The Starr Report Narrative Pt. III: Continued Sexual Encounters by Kenneth W. Starr Lyrics
III. January-March 1996: Continued Sexual EncountersPresident Clinton and Ms. Lewinsky had additional sexual encounters near the Oval Office in 1996. After their sixth sexual encounter, the President and Ms. Lewinsky had their first lengthy conversation. On President's Day, February 19, the President terminated their sexual relationship, then revived it on March 31.
A. January 7 Sexual Encounter
According to Ms. Lewinsky, she and the President had another sexual encounter on Sunday, January 7, 1996. Although White House records do not indicate that Ms. Lewinsky was at the White House that day, her testimony and other evidence indicate that she was there.(201) The President, according to White House records, was in the Oval Office most of the afternoon, from 2:13 to 5:49 p.m.(202)
According to Ms. Lewinsky, the President telephoned her early that afternoon. It was the first time he had called her at home.(203) In her recollection: "I asked him what he was doing and he said he was going to be going into the office soon. I said, oh, do you want some company? And he said, oh, that would be great."(204) Ms. Lewinsky went to her office, and the President called to arrange their rendezvous:
[W]e made an arrangement that . . . he would have the door to his office open, and I would pass by the office with some papers and then . . . he would sort of stop me and invite me in. So, that was exactly what happened. I passed by and that was actually when I saw [Secret Service Uniformed Officer] Lew Fox who was on duty outside the Oval Office, and stopped and spoke with Lew for a few minutes, and then the President came out and said, oh, hey, Monica . . . come on in . . . . And so we spoke for about 10 minutes in the [Oval] office. We sat on the sofas. Then we went into the back study and we were intimate in the bathroom.(205)
Ms. Lewinsky testified that during this bathroom encounter, she and the President kissed, and he touched her bare breasts with his hands and his mouth.(206) The President "was talking about performing oral sex on me," according to Ms. Lewinsky.(207) But she stopped him because she was menstruating and he did not.(208) Ms. Lewinsky did perform oral sex on him.(209)
Afterward, she and the President moved to the Oval Office and talked. According to Ms. Lewinsky: "[H]e was chewing on a cigar. And then he had the cigar in his hand and he was kind of looking at the cigar in . . . sort of a naughty way. And so . . . I looked at the cigar and I looked at him and I said, we can do that, too, some time."(210)
Corroborating aspects of Ms. Lewinsky's recollection, records show that Officer Fox was posted outside the Oval Office the afternoon of January 7.(211) Officer Fox (who is now retired) testified that he recalled an incident with Ms. Lewinsky one weekend afternoon when he was on duty by the Oval Office:(212)
[T]he President of the United States came out, and he asked me, he says, "Have you seen any young congressional staff members here today?" I said, "No, sir." He said, "Well, I'm expecting one." He says, "Would you please let me know when they show up?" And I said, "Yes, sir."(213)
Officer Fox construed the reference to "congressional staff members" to mean White House staff who worked with Congress -- i.e., staff of the Legislative Affairs Office, where Ms. Lewinsky worked.(214)
Talking with a Secret Service agent posted in the hallway, Officer Fox speculated on whom the President was expecting: "I described Ms. Lewinsky, without mentioning the name, in detail, dark hair -- you know, I gave a general description of what she looked like."(215) Officer Fox had gotten to know Ms. Lewinsky during her tenure at the White House, and other agents had told him that she often spent time with the President.(216)
A short time later, Ms. Lewinsky approached, greeted Officer Fox, and said, "I have some papers for the President." Officer Fox admitted her to the Oval Office. The President said: "You can close the door. She'll be here for a while."(217)
B. January 21 Sexual Encounter
On Sunday, January 21, 1996, according to Ms. Lewinsky, she and the President had another sexual encounter. Her time of White House entry is not reflected in records. She left at 3:56 p.m.(218) The President moved from the Residence to the Oval Office at 3:33 p.m. and remained there until 7:40 p.m.(219)
