Vernon Jordan on his memoirs: clinton friendship omitted because goal was to restore my reputation

Here's one for your Vernon Jordan files. While you're at it, toss it in with your notes on Asa Hutchinson, too. Either Hutchinson is too dense to see that he was being lied to or he's protecting Jordan (and be extension, fellow Arkansan, Bill Clinton) by allowing Jordan to lie about his advice to Lewinsky about how to handle some correspondence between her and Clinton.

I saw this deposition live and was screaming at the screen while Jordon told this. bald-faced lie.

This book has nothing to do with resurrecting his reputation. By his own admission, Jordan's been a close, personal friend of the Clinton Crime Family since 1973. Like both Hitlery and Wee-Willy, this book is the conduit for a payoff.

http://www.senate.gov/~rpc/archive/impeach/jordan0202.htm

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
SITTING FOR THE TRIAL OF THE
IMPEACHMENT OF WILLIAM JEFFERSON CLINTON,
PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES
VIDEO DEPOSITION OF
VERNON E. JORDAN, JR.
Tuesday, February 2, 1999

Arkansas Representative Asa Hutchinson is questioning Vernon Jordan.

...

Q All right. And do you recall a discussion with Ms. Lewinsky at the Park Hyatt on this occasion in which there were notes discussed that she had written to the President?

A I am certain that Ms. Lewinsky talked to me about notes.

Q On this occasion?

A Yes.

Q And would these have been notes that she would have sent to the President?

A I think that there was--these notes had to do with correspondence between Ms. Lewinsky and the President.

Q And would have she mentioned the retention or copies of some of that correspondence on her computer in her apartment?

A She may have done that.

Q And did you ask her a question, were these notes from the President do you?

A I understood from our conversation that she and the President had correspondence that went back and forth.

Q And did you make a statement to her, "Go home and make sure they're not there"?

A Mr. Hutchinson, I'm a lawyer and I'm a loyal friend, but I'm not a fool, and the notion that I would suggest to anybody that they destroy anything just defies anything that I know about myself. So the notion that I said to her "go home and destroy notes" is ridiculous.

Q Well, I appreciate that reminder of ethical responsibilities. It was--

A No, it had nothing to do with ethics, as much as it's just good common sense, mother wit. You remember that in the South.

Q And so--and let me read a statement that she made to the grand jury on August 6th, 1998. This is the testimony of Ms. Lewinsky, referring to a conversation with you at the Park Hyatt that, "She," referring to Linda Tripp, "was my friend. I didn't really trust her. I used to trust her, but I didn't trust her anymore, and I was a little bit concerned because she had spent the night at my home a few times, and I thought--I told Mr. Jordan. I said, 'Well, maybe she's heard some'--you know, I mean, maybe she saw some notes lying around, and Mr. Jordan said, 'Notes from the President to you?,' and I said, 'No. Notes from me to the President,' and he said, 'Go home and make sure they're not there.'"

A And, Mr. Hutchinson, I'm saying to you that I never heard the name "Linda Tripp" until I read the Judge--Drudge Report. Secondly, let me say to you that I, too, have read Ms. Lewinsky's testimony about that breakfast, and I can say to you, without fear of contradiction on my part, maybe on her part, that the notion that I told her to go home and destroy notes is just out of the question.

Q And so this is not a matter of you not recalling whether that occurred or not--

A I am telling you--

Q Well, let me--

A --emphatically--

Q Mr. Jordan, let me finish the question.

A Okay, all right.

Q Please, sir.

A Okay.

Q It's sort of important for the record. This is a statement by Ms. Lewinsky that you flatly and categorically deny?

A Absolutely.

Q Now, you talked about "mother wit," I think it was; that you knew at the time that you had this discussion with Ms. Lewinsky that these notes would have been covered by the subpoena based upon your discussion of that on December 19th?

A Ask that question again.

Q All right. This is a meeting on December 31st at the Park Hyatt.

A Right.

Q A discussion about the notes, correspondence between Ms. Lewinsky and the President.

A Right.

Q You are aware, based upon your discussion of the subpoena on December 19th, that these were covered under the subpoena?

A Yes.

Q And did you tell Ms. Lewinsky that you need to make sure you tell your attorney, Mr. Carter, and that these are turned over under the subpoena?

A What I did not tell her was to destroy the notes. Whether I told her to give them to Mr. Carter or not, I have no recollection of that.

Q But you knew at the time that these notes were a matter of evidence?

