Willey files suit against Clintons

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Former White House volunteer Kathleen Willey has filed suit in federal court in Washington, accusing President Clinton and others of violating her privacy rights.

Willey maintains the White House release of friendly letters she wrote to the president seeking employment amounts to a violation of her privacy rights.

Willey says she is suing the president, first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton, and others for revealing what she described as her life's "innermost secrets."

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"I will not sit by passively," Willey said, or "knuckle under his (Clinton's) tactics" to silence her.

The letters were made public after Ms. Willey appeared on the CBS program "60 Minutes" on March 15, 1998 describing an unwanted sexual encounter with the president in a hallway leading to the Oval Office.

The alleged encounter occurred on November 29, 1993 when Willey, then a White House volunteer, asked the president for help in obtaining a paid position. In court papers, Willey says she began to cry while explaining her financial situation. The President brought her a cup of coffee and continued to talk about her situation. While returning to the Oval Office, Willey says the president sexually assaulted her. Coincidentally, later that same day Willey learned of the suicide of her husband.

Willey was eventually called as a witness in the Monica Lewinsky investigation to describe her encounter with the president. Prior to her testimony Willey says she was threatened, harassed and even offered a bribe of sorts to keep quiet. Democratic party fundraiser Nathan Landow, according to court papers, flew Willey to his Maryland estate and offered her a shopping trip to New York.