Wednesday August 15 4:58 PM ET

Paula Jones Revives Bid to Get Promised $1 Million

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Paula Jones revived legal efforts on Wednesday to force imprisoned New York real estate mogul Abe Hirschfeld to pay her the $1 million he promised for dropping her sexual harassment case against former President Bill Clinton.

In her latest move, Jones, an Arkansas resident, sued the eccentric Hirschfeld in Manhattan federal court for breaching the agreement the two signed on Oct. 31, 1998.

The suit seeks $1 million plus unspecified interest and legal costs. She had filed a similar case in Dallas federal court last year but it was dismissed in September when the trial judge ruled he did not have jurisdiction over Hirschfeld.

A spokesman for Hirschfeld had no comment on the latest suit.

Hirschfeld, 81, was sentenced last year to a prison term of one to three years for trying to hire a hit man to murder his former business partner. He was also fined $1 million last year for evading $5.5 million in taxes.

Jones' litigation against Hirschfeld relates to her 1994 harassment case against Clinton. In that suit, Jones alleged Clinton pressured her for sex at a Little Rock hotel where they were both attending a conference in 1991, he as governor of Arkansas and she as a state employee.

Hirschfeld, who made a fortune from parking garages, offered to pay Jones $1 million to drop the suit. On Oct. 2, 1998, Hirschfeld had a teller's check from Israeli Discount Bank drawn in the amount of $1 million to be paid to Jones' lawyers. At the end of that month he appeared with Jones at a widely covered press conference in Washington where they stood next to a oversized photo of the check.

However, Jones alleged that Hirschfeld never turned over the real check to her or her lawyers.

Clinton denied Jones' allegations, but in November 1998 agreed to a settlement. At the time of the settlement, Hirschfeld reaffirmed the $1 million ``was still on the table'' for the purpose of inducing Jones to settle the suit against Clinton, Jones alleged.

Jones' suit against Clinton was eventually dismissed in 1998, by a federal district judge, who said Jones had failed to demonstrate any damages from Clinton's alleged conduct.

-- Anonymous, August 15, 2001