Flowers' Conspiracy Lawsuit Against Sen. Clinton to Proceed

Thursday, July 24, 2003

LAS VEGAS  — A federal judge says Gennifer Flowers , who claimed she had an affair with Bill Clinton, can proceed with a lawsuit accusing Hillary Rodham Clinton  of orchestrating a campaign to discredit her.

The conspiracy allegation names Clinton, now a Democratic U.S. senator from New York, former presidential aide George Stephanopoulos  and James Carville , former campaign strategist for former President Clinton.

Judicial Watch, a conservative group representing Flowers, said Wednesday that it will seek Sen. Clinton's testimony.

Clinton and her lawyer, David Kendall, could not immediately be reached Wednesday for comment.

U.S. District Judge Philip Pro's order, issued Monday, dismissed defamation claims against Clinton.

Flowers' lawsuit stems from her claim during the 1992 presidential race that she and Bill Clinton had an affair while Clinton was Arkansas governor.

When the presidential candidate denied it, Flowers held a news conference to play audio tapes that she said were of secretly recorded intimate phone calls between them.

The lawsuit alleges that Hillary Clinton directed Stephanopoulos and Carville to discredit Flowers.

Carville, now television commentator, and Stephanopoulos, now an anchor on ABC's Sunday morning program This Week, said that Flowers had doctored the tapes.
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