On that day, according to Ms. Lewinsky, she saw the President in a hallway by an elevator, and he invited her to the Oval Office.(220) According to Ms. Lewinsky:
We had . . . had phone sex for the first time the week prior, and I was feeling a little bit insecure about whether he had liked it or didn't like it . . . . I didn't know if this was sort of developing into some kind of a longer-term relationship than what I thought it initially might have been, that maybe he had some regular girlfriend who was furloughed . . . .(221)
According to Ms. Lewinsky, she questioned the President about his interest in her. "I asked him why he doesn't ask me any questions about myself, and . . . is this just about sex . . . or do you have some interest in trying to get to know me as a person?"(222) The President laughed and said, according to Ms. Lewinsky, that "he cherishes the time that he had with me."(223) She considered it "a little bit odd" for him to speak of cherishing their time together "when I felt like he didn't really even know me yet."(224)
They continued talking as they went to the hallway by the study. Then, with Ms. Lewinsky in mid-sentence, "he just started kissing me."(225) He lifted her top and touched her breasts with his hands and mouth.(226) According to Ms. Lewinsky, the President "unzipped his pants and sort of exposed himself," and she performed oral sex.(227)
At one point during the encounter, someone entered the Oval Office. In Ms. Lewinsky's recollection, "[The President] zipped up real quickly and went out and came back in . . . . I just remember laughing because he had walked out there and he was visibly aroused, and I just thought it was funny."(228)
A short time later, the President got word that his next appointment, a friend from Arkansas, had arrived.(229) He took Ms. Lewinsky out through the Oval Office into Ms. Hernreich's office, where he kissed her goodbye.(230)
C. February 4 Sexual Encounter and Subsequent Phone Calls
On Sunday, February 4, according to Ms. Lewinsky, she and the President had their sixth sexual encounter and their first lengthy and personal conversation. The President was in the Oval Office from 3:36 to 7:05 p.m.(231) He had no telephone calls in the Oval Office before 4:45 p.m.(232) Records do not show Ms. Lewinsky's entry or exit.
According to Ms. Lewinsky, the President telephoned her at her desk and they planned their rendezvous. At her suggestion, they bumped into each other in the hallway, "because when it happened accidentally, that seemed to work really well," then walked together to the area of the private study.(233)
There, according to Ms. Lewinsky, they kissed. She was wearing a long dress that buttoned from the neck to the ankles. "And he unbuttoned my dress and he unhooked my bra, and sort of took the dress off my shoulders and . . . moved the bra . . . . [H]e was looking at me and touching me and telling me how beautiful I was."(234) He touched her breasts with his hands and his mouth, and touched her genitals, first through underwear and then directly.(235) She performed oral sex on him.(236)
After their sexual encounter, the President and Ms. Lewinsky sat and talked in the Oval Office for about 45 minutes. Ms. Lewinsky thought the President might be responding to her suggestion during their previous meeting about "trying to get to know me."(237) It was during that conversation on February 4, according to Ms. Lewinsky, that their friendship started to blossom.(238)
When she prepared to depart, according to Ms. Lewinsky, the President "kissed my arm and told me he'd call me, and then I said, yeah, well, what's my phone number? And so he recited both my home number and my office number off the top of his head."(239) The President called her at her desk later that afternoon and said he had enjoyed their time together.(240)
D. President's Day (February 19) Break-up
According to Ms. Lewinsky, the President terminated their relationship (only temporarily, as it happened), on Monday, February 19, 1996 -- President's Day. The President was in the Oval Office from 11 a.m. to 2:01 p.m. that day.(241) He had no telephone calls between 12:19 and 12:42 p.m.(242) Records do not reflect Ms. Lewinsky's presence at the White House.
