PRESIDENT Bill Clinton will defend himself in court rather than apologise in the sexual harassment case that Paula Jones, a former Arkansas state employee, has brought against him, Mr Clinton's personal lawyer said yesterday.
But the lawyer, Mr Robert Bennett, said he was ready to recommend that Mr Clinton make a charitable donation and help to defray Ms Jones's legal costs as part of an out of court settlement that would involve paying no more than $700,000.
"No apology, no admission of misconduct and we're not going to line her pockets or her lawyers pockets," Mr Bennett said.
Ms Jones's lawyers, Mr Joseph Cammarata and Mr Gilbert Davis, in separately aired interviews, said that in the absence of an apology from Mr Clinton, their client would demand her day in court.
"The core feature of a settlement is not money. Ten million dollars wouldn't do this. It's going to have to redeem her reputation," Mr Davis said on the ABC programme This Week. "What they're trying to do is buy her off so she'll walk away and not be worried about her reputation."
Last week, the Supreme Court rejected Mr Clinton's appeal for a delay in proceedings in the suit until after he leaves the White House. The Supreme Court made no ruling on the merits of Ms Jones's case, but said a sitting president could be sued for actions outside the scope of his official duties.
Ms Jones is seeking $700,000 in damages for an unwanted sexual overture that she maintains Mr Clinton, then the governor of Arkansas, made to her in a Little Rock hotel room in 1991, when she was a state employee. She alleged that Mr Clinton exposed himself to her and asking her to perform oral sex.