Ann Coulter debuted as a figure on the public scene during her days as a lawyer by helping Paula Jones sue President Bill Clinton for sexual harassment. Coulter stated that "We were terrified that Jones would settle. It was contrary to our purpose of bringing down the president", even though that had been Jones' express intention since the beginning of the suit (Isikoff, 1999, p. 183). According to Coulter herself, quoted in the Hartford Courant in 1999, she leaked the details of Jones's testimony to the press in order to prevent Clinton from avoiding publicity by settling. This does not necessarily mean, however, that Coulter actually acted contrary to Jones' best interests and/or wishes, which would constitute legal malpractice.

When the case did get to court, after Coulter had broken with Jones, it was summarily dismissed because Jones could not show that she had actually suffered any damages, even if her allegations would prove true. Jones did eventually gain a settlement from Clinton in exchange for not appealing the decision, although at $850,000 it was only one-third the size she had been asking for and went to pay her now considerable legal expenses. However, the Jones case eventually led to the Monica Lewinsky sex scandal and to the movement aiming for Clinton's impeachment, as Coulter had wished. She appeared on MSNBC as a commentator on the case, and went on to write a critical expos頯f Clinton, boasting on Rivera Live that she "got a bestseller out of it" (High Crimes and Misdemeanors), and telling Hannity & Colmes, "The reason we were doing it for Paula ? well, was for Paula. She had been defamed and I think we can say we got her reputation back." (Coulter, 1999) However, Jones, having accumulated enormous legal fees which were not covered by the settlement and her 'legal fund', and having lost her husband as a result of the stress of the case, then posed for Penthouse, pleading financial necessity. Coulter, however, publicly denounced her as "trailer trash", saying "I totally believed she was the good Christian girl she made herself out to be. Now it turns out she's a fraud, at least to the extent of pretending to be an honorable and moral person." Jones defended herself by saying, "I haven't been offered a book deal like everybody else in this huge thing has done. Ann Coulter's done books. I haven't seen her call me up and say: 'Paula, would you like for me to help you write a book, a really nice, decent book?' I haven't had any help from anybody whatsoever."

Coulter gained prominence in the crowded field of conservative commentators by combining her outspoken criticism of many liberal and Democratic Party movements, positions and figures over the past half-century with her own unique style of insult comedy. Coulter quickly became known for being a controversialist and relished the role (Coulter, August 2002). As she told The Sunday Times in 2002, "I am a polemicist. I am perfectly frank about that. I like to stir up the pot. I don't pretend to be impartial or balanced, as broadcasters do."

Two days after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, her syndicated column included discussion of her close friend Barbara K. Olson, who was killed on American Airlines Flight 77 when terrorists crashed it into the Pentagon. In the last paragraph, Coulter wrote, "We should invade their countries, kill their leaders, and convert them to Christianity."

A week later she detailed a five-point plan guided by an "all-new standard for airline safety procedures:...procedures that [actually] make the airplane safer" of which point 3 proposed "requir[ing] passports to fly domestically. Passports can be forged," she continued, "but they can also be checked with the home country in case of any suspicious-looking swarthy males." Point 4 observed, "All 19 hijackers in last week's attack appear to have been aliens.... [Legally,] Congress could pass a law tomorrow requiring that all aliens from Arabic countries leave."

When the editors of the National Review Online, the website of a well-known conservative magazine that carried Coulter's syndicated column and had hired her as a contributing editor, said they would like to discuss making changes (Coulter, July 2002), she went on the national television show Politically Incorrect and accused them of censorship, claiming her pay was only five dollars per article. National Review Online then dropped her column and terminated her editorship (Goldberg, 2001).

Coulter was hired by USA Today to cover the 2004 Democratic National Convention, but was replaced by Jonah Goldberg after a "disagreement over editing" (Memmot, 2004). The column began "Here at the Spawn of Satan convention in Boston" and referred to an indefinite number of female attendees as "corn-fed, no make-up, natural fiber, no-bra needing, sandal-wearing, hirsute, somewhat fragrant hippie chick pie wagons". The newspaper did not print the column, but Coulter published it on her website.

--Wikipedia