President Clinton urged members of his Cabinet Friday not to believe allegations against him of sexual misconduct and to stay focused on their jobs despite charges that have endangered his presidency.
Cabinet members rallied to Clinton’s defense as he and his lawyers worked to put together Clinton’s side of the story, due to be unfurled at a news conference or media interview before Tuesday, about an alleged affair he had with a former White House intern.
As a cold rain fell, four Cabinet secretaries, including two women, appeared in the doorway of the White House West Wing to offer testimonials about the president after meeting with him for an hour to discuss his State of the Union speech scheduled for Tuesday night.
Secretary of State Madeleine Albright said Clinton told the gathering that “the allegations are untrue, that we should stay focused on our jobs and that he will be fine.”
Asked if they believed Clinton’s denial that he had a sexual relationship with Monica Lewinsky, 24, and asked her to lie about it, Albright said: “I believe that the allegations are completely untrue.”
“I’ll second that,” said Commerce Secretary William Daley. “Third it,” added Health and Human Services Secretary Donna Shalala.
White House spokesman Mike McCurry said Clinton wanted to provide answers “sooner rather than later” but that it was taking time to assemble all the facts before facing aggressive questioning from reporters. “He has to be prepared to do it in a thorough and comprehensive way,” he said.
A looming deadline for a full explanation appeared to be Clinton’s State of the Union address Tuesday night.
Meanwhile, Lewinsky’s lawyer, William Ginsburg, charged that Whitewater prosecutor Kenneth Starr “squeezed” his client to get information by threatening to involve her parents.
Starr is investigating whether Clinton had an affair with Lewinsky and then pressured her to lie under oath to lawyers collecting evidence in the Paula Jones sexual harassment case.
“I don’t like the way the investigation has been conducted,” Ginsburg told ABC’s “Good Morning America.” “Repeatedly during discussions with the office of the prosecutor we have been squeezed.
“They’ve even made threats to involve her parents who, as far as I know, know nothing about the situation.” he said.
Ginsburg said Starr, apparently after receiving tapes of Lewinsky’s conversations with co-worker Linda Tripp, “lured” Lewinsky to a northern Virginia hotel and questioned her for eight or nine hours without an attorney being present.
Ginsburg also said that the FBI and government prosecutors wanted Lewinsky to surreptitiously record conversations and phone calls.
Ginsburg said he is seeking a deal to gain immunity from prosecution for his client in exchange for her testimony, but Starr’s investigators have rejected the idea.
“Their position is they are not going to give her immunity,” Ginsburg said.
Prosecutors have subpoenaed Lewinsky to testify before the grand jury, sources said. Ginsburg declined comment on that, citing grand jury secrecy.
Asked about Ginsburg’s complaints about the investigation, a spokeswoman for Starr said she could not comment.
