Here's How Landow Ended Up In Spotlight

Until recently, few people outside the inner workings of the Clinton White House and the Democratic Party's fund-raising operations had ever heard of Nathan Landow.

But now the real-estate developer and former chairman of the Maryland Democratic Party finds himself under the glare of the national media as an important figure in the investigation of the president's conduct.

If Kathleen Willey's account is accurate, Landow, 65, is part of a behind-the-scenes effort by President Clinton's supporters to keep women who have been linked to him silent.

On CBS' "60 Minutes" Sunday, Willey described what she says was an unwanted sexual encounter with Clinton in November 1993. In addition, she said she had discussed the incident "extensively" with Landow.

What Starr wants to know

Allegations that Landow or others sought to pressure Willey have now become a focus of independent counsel Kenneth Starr's criminal investigation into whether Clinton and his supporters have sought to obstruct justice.

Willey, who reportedly is now cooperating with Starr's prosecutors, declined during her "60 Minutes" appearance to discuss details of Landow's involvement.

Landow's name has also surfaced in connection with the sexual-harassment lawsuit against Clinton by Paula Corbin Jones, the former Arkansas government employee who alleges he made a sexual proposition seven years ago.

Among the documents filed Friday by Jones' lawyers is a request

to question Landow under oath.

During Willey's deposition in the Jones case Jan. 11, she said that no one had sought to stop her from talking about the alleged incident with Clinton. But more than a month later, on Feb. 20, Willey offered a substitute answer to that question. Instead, she said that "Nate Landow discussed my upcoming deposition testimony with me."

In a statement issued by his attorneys yesterday, Landow denied all allegations about his involvement.

"Nathan Landow has made no attempt whatsoever to influence Ms. Kathleen Willey concerning her testimony with respect to President Clinton," said the statement issued by the Washington law firm of Miller, Cassidy, Larroca & Lewin.

Landow's history

In fact, Landow's history suggests that it would be unlikely that Clinton would turn to him for such a sensitive - and dangerous task. While he has strong ties to the Clinton administration, his strongest connections are not to Clinton but to Vice President Al Gore.

Indeed, White House aides sought yesterday to play up old wounds between Clinton and Landow in order to put some distance between the two. Those aides pointed to political friction dating back to Landow's opposition to Clinton as the Democratic presidential nominee in 1992 - friction White House aides stressed has never gone away.

During the 1992 primary season, Landow, then chairman of the Maryland party, supported the campaign of former Sen. Paul Tsongas, D-Mass.

In February 1992, Landow publicly attacked Clinton when a controversy erupted over whether Clinton had dodged the draft during the Vietnam War.

Even after Clinton had all but locked up the Democratic nomination, Landow led a group of disgruntled Democrats who raised the possibility of throwing open the Democratic convention to select an alternative to Clinton.

Landow's entree into the administration was through his connections to Gore; he was a major donor to Gore's 1988 presidential campaign.

Yet since 1992, Landow has developed other ties to Clinton through his family. His son-in-law, Washington attorney Michael Cardozo, was the administrator of the trust for the first family's legal-defense fund. Harolyn Cardozo, Landow's daughter and Michael's wife, worked with Willey as a volunteer in the White House in 1993.