In Ms. Lewinsky's recollection, the President telephoned her at her Watergate apartment that day. From the tone of his voice, she could tell something was wrong. She asked to come see him, but he said he did not know how long he would be there.(243) Ms. Lewinsky went to the White House, then walked to the Oval Office sometime between noon and 2 p.m. (the only time she ever went to the Oval Office uninvited).(244) Ms. Lewinsky recalled that she was admitted by a tall, slender, Hispanic plainclothes agent on duty near the door.(245)
The President told her that he no longer felt right about their intimate relationship, and he had to put a stop to it.(246) Ms. Lewinsky was welcome to continue coming to visit him, but only as a friend. He hugged her but would not kiss her.(247) At one point during their conversation, the President had a call from a sugar grower in Florida whose name, according to Ms. Lewinsky, was something like "Fanuli." In Ms. Lewinsky's recollection, the President may have taken or returned the call just as she was leaving.(248)
Ms. Lewinsky's account is corroborated in two respects. First, Nelson U. Garabito, a plainclothes Secret Service agent, testified that, on a weekend or holiday while Ms. Lewinsky worked at the White House (most likely in the early spring of 1996), Ms. Lewinsky appeared in the area of the Oval Office carrying a folder and said, "I have these papers for the President."(249) After knocking, Agent Garabito opened the Oval Office door, told the President he had a visitor, ushered Ms. Lewinsky in, and closed the door behind her.(250) When Agent Garabito's shift ended a few minutes later, Ms. Lewinsky was still in the Oval Office.(251)
Second, concerning Ms. Lewinsky's recollection of a call from a sugar grower named "Fanuli," the President talked with Alfonso Fanjul of Palm Beach, Florida, from 12:42 to 1:04 p.m.(252) Mr. Fanjul had telephoned a few minutes earlier, at 12:24 p.m.(253) The Fanjuls are prominent sugar growers in Florida.(254)
E. Continuing Contacts
After the break-up on February 19, 1996, according to Ms. Lewinsky, "there continued to sort of be this flirtation . . . when we'd see each other."(255) After passing Ms. Lewinsky in a hallway one night in late February or March, the President telephoned her at home and said he was disappointed that, because she had already left the White House for the evening, they could not get together. Ms. Lewinsky testified that the call "sort of implied to me that he was interested in starting up again."(256) On March 10, 1996, Ms. Lewinsky took a visiting friend, Natalie Ungvari, to the White House. They bumped into the President, who said to Ms. Ungvari when Ms. Lewinsky introduced them: "You must be her friend from California."(257) Ms. Ungvari was "shocked" that the President knew where she was from.(258)
Ms. Lewinsky testified that on Friday, March 29, 1996, she was walking down a hallway when she passed the President, who was wearing the first necktie she had given him. She asked where he had gotten the tie, and he replied: "Some girl with style gave it to me."(259) Later, he telephoned her at her desk and asked if she would like to see a movie. His plan was that she would position herself in the hallway by the White House Theater at a certain time, and he would invite her to join him and a group of guests as they entered. Ms. Lewinsky responded that she did not want people to think she was lurking around the West Wing uninvited.(260) She asked if they could arrange a rendezvous over the weekend instead, and he said he would try.(261) Records confirm that the President spent the evening of March 29 in the White House Theater.(262) Mrs. Clinton was in Athens, Greece.(263)
F. March 31 Sexual Encounter
On Sunday, March 31, 1996, according to Ms. Lewinsky, she and the President resumed their sexual contact.(264) Ms. Lewinsky was at the White House from 10:21 a.m. to 4:27 p.m. on that day.(265) The President was in the Oval Office from 3:00 to 5:46 p.m.(266) His only call while in the Oval Office was from 3:06 to 3:07 p.m.(267) Mrs. Clinton was in Ireland.(268)
According to Ms. Lewinsky, the President telephoned her at her desk and suggested that she come to the Oval Office on the pretext of delivering papers to him.(269) She went to the Oval Office and was admitted by a plainclothes Secret Service agent.(270) In her folder was a gift for the President, a Hugo Boss necktie.(271)
