FOX News Uses Lurid Chyrons To Help Kathleen Willey Smear The Clintons
Reported by Ellen - November 8, 2007 -
Just in time for the presidential campaign, Kathleen Willey has a new book out with more dubious accusations against the Clintons. Willey, you may recall, is the woman who accused Bill Clinton of groping her in the Oval Office but whose contradictory testimony was ultimately deemed by the Republican independent prosecutor as not credible enough to bring to a jury. Nevertheless, FOX News gave her a double segment on Hannity & Colmes last night (11/7/07) and helpfully posted lurid chyron-excerpts from her account throughout the interview. I half expected Fabio to burst on the scene and vow to avenge Willey’s honor. With video.
The first chyron gave Willey a legitimacy she probably did not deserve: “Kathleen Willey and her tell-all about the Clintons.”
Early in the discussion, Hannity asked, “Do you think (Hillary Clinton) should have to answer the question whether or not she believes that you and Gennifer Flowers and Paula Jones and Juanita lied, considering she’s courting the women’s vote so hard?”
Funny, how he doesn’t have the same concern about asking tough questions of Rudy Giuliani about his conduct on 9/11 considering he’s courting the 9/11 vote so hard. In fact, Hannity almost drools over every Republican candidate, nearly every one of whom has avoided questions from Alan Colmes (except when he's at a debate).
Hannity ignored Willey’s credibility problems (later detailed by Colmes) and immediately presented her as an authoritative source. He said to her, “What happened to you, and you detail this in the book, you go through what he did to you in that Oval Office (Hannity didn’t even bother to use the term “allegedly”). Remind people of the circumstances.”
Just then, the chyrons began to excerpt Willey’s book: “(Hillary) didn’t strike me as anyone interesting.” “The president gave me a hug. He knew I was upset.” “He kissed me on my mouth… I was backed up into a corner.” “The president’s hands were all over me, just all over me.” “All I could think was, what the hell is he doing?” “I was terrified for my husband, for my family.” “He said he wanted to do this since he laid eyes on me.” “He ran his hands al over me, touching me everywhere.”
When it was Colmes’ turn, he confronted Willey with Linda Tripp’s sworn testimony saying that Willey was interested in Clinton, had flirted with him and had been smiling after her supposed assault. In fact, Tripp specifically said “At the time it happened, it was not – she did not perceive it as sexual harassment. That is not what she told me that day… I just couldn’t believe that she was now calling it sexual harassment.” (See page 499 of Independent Counsel report)
“No, no, no, no. That did not happen,” Willey said. “Linda Tripp since has vindicated me in an interview with Larry King.”
(The chyron now read, “Andrew Friendly banged on the door and yelled.”)
Colmes reminded Willey that he had referred to Tripp’s sworn testimony.
Willey said, “Well, she since has vindicated me. She said she misread the situation and she was wrong.”
Not on Larry King she didn't. As the CNN transcript shows, Tripp simply said, “(Willey is) an honest person. She’s telling the truth.”
King did not seem to know that Tripp had just contradicted her own Grand Jury testimony, took Tripp at her word, then went to a break.
Colmes put up on the screen a quote from Independent Counsel Ray saying that in Willey’s testimony to the Grand Jury in (Paula) Jones v. Clinton that Clinton did not fondle her. In fact, Ray also found that even if Willey’s allegations against Clinton were true, a jury was unlikely to find her credible. (See page 8)
Willey’s response was that Ray had an agenda, that he wanted to run for Senate in New Jersey. She seemed to consider it irrelevant that, as Colmes reminded her, Ray is a Republican who ran as a Republican. As “proof” of her contention, Willey said that Ray had been accused of stalking an ex-girlfriend. (Comment: That’s true. According to the New York Times, Ray was given a desk ticket and charged with stalking in the fourth degree, a misdemeanor. I could find no update on whether he was ever convicted.)
“Does that have anything to do with this?” Colmes asked.
“Well, I don’t know,” Willey admitted.
Colmes went on to point out that Ray reported that Willey had “given false information to the FBI about her sexual relationship with a former boyfriend and acknowledged having lied about it when the agents confronted her with contradictory evidence.”
Willey admitted that was true. But, she claimed, “That doesn’t say I lied under oath in the Grand Jury.”
(The chyron now read, “Hillary covered for her predatory husband.”)
In Part 2, Colmes continued confronting Willey. He brought up that she had also lied to an ex-boyfriend about being pregnant. “So why should we believe you now?” he asked.
“Because I’m telling the truth,” she said. She asserted, “This isn’t about what happened to me… This is not about what happened in the Oval Office… This is about what Hillary Clinton is doing to women like me so that she can attain the presidency. She wants us all to be quiet.”
Willey went on to allege that she had been investigated and harassed by Clinton operatives. According to Willey, one of the operatives had killed her cat.
(Chyron: “Hillary came out ahead. We lost. Women Lost.”)
Colmes said that an FBI forensic team had determined that the dead animal was really a raccoon.
(Chyron: “Hillary covered for her predatory husband.”)
“Wait one second,” Willey said. “Two days after my deposition in the Paula Jones case, I opened my front door. I live out in the country. There was an animal skull sitting on my porch. That was put there by somebody.” She said she had never seen an animal part before or after that. But she also added, “I have dogs and cats.” Well, I live in the country, too, and I know that animals can find body parts of other animals and drop them on a doorstep. I also know that dogs tend to bark and fuss if someone is prowling around their property.
(Chyron: “(Hillary) had a strong hand in intimidating many women.”)
“Do you have any evidence of anybody purposely putting it there?” Colmes asked.
Willey replied, “Did I see anybody? No, but I would not see anybody do that… I know that Hillary and Bill Clinton participated in hiring people… to intimdate me, Juanita Broaddrick, Paula Jones, Gennifer Flowers, Dolly Kyle Browning, and others that I can’t name.”
(Chyrons: “Hillary is no feminist. No champion of women” “She knew her husband preyed on women.”)
In Hannity’s second go-round, Willey further claimed that three of her tires had been flattened by a nail gun and that a stranger approached her, told her that her cat had been a nice cat, and said, “You’re just not getting the message, are you?” She added, “That was a threat to go in and lie under oath.”
Hannity bought it hook, line and sinker. I’m surprised he didn’t send Willey to that “Nobel Prize nominee” physician, Dr. Hammesfahr, in order to recover from her trauma.
But maybe Hannity was the one who needed help. Once again the “tough” bullyboy was having trouble taking the kind of heat he loves to dish out. In an obviously peeved voice, Hannity said, “I’m listening to the liberals attack you here and it’s amazing that Bill Clinton who DID lie (and Hannity certainly knows a thing or two about lying, himself!), you know, and then they’re questioning your veracity and your integrity.
