[Starrgaizr]

Richardson -- the man who personally interviewed Monica for a UN job. Perfect. Richardson is a fool, like most people Clinton surrounded himself with.

[Starrgaizr]

E. The U.N. Interview and Job Offer

On Friday morning, October 31, Ambassador Richardson and two of his assistants, Mona Sutphen and Rebecca Cooper, interviewed Ms. Lewinsky at the Watergate.

According to Ambassador Richardson, he "listen[ed] while Mona and Rebecca were interviewing her."

On Sunday, November 2, Ms. Lewinsky drafted a letter to Ms. Currie asking what to do in the event she received an offer from the U.N.(649) She wrote:

"I became a bit nervous this weekend when I realized that Amb. Richardson said his staff would be in touch with me this week. As you know, the UN is supposed to be my back-up, but because VJ [Vernon Jordan] has been out of town, this is my only option right now. What should I say to Richardson's people this week when they call?"

Phone records reflect that, at 11:02 a.m. on November 3, a three-minute call was placed to Ms. Lewinsky from the U.N. line identified in State Department records as Ambassador Richardson's.

Ms. Lewinsky stated that she believes she spoke to Ambassador Richardson, who extended her a job offer.

According to his assistant, Ambassador Richardson made the decision to hire Ms. Lewinsky. Ms. Sutphen testified:

"I said, are you sure; and he said, yeah, yeah, I'm sure, why. And I said . . . are you sure, though you don't want to talk to anyone else . . . . And he said, no, no, I think it's fine; why don't you go ahead and give her an offer?"

Ambassador Richardson and Ms. Sutphen both testified that Ms. Sutphen, not the Ambassador, extended the job offer to Ms. Lewinsky.

When the President was asked in the Jones deposition whether he knew that Ms. Lewinsky had received the offer of a job at the U.N., he testified: "I know that she interviewed for one. I don't know if she was offered one or not."

[CedarDave]

No matter what you may think, Richardson is no fool. He is smart and very politically savvy. He has consolidated power in NM like no governor before him. He demanded resignations and has replaced EVERY board, commission and regents member down to the lowliest staffer with his own appointees, even those not scheduled to be replaced due to staggered year appointments. He tried to do the same with judges, but got slapped by the courts. Lots of institutional history went by the wayside because the new appointees, no matter how good individually, have to come up to speed with their new jobs. If a Republican had tried that, there would have been hell to pay, but he got away with it with just a minor slap on the wrist from the ABQ Journal in a couple of editorials that went largely unnoticed.

Clinton was/is very bright but got easily distracted by the perks and the icing that went with the office. Richardson is a very hard worker who doesn't lose his focus on what he wants to accomplish. He will probably end up fighting Hillary in 2008 for the Dem nomination, and likely come out on top.

[CedarDave]

And, BTW, although I intensely dislike his actions as described above, I have respect for the man (unlike Bill and Hillary), and have no trouble with his personality -- in other words he doesn't make me want to shut off the TV (or worse) when he is speaks. He will make a formidable opponent for the Republicans in 2008.