C. November 15 Sexual Encounter
Ms. Lewinsky testified that Wednesday, November 15, 1995 --
the second day of the government shutdown -- marked the beginning
of her sexual relationship with the President.(146) On that date,
she entered the White House at 1:30 p.m., left sometime
thereafter (White House records do not show the time), reentered
at 5:07 p.m., and departed at 12:18 a.m. on November 16.(147) The
President was in the Oval Office or the Chief of Staff's office
(where Ms. Lewinsky worked during the furlough) for almost the
identical period that Ms. Lewinsky was in the White House that
evening, from 5:01 p.m. on November 15 to 12:35 a.m. on November
16.(148)
According to Ms. Lewinsky, she and the President made eye
contact when he came to the West Wing to see Mr. Panetta and
Deputy Chief of Staff Harold Ickes, then again later at an
informal birthday party for Jennifer Palmieri, Special Assistant
to the Chief of Staff.(149) At one point, Ms. Lewinsky and the
President talked alone in the Chief of Staff's office. In the
course of flirting with him, she raised her jacket in the back
and showed him the straps of her thong underwear, which extended
above her pants.(150)
En route to the restroom at about 8 p.m., she passed George
Stephanopoulos's office. The President was inside alone, and he
beckoned her to enter.(151) She told him that she had a crush on
him. He laughed, then asked if she would like to see his private
office.(152) Through a connecting door in Mr. Stephanopoulos's
office, they went through the President's private dining room
toward the study off the Oval Office. Ms. Lewinsky testified:
"We talked briefly and sort of acknowledged that there had been a
chemistry that was there before and that we were both attracted
to each other and then he asked me if he could kiss me." Ms.
Lewinsky said yes. In the windowless hallway adjacent to the
study, they kissed.(153) Before returning to her desk, Ms. Lewinsky
wrote down her name and telephone number for the President.(154)
At about 10 p.m., in Ms. Lewinsky's recollection, she was
alone in the Chief of Staff's office and the President
approached.(155) He invited her to rendezvous again in Mr.
Stephanopoulos's office in a few minutes, and she agreed.(156)
(Asked if she knew why the President wanted to meet with her, Ms.
Lewinsky testified: "I had an idea."(157)) They met in Mr.
Stephanopoulos's office and went again to the area of the private
study.(158) This time the lights in the study were off.(159)
According to Ms. Lewinsky, she and the President kissed.
She unbuttoned her jacket; either she unhooked her bra or he
lifted her bra up; and he touched her breasts with his hands and
mouth.(160) Ms. Lewinsky testified: "I believe he took a phone
call . . . and so we moved from the hallway into the back office
. . . . [H]e put his hand down my pants and stimulated me
manually in the genital area."(161) While the President continued
talking on the phone (Ms. Lewinsky understood that the caller was
a Member of Congress or a Senator), she performed oral sex on
him.(162) He finished his call, and, a moment later, told Ms.
Lewinsky to stop. In her recollection: "I told him that I
wanted . . . to complete that. And he said . . . that he needed
to wait until he trusted me more. And then I think he made a
joke . . . that he hadn't had that in a long time."(163)