II. 1995: Initial Sexual Encounters
Monica Lewinsky began her White House employment as an intern in the Chief
of Staff's office in July 1995. At White House functions in the following
months, she made eye contact with the President. During the November 1995
government shutdown, the President invited her to his private study, where
they kissed. Later that evening, they had a more intimate sexual encounter.
They had another sexual encounter two days later, and a third one on New
Year's Eve. 
A. Overview of Monica Lewinsky's White House Employment 
Monica Lewinsky worked at the White House, first as an intern and then as
an employee, from July 1995 to April 1996. With the assistance of family
friend Walter Kaye, a prominent contributor to political causes, she
obtained an internship starting in early July, when she was 21 years
old.(132) She was assigned to work on correspondence in the office of Chief
of Staff Leon Panetta in the Old Executive Office Building.(133) 
As her internship was winding down, Ms. Lewinsky applied for a paying job
on the White House staff. She interviewed with Timothy Keating, Special
Assistant to the President and Staff Director for Legislative Affairs.(134)
Ms. Lewinsky accepted a position dealing with correspondence in the Office
of Legislative Affairs on November 13, 1995, but did not start the job
(and, thus, continued her internship) until November 26.(135) She remained
a White House employee until April 1996, when -- in her view, because of
her intimate relationship with the President -- she was dismissed from the
White House and transferred to the Pentagon.(136) 
B. First Meetings with the President 
The month after her White House internship began, Ms. Lewinsky and the
President began what she characterized as "intense flirting."(137) At
departure ceremonies and other events, she made eye contact with him, shook
hands, and introduced herself.(138) When she ran into the President in the
West Wing basement and introduced herself again, according to Ms. Lewinsky,
he responded that he already knew who she was.(139) Ms. Lewinsky told her
aunt that the President "seemed attracted to her or interested in her or
something," and told a visiting friend that "she was attracted to
[President Clinton], she had a big crush on him, and I think she told me
she at some point had gotten his attention, that there was some mutual eye
contact and recognition, mutual acknowledgment."(140) 
In the autumn of 1995, an impasse over the budget forced the federal
government to shut down for one week, from Tuesday, November 14, to Monday,
November 20.(141) Only essential federal employees were permitted to work
during the furlough, and the White House staff of 430 shrank to about 90
people for the week. White House interns could continue working because of
their unpaid status, and they took on a wide range of additional
duties.(142) 
During the shutdown, Ms. Lewinsky worked in Chief of Staff Panetta's West
Wing office, where she answered phones and ran errands.(143) The President
came to Mr. Panetta's office frequently because of the shutdown, and he
sometimes talked with Ms. Lewinsky.(144) She characterized these encounters
as "continued flirtation."(145) According to Ms. Lewinsky, a Senior Adviser
to the Chief of Staff, Barry Toiv, remarked to her that she was getting a
great deal of "face time" with the President.(146) 
C. November 15 Sexual Encounter 
Ms. Lewinsky testified that Wednesday, November 15, 1995 -- the second day
of the government shutdown -- marked the beginning of her sexual
relationship with the President.(147) On that date, she entered the White
House at 1:30 p.m., left sometime thereafter (White House records do not
show the time), reentered at 5:07 p.m., and departed at 12:18 a.m. on
November 16.(148) The President was in the Oval Office or the Chief of
Staff's office (where Ms. Lewinsky worked during the furlough) for almost
the identical period that Ms. Lewinsky was in the White House that evening,
from 5:01 p.m. on November 15 to 12:35 a.m. on November 16.(149) 
According to Ms. Lewinsky, she and the President made eye contact when he
came to the West Wing to see Mr. Panetta and Deputy Chief of Staff Harold
Ickes, then again later at an informal birthday party for Jennifer
Palmieri, Special Assistant to the Chief of Staff.(150) At one point, Ms.
Lewinsky and the President talked alone in the Chief of Staff's office. In
the course of flirting with him, she raised her jacket in the back and
showed him the straps of her thong underwear, which extended above her
pants.(151) 
En route to the restroom at about 8 p.m., she passed George
Stephanopoulos's office. The President was inside alone, and he beckoned
her to enter.(152) She told him that she had a crush on him. He laughed,
then asked if she would like to see his private office.(153) Through a
connecting door in Mr. Stephanopoulos's office, they went through the
President's private dining room toward the study off the Oval Office. Ms.
Lewinsky testified: "We talked briefly and sort of acknowledged that there
had been a chemistry that was there before and that we were both attracted
to each other and then he asked me if he could kiss me." Ms. Lewinsky said
