WASHINGTON, March 3: A close friend and political ally of US President Bill Clinton is set to make a long-awaited appearance before a grand jury today to discuss the sex-and-perjury matter rocking the White House.The testimony of Vernon Jordan comes as the Clinton strategy of painting special prosecutor Kenneth Starr as an out-of-control inquisitor appears to be paying off.
Jordan, 62, is a millionaire attorney, a pillar of the Washington establishment, and one of the President's golfing buddies. His testimony concerning whether Clinton had sex with Monica Lewinsky and asked her to cover it up could be crucial.
In tape-recordings made without her knowledge, Lewinsky reportedly told a former colleague that she had sexual relations with the President and that Jordan urged her to lie to authorities about it. At a televised press conference in January, Jordan categorically denied the charges and said the young woman told him she did not have a sexual relationship with the President.
Jordan is a formercivil-rights leader and has headed the National Urban League in the 1970s. He is now a senior partner in an influential Washington law firm.
Such is his influence that the first dinner Clinton ate in Washington after winning the 1992 Presidential election was at Jordan's house.
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
