If not, Clinton's legal team believes it has a good chance at a decisive courtroom win, which would lift a cloud off the presidency and contribute to salvaging his reputation in the history books. "Part one was to get past the (1996) election, part two becomes the president's place in history," says a close advisor to Clinton. That rules out a monetary settlement to Jones, he notes: "If we pay this woman a million dollars, it will hurt the president's place in history. Whatever statement we negotiate, it will appear to people it is an admission of guilt." Jones' reputation would be a "big time target" if the case moves into the courtroom stage, according to Clinton advisors. A glaring weakness in Jones' case, they believe, is her failure to file a valid complaint under sexual harassment laws. "What she alleges never happened, but if we admitted that it did, she would still not have a valid complaint," a Clinton advisor said. "All she could claim is assault, and there is a one-year statute of limitation on that in Arkansas."