Kathleen Willey

Kathleen Willey was a White House aide who, on March 15, 1998, claimed on the TV news program 60 Minutes that she and U.S. President Bill Clinton were in his private study off the Oval Office when Clinton sexually assaulted her. Allegedly, Clinton embraced her tightly, kissed her on the mouth, fondled her breast and then placed her hand on his penis. Clinton denied this.

According to Linda Tripp’s grand jury testimony, Willey pursued a romance with Clinton from the start of her White House employment. Willey had speculated with Tripp as to how she might be able to set up an assignation between herself and the president. She routinely attended events at which Clinton would be present, wearing a black dress she believed he liked. According to Tripp’s testimony, she wondered if she and Clinton could arrange to meet in a home to which she had access, on the Chesapeake Bay.

Tripp also challenged Willey’s account of that Oval Office meeting. According to Tripp, Willey had arranged the meeting in part to see if her flirtation with Clinton might advance. After Clinton and Willey met privately, Willey rushed back to Tripp’s office to describe the meeting. According to Tripp, Willey “smiled from ear to ear the entire time” as she described the event. “She seemed almost shocked, but happy-shocked,” Tripp told the grand jury. Willey told Tripp that she and Clinton had "smooched," but made no mention of a sexual assault. When asked if she believed Willey's account, Tripp responded, "Did I believe her? Oh, absolutely. No question in my mind."

An Independent Counsel report noted that Willey “had given substantially different accounts in two sworn statements and had lied to the FBI about her relationship with a former boyfriend.” Further, “Following Willey’s acknowledgment of the lie, the Independent Counsel agreed not to prosecute her for false statements in this regard.”

External links

• Tripp's testimony (600 page pdf).
• Kathleen Willey's campaign contributions