Willey's credibility is attacked; White House releases friendly letters in effort to discredit her; Signed `Fondly, Kathleen'; Clinton `mystified'; GOP is cautiously supportive of ex-aide FINAL Edition

• Published in: The Sun (Baltimore, Md. : 1837)
• Main Author: CARL M. CANNON Sun staff writers Tom Bowman and David Folkenflik contributed to this article
• Format: Newspaper Article
• Language: English
• Published: Baltimore, Md Tribune Publishing Company, LLC 17.03.1998
• Subjects: WASHINGTON
• ISSN: 1930-8965; 2573-2536

Clinton again denied Willey's allegation that he tried to force himself on her sexually. White House officials, meanwhile, released a packet of friendly letters exchanged between Clinton and Willey, in hopes of undercutting her claim of having been offended by the encounter with Clinton. In one of her subsequent letters to him, Willey calls herself Clinton's "number one fan." Willey told her story Sunday on an episode of CBS' "60 Minutes" that even Clinton aides said painted a damaging picture of the president. She said she visited Clinton on Nov. 29, 1993, to ask for a paying White House position and instead was fondled by him in a study off the Oval Office. White House officials conceded that Willey appeared credible and vulnerable, and they were careful not to directly attack the motives of a woman who does not appear to be driven by either ideology or greed. But Clinton's lawyer Robert S. Bennett was less restrained, telling Larry King that Willey's lawyer was hawking a book for his client. Bennett suggested that the possibility of a healthy advance - he mentioned the figure $300,000 - might be a motive for Willey to lie.