The White House is not happy. Last week’s decision by Judge Susan Webber Wright to allow the trial to go forward wasn’t a surprise, but it was a disappointment for Clintonites. Wright, who had been pilloried by conservatives as a patsy because she is a former Clinton law student, was actually tough on the president. She declined to limit discovery–a ruling that lets Jones’s lawyers pry into Clinton’s private life.
Within the White House, there is debate over whether to settle the suit or fight it out in court, with the fighters having the upper hand. Political advisers A la James Carville think the president should fight it out; lawyers, such as White House Counsel Charles Ruff, push a settlement. Meanwhile, many Clinton aides are furious at Robert Bennett, the president’s private attorney. His stock fell off dramatically in May when the Supreme Court ruled 9-0 that the president could not delay Jones’s suit until after he left office. What’s more, Bennett has made embarrassing remarks, like his statement that Jones’s sexual history was fair game. Yet by the time they heard last week that the trial was on, most of the president’s staff, inured to battle, were more resigned than upset. After Wright’s ruling, Jones merely chirped: ““I’m really so glad to be here in Arkansas.’’ The president might offer another opinion.
