Interngate unspools as Monica reveals

WASHINGTON, Jan 25: The White House intern with whom President Bill Clinton allegedly had an affair insisted that ``nobody saw anything happ...

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WASHINGTON, Jan 25: The White House intern with whom President Bill Clinton allegedly had an affair insisted that “nobody saw anything happen between us,” the weekly magazine Newsweek reported in its latest edition.

In transcripts of conversations obtained by Newsweek, Monica Lewinsky and her confidante Linda Tripp discuss how to handle upcoming depositions by lawyers for Paula Jones, who is suing the President for sexual harassment.

“Whatever they have, if they have anything, has to be inadmissable,” she said. “Nobody saw anything happen between us.”

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“Are you positive that nobody saw you in the study?” Tripp said, referring to a room off the Oval Office.

“I’m absolutely positive,” said Lewinski.

The Los Angeles Times reported on Saturday that Lewinsky had told Tripp in their secretly taped conversations about giving the President oral sex in a study outside the Oval Office and having late-night, sexually explicit telephone calls.

The tapes obtained by Newsweek show that Tripp expressed concern about Lewinsky lying in a sworn deposition to Jones’ lawyers. “I think deep down you don’t like having to lie,” she said.

“I don’t think anybody likes to,” said Lewinsky, who added: “I would lie on the stand for my family. That is how I was raised.”

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“I would do almost anything for my kids, but I don’t think I would lie on the stand for them,” replied Tripp. Lewinsky then replied: “I was brought up with lies all the time. … That’s how you got along. … I have lied my entire life.”

Then she said later: “I will deny it so he will not get screwed in the case, but I’m going to get screwed personally.”

Lewinsky told Tripp that she was convinced that the President would not settle the Paula Jones lawsuit, thus making their testimony unnecessary. “He’s in denial about it,” she said.

When Tripp asked if Clinton thought that Lewinsky would be honest with Jones’ lawyers, Lewinsky said, “No.”

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“So he’s at least feeling somewhat safe that this is not going to go any further right now, right?” asked Tripp.

Meanwhile, CNN broadcast on Saturday what it said was video footage filmed in 1996 of Clinton and Lewinsky, saying it was the first available images of the two together. The footage shows Clinton shaking hands with White House staff in an outdoor ceremony on November 6, 1996, the day after he was elected to a second term.

In the video, Clinton hugs a broadly smiling young woman — whom CNN identified as Lewinsky — who is wearing in a dark outfit and beret adorned with a small bow, after which the two exchange a few words.