A I think that's a valid assumption.

Q But you knew that?

A It's a valid assumption.

...

Your posts are pretty as can be (and informative, interesting, etc.) but man, they take awhile to load.

Thanks for the transcript!

I think there is another explanation for Asa Hutchinson's less than thorough questioning...I have noticed that white interrogators invariably handle Jordon with a cloyingly sweet reverence. ( "Kill reverence and you've killed the hero in man"--Ayn Rand) Just last night, professionalism quickly became obeisance as Brit Hume, universally considered competent and fair, interviewed Jordon about his book.

What I think is going on is this: Vernon Jordon continues to skirt the law on a decades-old civil-rights wound.

As for Mother wit, Mother wit tell a different story...As I said above, I'm sure clinton's ol' golf buddy found pal Ron Brown's nasty dénouement, and Jesse Jackson's handling of same, quite instructive...

Good Christmas morning to you, MiaT.

Thank you for all your gifts to the Free Republic's members and lurkers.

Vermin Vernon Jordan omitted his relationship with Bill Clinton exactly for the reason you state - "The clinton-Jordon relationship was/is all about corruption."

(If the glaring omission were about "restoring his reputation", I think we would have seen/heard Jordan on talk show after talk show, or at least on written page, apologizing for said relationship, don't you? Hasn't happened and it won't.

Your association of Clintonism with Totalitarianism is quite apt. Those, like Jordan, who have had their part in the corruption and destruction wrought by the Clintonistas have but one way to "redeem" themselves. They have but one way to make reparations for the crimes they have committed against America and Americans.

Come forward, ala a Whitaker Chambers insider turned informer, with all the truth, all the damning details of the crimes Jordan and others know all about - and become a "Witness" for the prosecution of the Clintons for crimes against America - and there would be a hope of redemption.

Otherwise, Jordan and other "F.O.B.'s" are simply worth nothing but the loathing they have earned by their complicity with the Clinton Crime Gang.

Here's another article that gives us a glimpse into the "man".

It reminds me of someone else whom was known as "Mr. Fix-it." Charles Ruff was also the ultimate Washington insider. At least he was until he died of a "heart attack" or an "accident" in his shower, or bed or somewhere in between. Insofar as I've been able to ascertain, the cause of death is still unknown.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/events/clinton_under_fire/profiles/newsid_168000/168592.stm

Vernon Jordan: Smooth operator

The Clinton scandal put Vernon Jordan into the limelight
Vernon Jordan is the ultimate Washington insider. He has been called a "go-between", a "fixer-without-portfolio", a "freelance hired gun".

What everyone wanted to know during the Lewinsky scandal was whether the master fixer had got himself into his own unfixable fix - and if so was it at the behest of the president?

There is no question about Vernon Jordan's close relationship with President Clinton. After the 1992 election, he chaired the Clinton transition team. And at the time, there was talk that he could have any cabinet post he chose. In the end, he chose to stay out of the limelight.

His lack of an official post has not lessened his friendship with Mr Clinton. The Clintons spend Christmas Eve with the Jordans and often visit them at their holiday home in the island resort of Martha's Vineyard.

"The last thing he'd ever do is betray a friendship," Mr Clinton once told the New York Times. "It's good to have a friend like that."

Rapid rise to power

Like Mr Clinton, Vernon Jordan grew up poor in America's deep south. In the 1960s, he entered the civil rights movement to fight for black equality. Reports say that early in his career Mr Jordan decided that working inside the system was the best way to advance the status of the black community - and his own.

"Mr Fix-it"

In the 1970s, Mr Jordan served as executive director of the United Negro College Fund and the National Urban League. Colleagues say that it was through his civil rights work that he came to the attention of powerful corporate leaders who named Mr Jordan to their boards of directors.

Those contacts served Mr Jordan well in the 1980s. After he survived a racist assassination attempt in an Indiana hotel parking lot, Mr Jordan left the civil rights movement for corporate power.

"The whole point of the civil rights movement was to open the doors of access to mainstream America," said Hugh Price, Mr Jordan's successor at the National Urban League. "Vernon Jordan both opened those doors and led the charge through."

Asked what his strengths as a lawyer were, Mr Jordan responded: "I know people, all kinds, everywhere and I can understand them."

"Knowing people" helped Mr Jordan become a Washington "super-lawyer". His ability to cut back-room deals and smooth over rough spots has secured him a seat on the boards of some of America's most high-profile companies, including Revlon, where he helped Monica Lewinsky to get a job.

