In easily the most personally demeaning moment of his Presidency so far, Mr Bill Clinton will this morning come face to face with his accuser, Ms Paula Jones, and give videotaped evidence under oath behind closed doors about his past sexual history.
Barring a last-minute settlement in the sexual harassment case brought against him by Ms Jones, Mr Clinton will be driven to his lawyer's office in Washington shortly before 10 a.m. to face wide-ranging questioning which could last for anything up to three hours. To add to his embarrassment, Ms Jones plans to sit across the table from the President and to "stare into his eyes", one of her advisers said this week.
Ms Jones alleges that on May 8th, 1991, when he was governor of Arkansas and she was a state employee, Mr Clinton called her to a hotel room in Little Rock, Arkansas, where he dropped his trousers and asked her for oral sex. When she refused, she says, Mr Clinton told her to keep quiet about the incident and then had her demoted. Mr Clinton denies all the charges and says he has no recollection of ever having met her.
Today's questioning is part of a normal pre-trial civil process in which the witnesses for both sides give evidence under oath before the case comes to court. Ms Jones gave her sworn testimony in Arkansas in November, but Mr Clinton asked to make his deposition in Washington. Jury selection for the case has been set to begin in Little Rock on May 27th.
All the witnesses are subject to a court order not to reveal any details concerning the evidence in the case, but that has not deterred both sides in the past and will not prevent today's unprecedented hearing from becoming a media circus.
Mr Clinton is expected to be driven under guard in his presidential limousine into the basement of his lawyer's office in New York Avenue, only a short distance from the White House, and is not expected to make any public statement.
Ms Jones, who has had a thorough make-up and fashion makeover for the occasion, is certain to be accompanied to the confrontation by her egregious "adviser", Ms Susan Carpenter McMillan, who has said she will "accommodate the media" during the question-and-answer session. Ms McMillan will not be allowed to attend the deposition but can be relied on to play a full part in the media proceedings.
Mr Clinton must expect to be questioned about what Ms Jones has alleged are the "distinguishing characteristics" of his genitals. In addition, and in an attempt to portray the President as an incorrigible womaniser, Ms Jones's lawyers will ask about Mr Clinton's past sexual history, a subject on which they have been trying to solicit allegations for many months.