Motions to be argued in Gennifer Flowers defamation lawsuit

LISA SNEDEKER

Tuesday, July 18, 2000 | 10:57 a.m.

Attorneys representing Hillary Clinton and two former presidential advisers hope to persuade a judge to dismiss a defamation lawsuit filed by Gennifer Flowers.

Flowers, President Clinton's former paramour and a Las Vegas resident, filed a lawsuit in November against George Stephanopoulos and James Carville. She later added the first lady to the lawsuit.

Motions to dismiss the suit will be considered Tuesday by U.S. District Judge Phillip Pro. None of the principals is expected in court.

Las Vegas attorney Walter Cannon, who is helping to represent Hillary Rodham Clinton, said all three defendants have filed motions to dismiss the lawsuit, which seeks damages in excess of $75,000 and calls for a jury trial.

Cannon said most of the arguments will be presented by out-of-state counsel, including David Kendall, who is the Clintons' personal attorney.

In June, attorneys for Stephanopoulos and his publishing company filed court documents stating that Flowers' lawsuit against him should be thrown out because it lacks merit and none of the alleged acts took place in Nevada.

Flowers' Judicial Watch attorney Larry Klayman claims, however, that the case has plenty of merit. "They accused her (Flowers) of fabricating tapes and she didn't," he said. "We also have evidence that Mrs. Clinton hired private investigators. It's a very strong case."

Judicial Watch is a Washington-based conservative legal watchdog group.

The lawsuit claims that Carville and Stephanopoulos have libeled and slandered Flowers continually since 1992. The lawsuit cites Stephanopoulos' 1999 book "All Too Human: A Political Education" and a series of interviews on CNN's "Larry King Live."

Flowers added Hillary Clinton to the lawsuit in January, accusing the first lady of orchestrating three burglaries of her home, defaming her and invading her privacy.

Stephanopoulos, a former White House communications director, left the Clinton administration in 1996 and is now a political analyst for ABC. Carville is a political strategist who played a major role in Clinton's presidential bids.

Stephanopoulos and Carville appeared on King's TV show to discuss stories that appeared in Star magazine concerning Flowers' allegations of a 12-year affair with the president while he was the governor of Arkansas.

Clinton initially denied having an affair with Flowers but he later acknowledged the relationship in the Paula Jones sexual harassment case.

Because none of the acts Stephanopoulos is alleged to have committed took place in Nevada, the statute of limitations has run out here, his attorneys claim.

The attorneys, Pat Lundvall and Andrew Gordon of Reno and Laura Handman and Matthew Leish of Washington, D.C., claim the former adviser's book is a personal memoir that offers an "accurate accounting of historical events."

When the original lawsuit was filed, Carville called it "a pack of whatever" and Stephanopoulos declined comment.

Flowers moved to Las Vegas to pursue a singing career.