BY The Associated Press
WASHINGTON -- Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr said evidence suggested President Clinton "orchestrated" the retrieval of a number of gifts he gave Monica Lewinsky.
The report said Ms. Lewinsky estimated she gave Clinton about 30 gifts, and he gave her about 18.
Ms. Lewinsky testified that on Dec. 28, 1997, three weeks before his testimony in the Paula Jones case, she and Clinton discussed moving some of the gifts out of her possession.
"The central factual question is whether the president orchestrated or approved the concealment of the gifts," Starr wrote. "The reasonable inference from the evidence is that he did."
She testified that she suggested moving her gifts elsewhere. He was noncommittal, she said.
But a few hours later, Clinton's personal secretary, Betty Currie, called and said: "I understand you have something to give me," or words to that effect.
Mrs. Currie said she drove to Ms. Lewinsky's apartment and picked up a sealed box containing some of the gifts.
"It is unlikely that Ms. Lewinsky would have involved Ms. Currie in this matter unless the president had indicated his assent when Ms. Lewinsky raised the issue with him earlier in the day," the report said. "It also is unlikely that Ms. Currie would have driven to Ms. Lewinsky's home, retrieved the gifts from Ms. Lewinsky and stored them under her bed at home without being asked to do so by the president."
She gave him six neckties, an antique paperweight, a pair of sunglasses, a casual shirt, several novels and a humorous book of quotations, a mug emblazoned "Santa Monica," a frog figurine and a letter opener depicting a frog.
Frogs are sort of private joke for Clinton, his wife and daughter, who pick up froggie kitsch for each other whenever they spot it, White House press secretary Mike McCurry said last year when Chelsea Clinton toted a stuffed frog with her to start her freshman year at Stanford University.
The report said Clinton gave Ms. Lewinsky, among other things, a hat pin, two brooches, a blanket, a market bear figurine and a special edition of Walt Whitman's epic poem "Leaves of Grass."
She construed it as a sign of affection when the president wore a necktie or other item of clothing she had given him, the report said. It quoted her: "I used to say to him that 'I like it when you wear my ties because then I know I'm close to your heart."'
"The president was aware of her reaction, according to Ms. Lewinsky, and he would sometimes wear one of the items to reassure her -- occasionally on the day they were scheduled to meet or the day after they had met in person or talked by telephone," the report said. "The president would sometimes say to her, "Did you see I wore your tie the other day?"
At one point, Clinton sent her a picture of himself wearing one of her gift ties, the report said.