In the hallway by the study, the President and Ms. Lewinsky kissed. On this occasion, according to Ms. Lewinsky, "he focused on me pretty exclusively," kissing her bare breasts and fondling her genitals.(272) At one point, the President inserted a cigar into Ms. Lewinsky's vagina, then put the cigar in his mouth and said: "It tastes good."(273) After they were finished, Ms. Lewinsky left the Oval Office and walked through the Rose Garden.(274)
A. January 7 Sexual Encounter
According to Ms. Lewinsky, she and the President had another sexual encounter on Sunday, January 7, 1996. Although White House records do not indicate that Ms. Lewinsky was at the White House that day, her testimony and other evidence indicate that she was there.(201) The President, according to White House records, was in the Oval Office most of the afternoon, from 2:13 to 5:49 p.m.(202)
According to Ms. Lewinsky, the President telephoned her early that afternoon. It was the first time he had called her at home.(203) In her recollection: "I asked him what he was doing and he said he was going to be going into the office soon. I said, oh, do you want some company? And he said, oh, that would be great."(204) Ms. Lewinsky went to her office, and the President called to arrange their rendezvous:
[W]e made an arrangement that . . . he would have the door to his office open, and I would pass by the office with some papers and then . . . he would sort of stop me and invite me in. So, that was exactly what happened. I passed by and that was actually when I saw [Secret Service Uniformed Officer] Lew Fox who was on duty outside the Oval Office, and stopped and spoke with Lew for a few minutes, and then the President came out and said, oh, hey, Monica . . . come on in . . . . And so we spoke for about 10 minutes in the [Oval] office. We sat on the sofas. Then we went into the back study and we were intimate in the bathroom.(205)
Ms. Lewinsky testified that during this bathroom encounter, she and the President kissed, and he touched her bare breasts with his hands and his mouth.(206) The President "was talking about performing oral sex on me," according to Ms. Lewinsky.(207) But she stopped him because she was menstruating and he did not.(208) Ms. Lewinsky did perform oral sex on him.(209)
Afterward, she and the President moved to the Oval Office and talked. According to Ms. Lewinsky: "[H]e was chewing on a cigar. And then he had the cigar in his hand and he was kind of looking at the cigar in . . . sort of a naughty way. And so . . . I looked at the cigar and I looked at him and I said, we can do that, too, some time."(210)
Corroborating aspects of Ms. Lewinsky's recollection, records show that Officer Fox was posted outside the Oval Office the afternoon of January 7.(211) Officer Fox (who is now retired) testified that he recalled an incident with Ms. Lewinsky one weekend afternoon when he was on duty by the Oval Office:(212)
[T]he President of the United States came out, and he asked me, he says, "Have you seen any young congressional staff members here today?" I said, "No, sir." He said, "Well, I'm expecting one." He says, "Would you please let me know when they show up?" And I said, "Yes, sir."(213)
Officer Fox construed the reference to "congressional staff members" to mean White House staff who worked with Congress -- i.e., staff of the Legislative Affairs Office, where Ms. Lewinsky worked.(214)
Talking with a Secret Service agent posted in the hallway, Officer Fox speculated on whom the President was expecting: "I described Ms. Lewinsky, without mentioning the name, in detail, dark hair -- you know, I gave a general description of what she looked like."(215) Officer Fox had gotten to know Ms. Lewinsky during her tenure at the White House, and other agents had told him that she often spent time with the President.(216)
A short time later, Ms. Lewinsky approached, greeted Officer Fox, and said, "I have some papers for the President." Officer Fox admitted her to the Oval Office. The President said: "You can close the door. She'll be here for a while."(217)
B. January 21 Sexual Encounter
On Sunday, January 21, 1996, according to Ms. Lewinsky, she and the President had another sexual encounter. Her time of White House entry is not reflected in records. She left at 3:56 p.m.(218) The President moved from the Residence to the Oval Office at 3:33 p.m. and remained there until 7:40 p.m.(219)
