Clinton's Accuser `Smelled Money' -- Paula Jones Acted `Thrilled,' Sister Says; Filing Of Suit Delayed

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - A sister of Paula Corbin Jones challenged her contention that she had been sexually harassed by Bill Clinton in 1991, saying that Jones told her this year she "smelled money" if she made public her allegations against the president.

The comments by Charlotte Brown, Jones' older sister, enraged other members of Jones' family today. They accused Brown of making her statements in response to White House pressure. Clinton's attorney Robert Bennett did not respond to phone calls.

Meanwhile, Jones, 27, a former Arkansas state employee, delayed her anticipated lawsuit against the president one more time after turning over the case to a Fairfax, Va., law firm.

Brown, in a live interview on a Little Rock TV station, acknow- ledged that Jones had told her in 1991 that then-Gov. Clinton propositioned her in a Little Rock hotel room almost immediately after it happened and that she turned down the request. But rather than being emotionally upset about the incident, Brown said that Jones appeared "thrilled" about the encounter.

"I don't believe in all my heart it was sexual harassment," Brown said during the interview. She also said that when she discussed the matter with Jones earlier this year, before a Washington news conference in which Jones first made her allegations, Jones told her "whichever way it went, it smelled money."

Jones and her chief lawyer, Daniel Traylor, could not be reached for comment last night. But Lydia Cathay, Jones' younger sister, angrily accused her other sister, Brown, of fabricating her account of the incident in response to pressure. "I'm extremely upset," Cathay said. "She's lying."

Brown said she had not been contacted by Clinton's lawyers and made her comments only because a local TV station "asked me."

Until recently, Traylor had counted Brown as one of six potential witnesses who could support her allegations against Clinton.

Brown last February said her sister had stopped by her house after work on the day of the alleged incident, May 8, 1991, and told her that while working at the state-sponsored conference that day, "this guard came up to her and told her that Bill Clinton wanted to see her." Jones said she met Clinton, who then asked her to perform a sexual act, and she refused, Brown said.

At that interview, Brown said that Jones "really didn't act nervous" and described her as relating the account in a "matter-of-fact" fashion rather than acting as if she were thrilled. Asked if she believed her sister's story, she said she did because she had never known Jones to lie.

Jones had been expected to file the suit in federal court yesterday, one day before the statute of limitations expired on her claims that Clinton violated her civil rights and caused her emotional distress by his unwanted advances.

Late in the afternoon, a spokeswoman for northern Virginia lawyers Gilbert Davis and Joseph Cammarata showed up on steps of the courthouse to tell reporters that "for reasons we are not at liberty to disclose," the suit would not be filed until today.

Jones, a former $10,270-a-year clerical worker for the Arkansas Industrial Development Commission, had charged in a news conference last Feb. 11 that Clinton made unwelcome sexual advances toward her during a brief encounter in a hotel room three years ago. Jones, who said she was approached by a state trooper and asked to meet Clinton in a hotel suite, said she did not report the incident at the time because she feared losing her job. Her allegations have received increased news media and public attention in recent days, and this week, the White House said Clinton had hired Bennett and Little Rock attorney Stephen Engstrom to defend him against Jones' anticipated lawsuit.

After Traylor released a news advisory saying he would hold a 2 p.m. news conference announcing the suit, reporters from dozens of news organizations - ranging from The New York Times and National Public Radio to the TV program, "A Current Affair" - camped out on the courthouse steps. CNN was planning to cover the event live.

But Traylor, who has also served as Jones' media spokesman, was nowhere to be found and did not return repeated calls to his office.

Finally, as the 5 p.m. deadline approached, a man named William Stanley, describing himself as a law clerk to Davis, arrived to announce the delay. He described Davis and Cammarata as lawyers who specialized in personal injury and other civil litigation.

Davis is a former federal prosecutor in Northern Virginia, and Cammarata is a former Justice Department tax litigator.