Saturday, January 03, 2004
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

Hillary Clinton dismissed, again, from Flowers' lawsuit

Judge rules conspiracy claim against former first lady ran out of time

For the second time, a federal judge in Las Vegas has dismissed Hillary Rodham Clinton from a lawsuit that accused her of conspiring with two men to defame Gennifer Flowers during the 1992 presidential election campaign.

In an order entered in late November, U.S. District Judge Philip Pro ruled that the conspiracy claim against Clinton was barred by Nevada's four-year statute of limitations.

According to the Web site for Judicial Watch, the public interest group that represents Flowers, the organization expects to appeal Clinton's dismissal from the case.

The Web site includes the following statement from Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton, who could not be reached this week:

"We are disappointed that Judge Pro gave Hillary Clinton a pass on conspiring to destroy our client Gennifer Flowers. We are hopeful that an appeals court will once again overturn this unjust decision. In the meantime, Ms. Flowers looks forward to getting her day in court against Hillary's co-conspirators in the smear campaign against her -- George Stephanopoulos and James Carville."

Flowers, a former Las Vegas resident and a former paramour of President Clinton, first filed her defamation lawsuit in November 1999 against Carville and Stephanopoulos. She added Hillary Clinton as a defendant in January 2000.

According to the complaint, Hillary Clinton organized a "War Room" during the 1992 campaign and used it to "smear, defame and harm perceived adversaries," including Flowers.

The document described Carville and Stephanopoulos as "the other two principals of the War Room" and claimed they carried out Hillary Clinton's "orders and desires."

Flowers claimed during the 1992 presidential campaign that she had a 12-year affair with Bill Clinton when he was governor of Arkansas. He initially denied the allegation but later, during his deposition in the Paula Jones sexual harassment case, acknowledged a single sexual encounter with Flowers.

Pro dismissed Flowers' lawsuit in August 2000, but the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco reinstated the case in November 2002.

Flowers filed another version of her lawsuit in February against Hillary Clinton, former presidential advisers Carville and Stephanopoulos, and book publisher Little, Brown & Co. The lawsuit's claims included defamation, false light and conspiracy.

In an order entered in July, Pro granted a motion by Hillary Clinton to dismiss the defamation and false light claims against her, but allowed the conspiracy claim to proceed against the former first lady and the former presidential aides.

The judge also granted a motion to dismiss the conspiracy claim against Little Brown & Co., which published Stephanopoulos' book "All Too Human: A Political Education."

In his November order, Pro concluded that Flowers had discovered "all necessary facts constituting a claim for civil conspiracy" against Hillary Clinton by April 1995.

However, Pro wrote, evidence in the case "does not irrefutably prove when Flowers knew or should have known" she had a cause of action against Carville and Stephanopoulos.

For that reason, the judge declined to rule "at this time" on whether Flowers' conspiracy claim against the two men is barred by the statute of limitations.

According to the Judicial Watch Web site, the case is expected to go to trial in June with Carville, Stephanopoulos, and Little Brown & Co. as defendants.