Man in the shadows

But his moving and shaking among both the government and corporate elite is exactly what raises suspicions about his dealings in the Clinton scandal.

Although Mr Jordan says he helped Miss Lewinsky with her "vocational aspirations" because he believes "in giving a helping hand", few believe he would go out of his way for a lowly intern.

"Vernon Jordan is a Mr Fix-it," said Eleanor Clift of Newsweek magazine. "His very presence in this scandal raises suspicion that something did go on or else he would not have been needed."

Mr Clinton needs shrewd friends during his time of trouble. Mr Jordan is one of them. If Mr Clinton survives the scandal, he will owe much to Vernon Jordan. But then Mr Jordan has built his life by being owed favours by the powerful.

Hi! Happy holidays!

I'm trying to catch up on all of my flags and FReepmails. I've been off line for a while.

Methinks the rats and sycophants will start writing expose's on the clintons now, because they don't have the IRS, FBI, etc. to intimidate or destory anymore.

5.56mm

You'll get another chance to hear Lanny... Yuk, only if the remote is yards away.

I agree with you that first he asked about Jordan's friendship with Clinton, and then he asked why Jordan did not write about that friendship. I think you're misinterpreting Jordan's answer to the latter question. Here is an excerpt from the transcript on the Booknotes web site:

LAMB: How much do you see Bill Clinton today?

Mr. JORDAN: Oh, a good bit. We're either on the phone or we're having lunch at--at the Sugar Hill Restaurant or we're having supper or a drink at his house or mine, or we're on the golf course. So, we st--we'll--we will always be friends.

LAMB: How did you get to be close friends?

Mr. JORDAN: It evolved. I was in Atlanta or I was in New York. He was in Little Rock. We always stayed in touch, always stayed in touch with--with Senator Clinton, and we were just friends, interested in the same issues, interested in the same region, and that common interest kept us bound together, and we still are.

LAMB: How important do you think it was to his image in the black community that people saw you playing golf with him?

Mr. JORDAN: Oh, I think it was a reenforcement of--of his friendship with me, of his attachment to and understanding of the needs and aspirations of black people.

LAMB: Did you ever talk about the value of that when--all those clips over the years?

Mr. JORDAN: He and I? No, not really. We just did or things as buddies and friends.

LAMB: Why did you choose not to write about your friendship with him in the book?

Mr. JORDAN: Well, simply because this book covers my civil rights time. Another reason is that to some extent my--my life in the public view was defined by the Clinton presidency, and it was very important to me for people to understand that I--that the most exciting time in my life was before Clinton was president. It was the civil rights movement. It was the Voter Education Project, the Urban League, the College Fund, working for Hollowell, organizing for the NAACP. That's a part of my life and a part of my time that I have had to--time to reflect and think about, and so I wrote about it.

The full transcript can be found here.

His true motive may have been to preserve his own reputation, as you suggest. But he didn't say it in this interview.

You are right that Jordan didn't come right out and say "clinton is scum and my relationship with clinton ruined my reputation... but one has to read between the lines; it is my view that the restoration-of-reputation goal was implicit in Jordan's comments, perhaps inadvertently so. I think Brian Lamb caught Jordan off guard...And if you think about this logically, it makes absolutely no sense that someone who has a long-standing, ongoing, significant friendship with a president of the US would not include that friendship in his memoirs.

clinton friendship omitted because goal was to restore my reputation

That's odd, because were it not for Clinton, 99.9% of America wouldn't know or care who Vernon Jordan was

You can run but you can't hide....Know what I mean Vern.

Note to Vernon Jordan.....I you live 60 years as a saint, and you live the next 8 as a devil's disciple, you cannot remove the 8 lost years from your memoirs.You slept with a dog, and woke up with fleas!!

"I think that history will view this much differently. They will say I made a bad personal mistake, I paid a serious price for it, but that I was right to stand and fight for my country and my constitution and its principles...

Good Lord! Doesn't that just take your breath away? In the first place, Bill and Hillary Clinton do not believe in the United States Constitution, nor do either of them believe in the Oath of Office they took, Bills oath for the presidency and Hillary for the Senate. They began both careers with a lie! Fight for his country? Bill Clinton never fought for his country in his life! All he has ever fought for is power and money for himself and the DNC. Now we see the Mrs. doing the same thing. Neither would know a principal if it jumped up and bit them!