Appeals court to hear arguments in Willey case

April 19, 2000
Web posted at: 3:45 p.m. EDT (1945 GMT)

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia has set a hearing for May 18th on a lower court ruling that the White House violated the federal government's Privacy Act by releasing letters from one-time White House volunteer Kathleen Willey to President Bill Clinton.

The lower court ruling, in a suit brought by the conservative watchdog group Judicial Watch, would have allowed the group to obtain additional information about White House activities in the Willey case and other matters. Judicial Watch was in the process of trying to obtain information relating to the case of the White House Security Office's appropriation of some 900 FBI files.

Judicial Watch will not be able to obtain any additional information from the White House in the case until the appeals court rules.

"The law is clear. The Privacy Act applies to the White House and Clinton knew this," Judicial Watch Chairman and General Counsel Larry Klayman said Wednesday. "We expect the appeals court will agree."

Justice Department lawyers asked the appeals court three weeks ago to vacate a ruling by a district judge that Clinton and his lawyers had committed a criminal violation of the Privacy Act by releasing letters written to him by Willey, who in 1998 accused the president of groping her in the Oval Office.

The department argued that the president is not subject to the provisions of the Act, which is designed to protect individuals who do business or have other dealings with the federal government.

The department asked the court to declare that, "the White House component of the Executive Office of the President is not an 'agency' within the meaning of the Privacy Act."

Judge Royce Lamberth concluded at the beginning of April that the president had demonstrated criminal intent to violate the Act after determining that the White House was an agency subject to the provisions. Lamberth wrote: "The president had the requisite intent for committing a criminal violation of the Privacy Act" when the White House released the Willey correspondence.

The letters were released in March 1998, the morning after Willey appeared on the CBS program "60 minutes" and alleged that the president made an unwanted sexual advance while the two were in a private room adjacent to the Oval Office in 1993.

Clinton has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing. White House aides said they released the letters to cast doubt on Willey's allegations, saying the letters showed she remained friendly with Clinton after the alleged incident.

CNN's Major Garrett contributed to this report.