yes. In the windowless hallway adjacent to the study, they kissed.(154)
Before returning to her desk, Ms. Lewinsky wrote down her name and
telephone number for the President.(155) 
At about 10 p.m., in Ms. Lewinsky's recollection, she was alone in the
Chief of Staff's office and the President approached.(156) He invited her
to rendezvous again in Mr. Stephanopoulos's office in a few minutes, and
she agreed.(157) (Asked if she knew why the President wanted to meet with
her, Ms. Lewinsky testified: "I had an idea."(158)) They met in Mr.
Stephanopoulos's office and went again to the area of the private
study.(159) This time the lights in the study were off.(160) 
According to Ms. Lewinsky, she and the President kissed. She unbuttoned her
jacket; either she unhooked her bra or he lifted her bra up; and he touched
her breasts with his hands and mouth.(161) Ms. Lewinsky testified: "I
believe he took a phone call . . . and so we moved from the hallway into
the back office . . . . [H]e put his hand down my pants and stimulated me
manually in the genital area."(162) While the President continued talking
on the phone (Ms. Lewinsky understood that the caller was a Member of
Congress or a Senator), she performed oral sex on him.(163) He finished his
call, and, a moment later, told Ms. Lewinsky to stop. In her recollection:
"I told him that I wanted . . . to complete that. And he said . . . that he
needed to wait until he trusted me more. And then I think he made a joke .
. . that he hadn't had that in a long time."(164) 
Both before and after their sexual contact during that encounter, Ms.
Lewinsky and the President talked.(165) At one point during the
conversation, the President tugged on the pink intern pass hanging from her
neck and said that it might be a problem. Ms. Lewinsky thought that he was
talking about access -- interns were not supposed to be in the West Wing
without an escort -- and, in addition, that he might have discerned some
"impropriety" in a sexual relationship with a White House intern.(166) 
White House records corroborate details of Ms. Lewinsky's account. She
testified that her November 15 encounters with the President occurred at
about 8 p.m. and 10 p.m., and that in each case the two of them went from
the Chief of Staff's office to the Oval Office area.(167) Records show that
the President visited the Chief of Staff's office for one minute at 8:12
p.m. and for two minutes at 9:23 p.m., in each case returning to the Oval
Office.(168) She recalled that the President took a telephone call during
their sexual encounter, and she believed that the caller was a Member of
Congress or a Senator.(169) White House records show that after returning
to the Oval Office from the Chief of Staff's office, the President talked
to two Members of Congress: Rep. Jim Chapman from 9:25 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.,
and Rep. John Tanner from 9:31 p.m. to 9:35 p.m.(170) 
D. November 17 Sexual Encounter 
According to Ms. Lewinsky, she and the President had a second sexual
encounter two days later (still during the government furlough), on Friday,
November 17. She was at the White House until 8:56 p.m., then returned from
9:38 to 10:39 p.m.(171) At 9:45 p.m., a few minutes after Ms. Lewinsky's
reentry, the President went from the Oval Office to the Chief of Staff's
office (where Ms. Lewinsky worked during the furlough) for one minute, then
returned to the Oval Office for 30 minutes. From there, he went back to the
Chief of Staff's office until 10:34 p.m. (approximately when Ms. Lewinsky
left the White House), then went by the Oval Office and the Ground Floor
before retiring to the Residence at 10:40 p.m.(172) 
Ms. Lewinsky testified: 
We were again working late because it was during the furlough and Jennifer
Palmieri . . . had ordered pizza along with Ms. Currie and Ms. Hernreich.
And when the pizza came, I went down to let them know that the pizza was
there and it was at that point when I walked into Ms. Currie's office that
the President was standing there with some other people discussing
something. 

And they all came back to the office and Mr. -- I think it was Mr. Toiv,
somebody accidentally knocked pizza on my jacket, so I went to go use the
restroom to wash it off and as I was coming out of the restroom, the
President was standing in Ms. Currie's doorway and said, "You can come out
this way."(173) 

Ms. Lewinsky and the President went into the area of the private study,
according to Ms. Lewinsky. There, either in the hallway or the bathroom,
she and the President kissed. After a few minutes, in Ms. Lewinsky's
recollection, she told him that she needed to get back to her desk. The
President suggested that she bring him some slices of pizza.(174) 
A few minutes later, she returned to the Oval Office area with pizza and
told Ms. Currie that the President had requested it. Ms. Lewinsky
testified: "[Ms. Currie] opened the door and said, 'Sir, the girl's here
with the pizza.' He told me to come in. Ms. Currie went back into her
office and then we went into the back study area again."(175) Several
witnesses confirm that when Ms. Lewinsky delivered pizza to the President
that night, the two of them were briefly alone.(176) 

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