On that day, according to Ms. Lewinsky, she saw the President in a hallway by an elevator, and he invited her to the Oval Office.(220) According to Ms. Lewinsky:
We had . . . had phone sex for the first time the week prior, and I was feeling a little bit insecure about whether he had liked it or didn't like it . . . . I didn't know if this was sort of developing into some kind of a longer-term relationship than what I thought it initially might have been, that maybe he had some regular girlfriend who was furloughed . . . .(221)
According to Ms. Lewinsky, she questioned the President about his interest in her. "I asked him why he doesn't ask me any questions about myself, and . . . is this just about sex . . . or do you have some interest in trying to get to know me as a person?"(222) The President laughed and said, according to Ms. Lewinsky, that "he cherishes the time that he had with me."(223) She considered it "a little bit odd" for him to speak of cherishing their time together "when I felt like he didn't really even know me yet."(224)
They continued talking as they went to the hallway by the study. Then, with Ms. Lewinsky in mid-sentence, "he just started kissing me."(225) He lifted her top and touched her breasts with his hands and mouth.(226) According to Ms. Lewinsky, the President "unzipped his pants and sort of exposed himself," and she performed oral sex.(227)
At one point during the encounter, someone entered the Oval Office. In Ms. Lewinsky's recollection, "[The President] zipped up real quickly and went out and came back in . . . . I just remember laughing because he had walked out there and he was visibly aroused, and I just thought it was funny."(228)
A short time later, the President got word that his next appointment, a friend from Arkansas, had arrived.(229) He took Ms. Lewinsky out through the Oval Office into Ms. Hernreich's office, where he kissed her goodbye.(230)
C. February 4 Sexual Encounter and Subsequent Phone Calls
On Sunday, February 4, according to Ms. Lewinsky, she and the President had their sixth sexual encounter and their first lengthy and personal conversation. The President was in the Oval Office from 3:36 to 7:05 p.m.(231) He had no telephone calls in the Oval Office before 4:45 p.m.(232) Records do not show Ms. Lewinsky's entry or exit.
According to Ms. Lewinsky, the President telephoned her at her desk and they planned their rendezvous. At her suggestion, they bumped into each other in the hallway, "because when it happened accidentally, that seemed to work really well," then walked together to the area of the private study.(233)
There, according to Ms. Lewinsky, they kissed. She was wearing a long dress that buttoned from the neck to the ankles. "And he unbuttoned my dress and he unhooked my bra, and sort of took the dress off my shoulders and . . . moved the bra . . . . [H]e was looking at me and touching me and telling me how beautiful I was."(234) He touched her breasts with his hands and his mouth, and touched her genitals, first through underwear and then directly.(235) She performed oral sex on him.(236)
After their sexual encounter, the President and Ms. Lewinsky sat and talked in the Oval Office for about 45 minutes. Ms. Lewinsky thought the President might be responding to her suggestion during their previous meeting about "trying to get to know me."(237) It was during that conversation on February 4, according to Ms. Lewinsky, that their friendship started to blossom.(238)
When she prepared to depart, according to Ms. Lewinsky, the President "kissed my arm and told me he'd call me, and then I said, yeah, well, what's my phone number? And so he recited both my home number and my office number off the top of his head."(239) The President called her at her desk later that afternoon and said he had enjoyed their time together.(240)
D. President's Day (February 19) Break-up
According to Ms. Lewinsky, the President terminated their relationship (only temporarily, as it happened), on Monday, February 19, 1996 -- President's Day. The President was in the Oval Office from 11 a.m. to 2:01 p.m. that day.(241) He had no telephone calls between 12:19 and 12:42 p.m.(242) Records do not reflect Ms. Lewinsky's presence at the White House.
