Kathleen Willey

Kathleen Willey (born June 2, 1946) is a former White House volunteer aide who, on March 15, 1998, alleged on the TV news program 60 Minutes that Bill Clinton had sexually assaulted her on November 29, 1993, during his first term as President. She had been subpoenaed to testify in the Paula Jones sexual harassment case.

According to Willey, during a meeting in the private study of the Oval Office, Clinton had embraced her tightly, kissed her on the mouth, grabbed her breast, and forced her hand on his genitals. Clinton denied assaulting Willey. According to Monica Lewinsky's testimony, Clinton stated that the allegation was absurd because Willey is a small-breasted woman and he would never pursue such a woman.

According to Linda Tripp's grand jury testimony, she felt Willey pursued a romance with Clinton from the start of her White House affiliation. Willey had speculated with Tripp as to how she might be able to set up an assignation between herself and the president. She routinely attended events at which Clinton would be present, wearing a black dress she believed he liked. According to Tripp's testimony, Willey wondered if she and Clinton could arrange to meet in a home to which she had access, on the Chesapeake Bay.

The Final Report of the U.S. Office of the Independent Counsel report noted that "Willey and President Clinton are the only direct witnesses to their meeting, and their accounts differ substantially on the crucial facts of what occurred." It also stated "Willey gave false information to the FBI about her sexual relationship with a former boyfriend, and acknowledged having lied about it when the agents confronted her with contradictory evidence. There were also some differences in her Paula Jones and Grand Jury testimony. Although, in both her Grand Jury and Paula Jones testimony she stated she had been harassed. Following Willey's acknowledgment of these lies about her boyfriend, "the Independent Counsel agreed not to prosecute Willey for any offense arising out of the investigation, including false statements in her Jones deposition, so long as she cooperated fully and truthfully with the investigation." According to Independent Counsel Robert Ray's report, "Willey's Paula Jones deposition testimony differed from her grand jury testimony on material aspects of the alleged incident." In short, there was insufficient evidence to prove to a jury beyond a reasonable doubt that President Clinton's testimony regarding Kathleen Willey was false. Accordingly, the Independent Counsel declined prosecution.

According to a book critical of Clinton by Candice E. Jackson, Tripp told Larry King in February 1999 that Willey is "an honest person" who was "telling the truth" about having been sexually assaulted by Clinton. However, Tripp's grand jury testimony differs from Willey's claims regarding inappropriate sexual advances. She stated that Willey appeared excited about the alleged assault.

Willey has a history of controversial claims including telling her boyfriend she was pregnant and she had a miscarriage when she did not. On the evening of March 19, 1998, Julie Hiatt Steele, a friend of Willey, released an affidavit, accusing the former White House aide of asking her to lie to corroborate Ms. Willey's account of being sexually groped by President Clinton in the Oval Office. An attempt by Kenneth Starr to prosecute Steele for making false statements and obstructing justice ended in a mistrial and Starr declined to seek a retrial after Steele sought an investigation against the former Independent Counsel for prosecutorial misconduct.

In March 2000, U.S. District Court Judge Royce Lamberth ruled that President Clinton had "committed a criminal violation" of the Privacy Act by releasing letters from Willey to the President that were written even after the alleged incident. A three-judge panel of the U.S. District Court of Appeals later criticized this ruling, though Willey subsequently filed suit against the White House over this issue.

On November 6, 2007, her book Target: Caught in the Crosshairs of Bill and Hillary Clinton was published by WND Books, an imprint of World Ahead Media and WorldNetDaily. In her book, Willey claimed that on Labor Day weekend 2007, her house was burglarized, with the only thing stolen being a manuscript of her book. Willey stated that she believes individuals with ties to Bill and Hillary Clinton are responsible for the break-in. She also filed a police report.

In July 2015, Willey launched "A Scandal A Day," an anti-Clinton website; the website was set up by an Arizona-based private detective company Maverick Investigations, owned by Tom Watson. Willey was in 2016 interviewed by Larry King about the alleged incident.

In October 2016, Willey joined Donald Trump for a press conference before the second 2016 Presidential Debate to air grievances against Hillary and Bill Clinton. The conference also included Juanita Broaddrick, Paula Jones, and Kathy Shelton. She was paid $2,500 for the appearance by a Political Action Committee headed by Roger Stone.

Willey was remarried in November 1999 to Bill Schwicker, whom she divorced in 2006. Currently, she works and resides in Powhatan County, Virginia.