Judicial Watch Appeals Flowers Lawsuit against Hillary Clinton, Carville, and Stephanopoulos

Appellate Argument Scheduled for December 6th in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit


(Washington, DC) – Judicial Watch, the public interest group that fights government corruption, announced today that on December 6, 2005, Judicial Watch will take its lawsuit on behalf of Gennifer Flowers to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. The lawsuit alleges Ms. Flowers was subjected to a vicious smear campaign orchestrated by Hillary Clinton and carried out by former Clinton administration aides James Carville and George Stephanopoulos. Ms. Flowers was targeted after she publicly confessed to having a long-term affair with former President Clinton.



According to Judicial Watch’s original complaint filed with the U.S. District Court for the District of Nevada: “Defendants Carville and Stephanopoulos, and those acting in concert with them, have continuously libeled and slandered…Gennifer Flowers, as well as held her in a false light, in order to smear, defame, and harm her.”



The case was originally dismissed by a lower court, which found that Judicial Watch could not prove the defendants acted with actual malice, or knowledge of the falsity of their statements, prompting Judicial Watch's appeal. According to evidence that will be presented by Judicial Watch, however, both Carville and Stephanopoulos were well aware the statements they made about Ms. Flowers were false, yet continued to repeat them publicly in order to destroy her reputation.



In separate interviews with CNN, Carville and Stephanopoulos falsely claimed Ms. Flowers “doctored” taped telephone conversations she had with President Clinton that proved they had an affair. In making this argument, they purportedly relied upon the analysis of a second generation copy of Ms. Flowers’ audiotape by convicted felon and “detective to the stars,” Anthony Pellicano, even though they knew Pellicano had given the Los Angeles Times a different and more truthful analysis, saying, “I don’t know that it [the tape] was doctored.”



The court had also previously dismissed Judicial Watch's conspiracy charge against Hillary Clinton, ruling the statute of limitations had expired. However, Judicial Watch will prove Carville and Stephanopoulos made defamatory statements about Ms. Flowers at the behest of Hillary Clinton up to 1998. Judicial Watch filed its lawsuit in 1999, well within the 3-year statute of limitations.



“Hillary Clinton has proven she is willing to destroy anyone who might interfere with her political ambitions,” said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton. “Hillary Clinton saw Gennifer Flowers as a threat to Bill Clinton’s candidacy and the evidence shows she conspired with Carville and Stephanopoulos to spread lies about Ms. Flowers’ in order to ruin her credibility.”



“I am confident that if I am given a fair hearing with judges who will accurately review the evidence that my case will go forward and that justice will be served,” said Ms. Flowers.



Ms. Flowers originally filed the lawsuit in November 1999. U.S. District Court Judge Philip Pro dismissed it in August 2000, only to have the case reinstated by the U.S. Court of Appeals. A copy of Judicial Watch’s complaint on behalf of Ms. Flowers can be found on www.judicialwatch.org.