[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 37, Number 3 (Monday, January 22, 2001)]
[Page 194]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Statement on Resolution of Legal Issues

January 19, 2001

    Today I signed a consent order in the lawsuit brought by the 
Arkansas Committee on Professional Conduct, which brings to an end that 
proceeding. I have accepted a 5-year suspension of my law license, 
agreed to pay a $25,000 fine to cover counsel fees, and acknowledged a 
violation of one of the Arkansas Model Rules of Professional Conduct 
because of testimony in my Paula Jones case deposition. The disbarment 
suit will now be dismissed.
    I have taken every step I can to end this matter. I have already 
settled the Paula Jones case, even after it was dismissed as being 
completely without legal and factual merit. I have also paid court and 
counsel fees in restitution and been held in civil contempt for my 
deposition testimony regarding Ms. Lewinsky, which Judge Wright agreed 
had no bearing on Ms. Jones' case, even though I disagreed with the 
findings in the judge's order. I will not seek any legal fees incurred 
as a result of the Lewinsky investigation to which I might otherwise 
become entitled under the Independent Counsel Act.
    I have had occasion frequently to reflect on the Jones case. In this 
consent order, I acknowledge having knowingly violated Judge Wright's 
discovery orders in my deposition in that case. I tried to walk a line 
between acting lawfully and testifying falsely, but I now recognize that 
I did not fully accomplish this goal and that certain of my responses to 
questions about Ms. Lewinsky were false.
    I have apologized for my conduct, and I have done my best to atone 
for it with my family, my administration, and the American people. I 
have paid a high price for it, which I accept because it caused so much 
pain to so many people. I hope my actions today will help bring closure 
and finality to these matters.

Note: The statement referred to former White House intern Monica 
Lewinsky and U.S. District Judge Susan Webber Wright.