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EDITORIAL : THE $90,686 LIE.


GEORGE Washington's legendary boyhood utterance, ``I cannot tell a lie,'' aside, U.S. presidents have lied and probably will continue to lie as long as this nation exists.

Most, however, did not lie under oath.

President Clinton's prevarication PREVARICATION. Praevaricatio, civil law. The acting with unfaithfulness and want of probity. The term is applied principally to the act of concealing a crime. Dig. 47, 15, 6.  about a tryst with White House Monica Lewinsky Monica Samille Lewinsky (born July 23, 1973) is an American woman with whom the former United States President Bill Clinton admitted (after initially denying) to having had an "inappropriate relationship"[1] while Lewinsky worked at the White House in 1995 and 1996.  intern nearly cost him his job, and probably would have if the nation's economy had been in the tank.

But it didn't. He was embarrassed, ridiculed and disrespected, and now a judge is making him pay for it.

In April, U.S. District Judge Susan Webber Wright Susan Webber Wright (b. 1948) is a United States District Court judge presently serving as the chief judge of the Eastern District of Arkansas. She received national attention when she dismissed Paula Jones's sexual harassment lawsuit against President Bill Clinton in 1998.  issued a historic contempt ruling against Clinton for giving ``false, misleading and evasive answers'' in his January 1998 deposition in the Paula Jones
''For the EarthBound character named Paula Jones (Japanese name for Paula Polestar), see Paula (EarthBound).


Paula Corbin Jones (born Paula Rosalee Corbin
 sexual harassment sexual harassment, in law, verbal or physical behavior of a sexual nature, aimed at a particular person or group of people, especially in the workplace or in academic or other institutional settings, that is actionable, as in tort or under equal-opportunity statutes.  lawsuit. In doing so, Webber informed him he would pay for the deposition and other costs associated with the lie.

After reviewing the itemized bills for $437,825 from Jones' Dallas-based attorneys and $53,333 from the Virginia-based Rutherford Institute Founded in 1982 by constitutional attorney and author John W. Whitehead, the Rutherford Institute is a civil liberties organization that provides free legal services to people whose constitutional and human rights have been threatened or violated. , which assisted Jones' lawyers, and her own $1,202 travel bill, Webber fined Clinton $90,686.

It was the first time a sitting president had been fined by a court of law.

Webber showed great restraint in limiting the penalty, perhaps knowing that Clinton himself would probably not be shelling out the cash. Federal law permits his legal defense fund, mostly contributions from supporters, to pay the sanction.

We hope this is the final footnote in the sordid Lewinsky affair.
COPYRIGHT 1999 Daily News
No portion of this article can be reproduced without the express written permission from the copyright holder.
Copyright 1999, Gale Group. All rights reserved. Gale Group is a Thomson Corporation Company.

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Publication:Daily News (Los Angeles, CA)
Article Type:Editorial
Date:Jul 30, 1999
Words:238
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