President Clinton has returned from a Midwest morale-boosting trip to front-page headlines in Washington about a recent meeting in the White House with Ms Monica Lewinsky in which he advised her to be evasive when asked to testify about their relationship.
The White House, clearly uncomfortable with reports of the meeting in yesterday's New York Times and the Washington Post, refused to confirm or deny such a meeting. CNN later said it had received confirmation.
Meanwhile, lawyers for Ms Lewinsky met the Independent Counsel, Mr Kenneth Starr, for further negotiations on granting her total immunity if she agrees to co-operate with his investigation. Such a deal could cause new difficulties for Mr Clinton as it might mean she would retract her sworn statement that she never had oral sex with him in the White House or was advised to deny the affair under oath.
However, the President's approval rating has risen sharply in two polls following his State of the Union address on Tuesday night in which he announced proposals for massive spending on education, day-care and health matters. An NBC-Wall Street Journal poll said that his approval rating has jumped from 59 to 68 per cent. A CNN-USA Today poll showed his approval rating rising from 53 to 63 per cent.
The New York Times report cited "an associate" who has spoken to Ms Lewinsky, for its account of a late night visit by her to the White House on December 28th. This followed a subpoena she had received obliging her to give an affidavit to the lawyers of Ms Paula Jones who is pursuing a claim against the President for sexual harassment.
The report says that Mr Clinton sought to reassure Ms Lewinsky and told her not to worry about being drawn into the lawsuit. Mr Clinton reportedly told her that if asked about previous visits to the White House, she could describe them as meetings with his personal secretary, Ms Betty Currie.
Mr Clinton is also reported to have suggested to Ms Lewinsky that she could avoid testifying in the Jones lawsuit if she lived in New York. Ms Lewinsky made her sworn statement on January 7th denying she had had sexual relations with Mr Clinton. Within days, Mr Vernon Jordan, a friend and adviser to the President, called Revlon in New York on her behalf concerning a job application. She was offered a job by Revlon where Mr Jordan is a director.
Although pressed by reporters at the daily briefing, the White House press secretary, Mr Mike McCurry, refused to confirm the December 28th meeting, saying he had "nothing specific" from Mr Clinton's lawyers. They have been subpoenaed by Mr Starr to hand over all logs of Ms Lewinsky's visits to the White House since she stopped working there in the spring of 1996.
It is not clear how damaging to Mr Clinton this visit by Ms Lewinsky would be if confirmed. At this time Mr Clinton was also under subpoena by Ms Jones's lawyers to testify about his relations with various women friends including Ms Lewinsky. As the defendant in this action, it would not be legally correct for him to discuss the testimony of a witness.
AFP adds: In Little Rock, Arkansas Judge Susan Webber Wright ruled yesterday that lawyers pursuing the Paula Jones sexual harassment case against Mr Clinton cannot use evidence from Ms Lewinsky to boost their case. Judge Wright ordered parties in the Jones lawsuit to stop collecting evidence concerning Ms Lewinsky.
"There can be no doubt that a speedy resolution of this case is in everyone's best interests, including that of the office of the president, and the court will therefore direct that the [Jones] case stay on course," Judge Wright said, adding that the trial would proceed as scheduled on May 27th.