WASHINGTON — The federal judge who found President Clinton in contempt of court last April levied a penalty of $90,686 against him Thursday, making him the first chief executive ever assessed such a payment.
Repeating her condemnation of Clinton for lying under oath in the Paula Corbin Jones sexual harassment lawsuit, U.S. District Judge Susan Webber Wright said that she was imposing the sanction to cover some of Jones' legal expenses and "to deter others who might consider emulating the president's misconduct."
Robert S. Bennett, Clinton's private attorney, said that he would not challenge the ruling. "We accept the judgment of the court and will comply with it."
In a 19-page ruling, Wright, a Little Rock, Ark., judge, made clear that she had calculated the penalty to cover expenses incurred by Jones' lawyers as a result of the president's false denials that he had ever been alone or had sex with former White House intern Monica S. Lewinsky.
Legal experts viewed the ruling as fair to the president, especially considering the judge's strong language last spring in excoriating Clinton for "false, misleading and evasive answers that were designed to obstruct the judicial process."
"Sanctions are not imposed to punish," the judge said Thursday, "but must be based upon evidence of actual loss."
Nonetheless, Wright's final determination in the civil case that led to last year's Lewinsky scandal--and to the president's impeachment by the House and trial in the Senate, which acquitted him, threatens further legal trouble for Clinton.
The now-complete federal court record could aid independent counsel Kenneth W. Starr should he decide to pursue criminal prosecution of Clinton before or after he leaves the White House.
Besides adding to the taint on Clinton's legacy, Wright's findings also could dim his prospects if, as expected, he chooses to practice law after leaving office.
The contempt matter arose from Clinton's deposition taken Jan. 17, 1998, when he was asked if he and Lewinsky had ever been alone together in the Oval Office.
"I don't recall," he replied. "It's possible that she . . . while she was working there, brought something to me and that, at the time she brought it to me, she was the only person there. That's possible."
