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Clinton's nemeses return with rehashed stories of sexploits· Flowers and Jones pile pressure on ex-president
· Pair deny website is part of 'rightwing conspiracy'
Ed Pilkington in New York The Guardian,
Wednesday June 11 2008
Paula Jones and Gennifer Flowers are interviewed in front of the Clinton Presidential Library in Little Rock, Arkansas. Photograph: Danny Johnston/AP
It's been a rum few months for Bill Clinton. The former US president has seen his reputation as global philanthropist and do-gooder plummet with allegations of racism on his wife's campaign trail, speculation that he has an anger-management problem, and last week's outburst in which he called a Vanity Fair writer who had penned an unflattering profile of him a "sleazy, dishonest, slimy scumbag".
And things just got worse. Clinton's two nemeses - Gennifer Flowers and Paula Jones - have decided to join forces.
The two women, who have hung over Clinton like a bad odour for many years, have chosen this moment, when he is arguably going through the roughest patch since his impeachment in 1999, to stick the boot in again. They have produced a series of high-quality video clips for internet viewers of themselves reminiscing about the 1990s Clinton sex scandals in which they played central roles, under the evocative title Two Chicks Chatting.
Flowers complains in the videos that her career as a singer and performer was ruined by the notoriety she gained when she intervened during Clinton's first presidential campaign in 1992 to allege a long-term relationship with him. "What is fame without dignity," she says.
That said, Flowers has shown a remarkable persistence pursuing a career as the woman who once slept with Bill Clinton. She wrote a book, appeared in some movies and featured in Penthouse ("Gennifer Flowers Tells All, Shows All").
This year she announced she was going to put up for auction the tapes of phone conversations she secretly recorded with Clinton. And now she and Jones are charging up to $13.93 (£7) to hear the seven clips of them communing over such seminal political issues as the size and shape of the presidential penis.
There is nothing revelatory about their deliberations, though its ability to embarrass all parties concerned should not be underestimated.
Jones recounts for the umpteenth time her disputed story about how she was summoned to a room in the Excelsior hotel in Arkansas, in May 1991, when Clinton was governor and inappropriately approached by him. "I was excited to meet the governor, but I had no idea what he was going to do to me."
It was the harassment suit launched by Jones that brought to light the Monica Lewinsky scandal, and Clinton's deposition in the Jones case, in which he denied having a sexual relationship with Lewinsky, that led to his impeachment. In turn, the women were accused of being part of a conspiracy against the presidency.
Flowers says: "We have been accused of being part of a rightwing conspiracy. Are you part of that?"
Jones: "No I'm not. I'm conservative but I'm not a big political person. I can get on with anybody."
Having cleared that up, they end the videos with a hug. Jones tells Flowers: "You're just wonderful." A beautiful ending to a not so beautiful tale.
Tale of the tapes
Paula Jones
Age: 41
From: Lonoke, Arkansas
Relationship with Clinton: She alleged that in 1991 Clinton, then governor of Arkansas, had her escorted to his hotel room in Little Rock. There he made an advance on her. She filed a suit for sexual harassment three years later.
Denial: Clinton denied the allegations. He settled with Jones before the case reached trial. Collection of evidence by her lawyers led to the Monica Lewinsky scandal and Clinton's impeachment.
Gennifer Flowers
Age: 58
From: Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Relationship with Clinton: Claimed in 1992 that she had a 12-year affair with the former US president. When he denied it, she held a press conference and played some of the secretly recorded tapes of phone conversations with him.
Confession: In his deposition in the Paula Jones sexual harassment case, Clinton, after years of denial, admitted to having sex with Flowers.
· Pair deny website is part of 'rightwing conspiracy'
Ed Pilkington in New York The Guardian,
Wednesday June 11 2008
Paula Jones and Gennifer Flowers are interviewed in front of the Clinton Presidential Library in Little Rock, Arkansas. Photograph: Danny Johnston/AP
It's been a rum few months for Bill Clinton. The former US president has seen his reputation as global philanthropist and do-gooder plummet with allegations of racism on his wife's campaign trail, speculation that he has an anger-management problem, and last week's outburst in which he called a Vanity Fair writer who had penned an unflattering profile of him a "sleazy, dishonest, slimy scumbag".
And things just got worse. Clinton's two nemeses - Gennifer Flowers and Paula Jones - have decided to join forces.
The two women, who have hung over Clinton like a bad odour for many years, have chosen this moment, when he is arguably going through the roughest patch since his impeachment in 1999, to stick the boot in again. They have produced a series of high-quality video clips for internet viewers of themselves reminiscing about the 1990s Clinton sex scandals in which they played central roles, under the evocative title Two Chicks Chatting.
Flowers complains in the videos that her career as a singer and performer was ruined by the notoriety she gained when she intervened during Clinton's first presidential campaign in 1992 to allege a long-term relationship with him. "What is fame without dignity," she says.
That said, Flowers has shown a remarkable persistence pursuing a career as the woman who once slept with Bill Clinton. She wrote a book, appeared in some movies and featured in Penthouse ("Gennifer Flowers Tells All, Shows All").
This year she announced she was going to put up for auction the tapes of phone conversations she secretly recorded with Clinton. And now she and Jones are charging up to $13.93 (£7) to hear the seven clips of them communing over such seminal political issues as the size and shape of the presidential penis.
There is nothing revelatory about their deliberations, though its ability to embarrass all parties concerned should not be underestimated.
Jones recounts for the umpteenth time her disputed story about how she was summoned to a room in the Excelsior hotel in Arkansas, in May 1991, when Clinton was governor and inappropriately approached by him. "I was excited to meet the governor, but I had no idea what he was going to do to me."
It was the harassment suit launched by Jones that brought to light the Monica Lewinsky scandal, and Clinton's deposition in the Jones case, in which he denied having a sexual relationship with Lewinsky, that led to his impeachment. In turn, the women were accused of being part of a conspiracy against the presidency.
Flowers says: "We have been accused of being part of a rightwing conspiracy. Are you part of that?"
Jones: "No I'm not. I'm conservative but I'm not a big political person. I can get on with anybody."
Having cleared that up, they end the videos with a hug. Jones tells Flowers: "You're just wonderful." A beautiful ending to a not so beautiful tale.
Tale of the tapes
Paula Jones
Age: 41
From: Lonoke, Arkansas
Relationship with Clinton: She alleged that in 1991 Clinton, then governor of Arkansas, had her escorted to his hotel room in Little Rock. There he made an advance on her. She filed a suit for sexual harassment three years later.
Denial: Clinton denied the allegations. He settled with Jones before the case reached trial. Collection of evidence by her lawyers led to the Monica Lewinsky scandal and Clinton's impeachment.
Gennifer Flowers
Age: 58
From: Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Relationship with Clinton: Claimed in 1992 that she had a 12-year affair with the former US president. When he denied it, she held a press conference and played some of the secretly recorded tapes of phone conversations with him.
Confession: In his deposition in the Paula Jones sexual harassment case, Clinton, after years of denial, admitted to having sex with Flowers.