In Ms. Lewinsky's recollection, the President telephoned her at her Watergate apartment that day. From the tone of his voice, she could tell something was wrong. She asked to come see him, but he said he did not know how long he would be there.(243) Ms. Lewinsky went to the White House, then walked to the Oval Office sometime between noon and 2 p.m. (the only time she ever went to the Oval Office uninvited).(244) Ms. Lewinsky recalled that she was admitted by a tall, slender, Hispanic plainclothes agent on duty near the door.(245)
The President told her that he no longer felt right about their intimate relationship, and he had to put a stop to it.(246) Ms. Lewinsky was welcome to continue coming to visit him, but only as a friend. He hugged her but would not kiss her.(247) At one point during their conversation, the President had a call from a sugar grower in Florida whose name, according to Ms. Lewinsky, was something like "Fanuli." In Ms. Lewinsky's recollection, the President may have taken or returned the call just as she was leaving.(248)
Ms. Lewinsky's account is corroborated in two respects. First, Nelson U. Garabito, a plainclothes Secret Service agent, testified that, on a weekend or holiday while Ms. Lewinsky worked at the White House (most likely in the early spring of 1996), Ms. Lewinsky appeared in the area of the Oval Office carrying a folder and said, "I have these papers for the President."(249) After knocking, Agent Garabito opened the Oval Office door, told the President he had a visitor, ushered Ms. Lewinsky in, and closed the door behind her.(250) When Agent Garabito's shift ended a few minutes later, Ms. Lewinsky was still in the Oval Office.(251)
Second, concerning Ms. Lewinsky's recollection of a call from a sugar grower named "Fanuli," the President talked with Alfonso Fanjul of Palm Beach, Florida, from 12:42 to 1:04 p.m.(252) Mr. Fanjul had telephoned a few minutes earlier, at 12:24 p.m.(253) The Fanjuls are prominent sugar growers in Florida.(254)
E. Continuing Contacts
After the break-up on February 19, 1996, according to Ms. Lewinsky, "there continued to sort of be this flirtation . . . when we'd see each other."(255) After passing Ms. Lewinsky in a hallway one night in late February or March, the President telephoned her at home and said he was disappointed that, because she had already left the White House for the evening, they could not get together. Ms. Lewinsky testified that the call "sort of implied to me that he was interested in starting up again."(256) On March 10, 1996, Ms. Lewinsky took a visiting friend, Natalie Ungvari, to the White House. They bumped into the President, who said to Ms. Ungvari when Ms. Lewinsky introduced them: "You must be her friend from California."(257) Ms. Ungvari was "shocked" that the President knew where she was from.(258)
Ms. Lewinsky testified that on Friday, March 29, 1996, she was walking down a hallway when she passed the President, who was wearing the first necktie she had given him. She asked where he had gotten the tie, and he replied: "Some girl with style gave it to me."(259) Later, he telephoned her at her desk and asked if she would like to see a movie. His plan was that she would position herself in the hallway by the White House Theater at a certain time, and he would invite her to join him and a group of guests as they entered. Ms. Lewinsky responded that she did not want people to think she was lurking around the West Wing uninvited.(260) She asked if they could arrange a rendezvous over the weekend instead, and he said he would try.(261) Records confirm that the President spent the evening of March 29 in the White House Theater.(262) Mrs. Clinton was in Athens, Greece.(263)
F. March 31 Sexual Encounter
On Sunday, March 31, 1996, according to Ms. Lewinsky, she and the President resumed their sexual contact.(264) Ms. Lewinsky was at the White House from 10:21 a.m. to 4:27 p.m. on that day.(265) The President was in the Oval Office from 3:00 to 5:46 p.m.(266) His only call while in the Oval Office was from 3:06 to 3:07 p.m.(267) Mrs. Clinton was in Ireland.(268)
According to Ms. Lewinsky, the President telephoned her at her desk and suggested that she come to the Oval Office on the pretext of delivering papers to him.(269) She went to the Oval Office and was admitted by a plainclothes Secret Service agent.(270) In her folder was a gift for the President, a Hugo Boss necktie.(271)
In the hallway by the study, the President and Ms. Lewinsky kissed. On this occasion, according to Ms. Lewinsky, "he focused on me pretty exclusively," kissing her bare breasts and fondling her genitals.(272) At one point, the President inserted a cigar into Ms. Lewinsky's vagina, then put the cigar in his mouth and said: "It tastes good."(273) After they were finished, Ms. Lewinsky left the Oval Office and walked through the Rose Garden.(274)