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Flowers' Clinton lawsuit revived

Judge rules conspiracy claim against former first lady, aides may proceed

By CARRI GEER THEVENOT
REVIEW-JOURNAL

Gennifer Flowers may proceed with a lawsuit that accuses Hillary Rodham Clinton of conspiring with two men to defame her during the 1992 presidential election campaign, a federal judge in Las Vegas has ruled.

U.S. District Judge Philip Pro dismissed Flowers' lawsuit nearly three years ago, but the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco reinstated the case in November.

Flowers filed a fourth version of her lawsuit in February against Clinton, former presidential aides James Carville and George Stephanopoulos, and book publisher Little, Brown & Co. The lawsuit's claims include defamation, false light and conspiracy.

In an order entered Monday, Pro granted a motion by Clinton to dismiss the defamation and false light claims against her, but allowed the conspiracy claim to proceed against Clinton and the former presidential aides.

According to the order, Flowers has made no allegation that the former first lady, now a senator from New York, made any false statements about her.

Instead, Pro wrote, Flowers "claims that Carville and Stephanopoulos acted as the `instrumentality' of Clinton."

The judge also granted a motion to dismiss the conspiracy claim against Little Brown & Co., which published Stephanopoulos' book "All Too Human: A Political Education."

Flowers claimed during the 1992 presidential campaign that she had a 12-year affair with Bill Clinton when he was governor of Arkansas. He initially denied the allegation but later acknowledged the affair during his deposition in the Paula Jones sexual harassment case.

According to Flowers' lawsuit, Hillary Rodham Clinton organized and directed a conspiracy to defame her. Flowers also cites examples of what she describes as defamatory statements made by Carville and Stephanopoulos.

In allowing Flowers to proceed with the conspiracy claim, Pro ruled that the alleged defamatory statements "are arguably consistent with such a conspiracy."



http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/2003/Jul-23-Wed-2003/news/21787501.html