President Clinton has made his strongest denial so far of having had a sexual affair with a former White House intern, Ms Monica Lewinsky, but her lawyer still says she will tell all in exchange for immunity from prosecution for perjury.
The President is hoping that his latest denial will mean he will get a respectful hearing tonight for his State of the Union address to the joint Houses of Congress.
He used an unscheduled appearance at a White House function on child care yesterday to made a brief but vigorous denial of the allegations which have plunged his presidency into crisis for the past week.
Standing at a podium flanked by his wife, Hillary, and the VicePresident, Mr Al Gore, Mr Clinton shook his finger at the television cameras and said to the American people: "I want you to listen to me. I did not have sexual relations with that woman, Ms Lewinsky. I never told anybody to lie, not a single time, never. These allegations are false and I need to go back to work for the American people."
After glaring at the media at the back of the Roosevelt Room, he immediately left without taking any questions.
But later, at the daily briefing by the press secretary, Mr Mike McCurry, reporters continued to demand details about the relationship between the President and Ms Lewinsky. Mr McCurry denied a Washington Post report that Mr Clinton was telling close friends that he had an "emotional" relationship with the young woman, who later was transferred to the Pentagon.
Opinion polls are showing the President's approval ratings have fallen less than might be expected after days of uninterrupted allegations that he had a sexual affair with Ms Lewinsky and that he and his close adviser, Mr Vernon Jordan, urged her to lie under oath when questioned about it.
But about 60 per cent of those polled said that Mr Clinton should resign only if it is proven that he lied about the affair. A USA Today/CNN poll found that 60 per cent believe sex took place between Mr Clinton and Ms Lewinsky, against 33 per cent who did not.
Ms Lewinsky's attorney, Mr William Ginsburg, continued yesterday trying to obtain immunity from the independent counsel, Mr Kenneth Starr, who wants her to co-operate fully with his investigation. Mr Ginsburg has said: "We are dying to tell the story but cannot. . . We want to co-operate."
Meanwhile, Mr Clinton's attorney, Mr Bob Bennett, has asked the judge in charge of the Paula Jones sexual harassment case to move the court hearing in Little Rock forward from May 27th. He said that the present turmoil is not allowing the President to be free from "undue distraction" as laid down by the Supreme Court when it ruled the case could go ahead.
Attorney Robert Bennett said in a motion filed in federal court that Clinton was being tarred in the media by unsubstantiated reports about his alleged relationship with former White House intern Monica Lewinsky.
Reports on Sunday that Mr Clinton and Ms Lewinsky had been discovered on two occasions in the White House having "an intimate moment" are being investigated by Mr Starr but the White House said yesterday that it could find no persons on the staff who could support the allegations.
It was confirmed by the White House that the US is planning a series of missile strikes against Iraq in the coming weeks if Baghdad continues to obstruct the work of the UN weapons inspectors. But the White House insists that there is no connection with the Lewinsky affair or any attempt to distract attention from it by bombing Iraq. Mr McCurry pointed out that the planning for a military strike has been made known since before Christmas.
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