Fresh off the Associated Press wire
AP -- Monica Lewinsky, in a statement released today,
countered President Clinton's firm denial:

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"I have had enough. This whole experience has left a bitter taste in my mouth, and I can't stomach anymore. I feel as if I'm getting the shaft,that this ugly matter has come to a head and blown up in my face."

"This may be a load to handle,but when things are hard,that is when I'm at my best. I have faced hard things in the past, and I know what is coming. I will meet this challenge the only way I know how: Head on."

"I have licked bigger things than this before, and I will again. No one will ever be able to say that Monica Lewinsky isn't a finidher, that she quit before the job was done. I will work non-stop and fight this, blow by blow, until I am wiped clean of this dirty affair. I will not be stained by it."

"Thank you."

Monica Lewinsky