Flowers’ lawyer says put Hillary on stand

Greg Tuttle

Wednesday, July 19, 2000 | 11:07 a.m.

He is among the most fervid of Clinton critics, a self-described Ralph Nader of the right.

On Tuesday, Larry Klayman stood at the entrance of the new federal courthouse in Las Vegas and declared, "It's time to put Hillary on the witness stand."

It will be up to U.S. District Judge Philip Pro to decide whether Klayman gets his wish.

Klayman is the founder of Judicial Watch, a Washington, D.C.-based conservative organization that has brought at least 18 legal actions against the Clinton Administration since 1994.

He also is the attorney representing Gennifer Flowers in her defamation case against First Lady Hillary Clinton and former White House strategists George Stephanopoulos and James Carville.

The lawsuit accuses the two former Clinton aides of engaging in a libelous smear campaign since Flowers announced to the world during the 1992 presidential campaign that she had been Bill Clinton's adulterous lover for 12 years.

Flowers, who filed the lawsuit in November after moving to Las Vegas in 1998, added Hillary Clinton's name to the case in January. According to the lawsuit, the first lady now seeking a Senate seat from New York lead a concerted and conspiratorial effort to discredit Flowers as "tabloid trash."

Among her grievances, Flowers accuses Hillary Clinton of ordering three burglaries of her home that caused her emotional distress. She also alleges Hillary Clinton defamed her and invaded her privacy.

The lawsuit seeks at least $75,000 in damages.

On Tuesday, Flowers and Klayman locked horns in a courtroom with attorneys representing Stephanopoulos, Carville and Hillary Clinton for the first time since the lawsuit was filed. The defendents themselves were not in the courtroom, but Flowers spoke to the media after the hearing.

"I thought it went well," she said. "I believe in the values of this country and that those values will prevail."

The hearing came as a result of motions filed last month by attorneys for the defendants seeking to have the lawsuit dismissed. Judge Pro, who was recently assigned the case, said he would issue a written ruling on the motions within three weeks.

If Pro rules against the motions, a trial date will be scheduled.

Among their arguments for a dismissal, the defendant's attorneys said the lawsuit was filed in the wrong state and only after the statute of limitations had run out. Flowers was living in Texas, they said, when Stephanopoulos and Carville allegedly defamed her during a 1998 television interview on CNN's "Larry King Live."

In most states, the statute of limitations for defamation cases is one year. Nevada law extends the filing period for two years.

Klayman admitted Flowers moved to Las Vegas in the summer of 1998 to pursue a singing career, several months after the Larry King interview at issue in the lawsuit. But the show was broadcast nationwide, he said, and therefore the origin of the lawsuit is not an issue.

Defense attorneys, who included the Clinton's personal counsel David Kendall, also argued the alleged defamatory statements made during interviews and in a book written by Stephanopoulos last year were "neutral reports of historical events."

"It's almost impossible to imagine Ms. Flowers asking the court to rewrite history," said Laura Handman, Stephanopoulos' attorney who also represents the company that published his book, "All Too Human: A Political Education." The publisher, Little, Brown and Co., which is owned by Time Warner Inc., is also named in the lawsuit.

Klayman argued Hillary Clinton, Stephanopoulos and Carville had but one goal in mind: To brand Flowers as a lier with no credibility in order to protect the political aspirations of Bill Clinton.

"When you use that technique and your aim is to control the government, then you must face the consequences," Klayman said.