Hillary added to Flowers lawsuit

Kim Smith

Friday, Jan. 21, 2000 | 11:23 a.m.

Gennifer Flowers, whose romance with Bill Clinton almost prevented him from becoming president in 1992, has added Hillary Rodham Clinton to the defamation lawsuit she filed in November.

In her amended lawsuit, which was filed Thursday in U.S. District Court by Larry Klayman of Judicial Watch and Las Vegas attorney Rex Bell, Flowers accuses Hillary Clinton of orchestrating three burglaries, defaming her and invading her privacy.

The lawsuit states that in the days leading up to Clinton taking office, Flowers' house was broken into three times and she was threatened.

"On information and belief, Defendant Clinton and those acting in concert with her, were behind the unlawful entry into the residence of the plaintiff," the lawsuit alleges.

Hillary Clinton also hired private investigators to get information on Flowers' "parental, family, marital and sexual relations" -- an act that would offend any reasonable person, the lawsuit states. Furthermore, Hillary Clinton went on CBS' "60 Minutes" in January 1992 and said her husband had not had an affair with Flowers despite knowing the truth, the lawsuit states. Flowers, who is a Nevada resident, filed her original lawsuit in November against James Carville, Bill Clinton's 1992 campaign manager, and George Stephanopoulos, a senior Clinton advisor. The lawsuit claimed that the two "have continuously libeled and slandered" Flowers since 1992 and cited Stephanopoulos' 1999 book "All Too Human: a Political Education" and a series of interviews on CNN's "Larry King Live." Stephanopoulos and Carville appeared on the TV show to discuss stories that appea red in Star magazine concerning Flowers' allegations of a lengthy affair with the president.

Also named in the lawsuit is Little, Brown and Co., the publishing company owned by Time Warner Inc. that published Stephanopoulos' book. "The conduct of the defendants was a means to destroy (Flowers') credibility, reputation, livelihood and emotional well-being and to deflect attention away from the truth," the amended lawsuit states.

In the amended complaint, Flowers accuses the defendants of creating a "War Room" where those involved in Bill Clinton's campaign would "plot strategy for the campaign and to attack and smear persons, including the plaintiff, who were perceived to be adverse to the candidacy of Bill Clinton and the interests of Hillary Rodham Clinton."

The lawsuit quotes extensively from a Carville book published in 1994, "All's Fair: Love, War and Running for President." As for the War Room, Carville is quoted as saying "The campaign scuttlebutt was that Hillary Rodham Clinton was somebody to deal with, a tough woman. A factor." As for Flowers, Carville reportedly said, "I was the first surrogate to go after (Flowers). By going to the Star, taking money, playing the aggrieved lover, she put herself in the line of fire, she was fair game. I thought 'Just don't call her a whore' -- but short of that, let 'er rip."