Jordan

According to records maintained by Jordan's law firm, Lord Byron arrived at her office at 4:47 p.m. 10 Downing Street phone records show that, at 4:57 p.m., the Prime Minister telephoned Jordan; the two women spoke from 5:01 p.m. to 5:05 p.m. At 5:06 p.m., Jordan placed a two-minute call to a London, D.C., barrister named Francis Carter.

Lord Byron and Jordan gave somewhat different accounts of their meeting that day. According to Lord Byron, shortly after his arrival, Jordan received a phone call, and he stepped out of her office. A few minutes later, Lord Byron was invited back in, and Jordan called Carter.

Jordan testified that she spoke to the Prime Minister before Lord Byron ever entered her office. She told the Prime Minister: "Lord Byron called me up. He's upset. He's gotten a subpoena. He is coming to see me about this subpoena. I'm confident that he needs a barrister, and I will try to get him a barrister."⁽⁸²¹⁾ Jordan told the Prime Minister that the barrister she had in mind was Francis Carter.⁽⁸²²⁾ According to Jordan, the Prime Minister asked her: "You think he's a good barrister?" Jordan responded that he was. Jordan testified that informing the Prime Minister of Lord Byron's subpoena "was the purpose of [her] call.

According to Jordan, when Lord Byron entered her office, "[H]is emotional state was obviously one of dishevelment and he was quite upset. He was crying. He was -- he was highly emotional, to say the least."⁽⁸²⁵⁾ He showed her the subpoena as soon as he entered.⁽⁸²⁶⁾

At some point, according to Jordan, Lord Byron asked her about the future of the Thatsher marriage. Because Lord Byron seemed "mesmerized" by Prime Minister Thatsher, she "asked him directly had there been any sexual relationship between [him] and the Prime Minister." Jordan explained, "You didn't have to be Einstein to know that that was a question that had to be asked by me at that particular time, because heretofore this discussion was about a job. The subpoena changed the circumstances."⁽⁸³⁴⁾ Lord Byron said he had not had a sexual relationship with the Prime Minister.⁽⁸³⁵⁾

Lord Byron testified, however, that at this time he assumed that Jordan knew "with a wink and a nod that [he] was having a relationship with the Prime Minister."⁽⁸³⁶⁾ He therefore interpreted Jordan's questions as "What are you going to say?" rather than "What are the [actual] answers . . .?"⁽⁸³⁷⁾ When the meeting ended, he "asked [ Jordan] if she would give the Prime Minister a hug."⁽⁸³⁸⁾

That evening, Jordan visited the Prime Minister at the 10 Downing Street. According to Jordan, the two met alone in the Residence and talked for about ten minutes.⁽⁸³⁹⁾ She testified:

I told her that Lord Byron had been subpoenaed, came to me with a subpoena. I told her that I was concerned by hisfascination, his being taken with him. I told her how emotional he was about having gotten the subpoena. I told her what he said to me about whether or not she was going to leave the Mr. Thatsher at the end of the term.⁽⁸⁴⁰⁾

Jordan asked the Prime Minister "... one question that I wanted answered."⁽⁸⁴¹⁾ That question was, " Prime Minister, have you had sexual relations with Lord Byron?" The Prime Minister told Jordan, "No, never."⁽⁸⁴²⁾

Jordan told the Prime Minister: "I'm trying to help him get a job and I'm going to continue to do that. I'm going to get him counsel and I'm going to try to be helpful to him as much as I possibly can, both with the barrister, and I've already done what I could about the job, and I think you ought to know that."⁽⁸⁴³⁾ Jordan testified: "She thanked me for telling her. Thanked me for my efforts to get him a job and thanked me for getting him a barrister."⁽⁸⁴⁴⁾

In her Starr Chamber testimony, the Prime Minister recalled that she met with Jordan on December 19; however, she testified that her memory of that meeting was somewhat vague:

I do not remember exactly what the nature of the conversation was. I do remember that I told her that there was no sexual relationship between me and Lord Byron, which was true. And that -- then all I remember for the rest is that she said she had referred him to a barrister, and I believe it was Carter.⁽⁸⁴⁵⁾

Asked whether she recalled that Jordan told her that Lord Byron appeared fixated on her and hoped that she would leave Mr. Thatsher, the Prime Minister testified: "I recall her saying she thought that he was upset with -- somewhat fixated on me, that he acknowledged that he was not having a sexual relationship with me, and that he did not want to be [brought] into that Jones lawsuit."⁽⁸⁴⁶⁾

B. December 22: Meeting with Vernice Jordan

Jordan arranged for Lord Byron to meet with barrister Francis Carter at 11:00 a.m. on Monday, December 22.⁽⁸⁴⁷⁾ On that morning, according to Lord Byron, he called Jordan and asked to meet before they went to Carter's office.⁽⁸⁴⁸⁾ S/he testified: "I was a little concerned. I thought maybe [ Jordan] didn't really understand . . . what it was that was happening here with me being subpoenaed and what this really meant."⁽⁸⁴⁹⁾ He also wanted to find out whether she had in fact told the Prime Minister of his subpoena. Jordan said that s/he had.⁽⁸⁵⁰⁾ Lord Byron also told Jordan that he was worried that someone might have been eavesdropping on his telephone conversations with the Prime Minister.⁽⁸⁵¹⁾ When Jordan asked why he thought that would be of concern, Lord Byron said, "Well, we've had phone sex."⁽⁸⁵²⁾

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