ask the president for a paying > job at the White House, where she was working as a > volunteer. > > On Wednesday, the California book publisher, Michael > Viner, said Gecker approached him about a possible book > deal for $300,000 but that Mrs. Willey's account last > Sunday night on ``60 Minutes'' was ``a different story'' > from the one given by her lawyer during the book talks. > > Also Wednesday, a former friend, Julie Hiatt Steele, > released a sworn affidavit in which she alleged Mrs. > Willey asked her to lie about the encounter with Clinton > to a reporter last year. > > Gecker has not returned repeated phone calls to his > office and home in recent days seeking comment. > > Bunton said his tabloid considered the $300,000 figure > suggested by Gecker as ``too steep for what we > understood was basically the one incident'' with > Clinton. > > The editor said ``we sort of countered and said said > maybe we would be able to pay her $50,000 but we needed > to know what she had to say and whether it was more than > what had been written in Newsweek'' which published an > article last year that first disclose the Willey > allegations. > > Bunton said during the discussions Gecker gave the > magazine ``very vague, titilating hints that there was > more to the story than what had come out at that time'' > but no specifics. -- Two rules in life: 1. Don't tell people everything you know. 2. Subscribe/Unsubscribe, email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] In the body of the message enter: subscribe/unsubscribe law-issues
