Senator Clinton Seeks Way Out of Nettlesome Case
October 17, 2005
A lawyer for Senator Clinton urged a California state appeals court Friday to
give the senator a second chance to end her involvement in a politically nettlesome
lawsuit stemming from a star-studded and star-crossed fund-raising gala for her
2000 Senate bid.
During the hour-long hearing, Mrs. Clinton’s attorney, David Kendall, asked
a three-judge panel to order a lower court to reconsider its denial of the senator’s
motion to dismiss the case under a California law that allows certain suits
involving political campaigns or matters of public controversy to be terminated
at an early stage.
"We respectfully submit that the court was in error here," Mr. Kendall
said.
The lawsuit was originally filed in 2001 by an Internet entrepreneur, Peter
Paul, who alleged that President Clinton reneged on a deal to work for Paul’s
companies, Stan Lee Media and Mondo English, after leaving office. Paul claimed
that as part of the deal, he agreed to provide Mr. Clinton with $10 million
in stock, $5 million in cash, and a $1 million donation to the president’s foundation,
and to pay more than $500,000 to underwrite the costs of a fund-raising concert
for Mrs. Clinton that was held in August 2000.
From the October
17, 2005 edition of The New York Sun
