President Clinton, responding testily to a reporter's questions, says he knows of "no factual discrepancy" in testimony his wife has given federal investigators.
A footnote to a federal judge's ruling in a dispute over subpoened White House documents in the Whitewater case quotes prosecutor Kenneth Starr as telling the court the first lady's testimony on several issues "has changed over time or differs from that of other witnesses."During a news conference Tuesday with Mexican President Ernesto Zedillo, Clinton was asked whether he knew what the discrepancy might be and whether the investigation was becoming "more troublesome for Mrs. Clinton."
"No. And no," Clinton replied.
Pressed for a fuller response, Clinton said: "Well, you have been watching it for years. If you don't know, I can't help you."
Several minutes later he returned to the subject on his own.
"I did not mean to be flippant," Clinton told the reporter who asked the question. "What I meant to say was I know of no factual discrepancy, period."
Pointing to journalists, he added, "But if you took the four of you sitting there together on the front row and got you all together 13 to 19 years later and asked you precisely what happened on this day, you might have slightly different memories."
Clinton said he was not concerned about the accusation. "We've both done our best to answer all the questions that were asked of us, and already tens of millions of dollars have been spent on this. And I'm just perfectly comfortable with where we are," Clinton said.