Appeals court to hear arguments in Willey case

April 19, 2000
Web posted at: 3:45 p.m. EDT (1945 GMT)

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of
Columbia has set a hearing for May 18th on a lower court ruling
that the White House violated the federal government's Privacy
Act by releasing letters from one-time White House volunteer
Kathleen Willey to President Bill Clinton.

The lower court ruling, in a suit brought by the conservative
watchdog group Judicial Watch, would have allowed the group to
obtain additional information about White House activities in the
Willey case and other matters. Judicial Watch was in the process
of trying to obtain information relating to the case of the White
House Security Office's appropriation of some 900 FBI files.

Judicial Watch will not be able to obtain any additional
information from the White House in the case until the appeals
court rules.

"The law is clear. The Privacy Act applies to the White House and
Clinton knew this," Judicial Watch Chairman and General Counsel
Larry Klayman said Wednesday. "We expect the appeals court will
agree."

Justice Department lawyers asked the appeals court three weeks
ago to vacate a ruling by a district judge that Clinton and his
lawyers had committed a criminal violation of the Privacy Act by
releasing letters written to him by Willey, who in 1998 accused
the president of groping her in the Oval Office.

The department argued that the president is not subject to the
provisions of the Act, which is designed to protect individuals
who do business or have other dealings with the federal
government.

The department asked the court to declare that, "the White House
component of the Executive Office of the President is not an
'agency' within the meaning of the Privacy Act."

Judge Royce Lamberth concluded at the beginning of April that the
president had demonstrated criminal intent to violate the Act
after determining that the White House was an agency subject to
the provisions. Lamberth wrote: "The president had the requisite
intent for committing a criminal violation of the Privacy Act"
when the White House released the Willey correspondence.

The letters were released in March 1998, the morning after Willey
appeared on the CBS program "60 minutes" and alleged that the
president made an unwanted sexual advance while the two were in a
private room adjacent to the Oval Office in 1993.

Clinton has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing. White House aides
said they released the letters to cast doubt on Willey's
allegations, saying the letters showed she remained friendly with
Clinton after the alleged incident.

CNN's Major Garrett contributed to this report.

####



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