Impeachment of Bill Clinton

Bill Clinton was impeached as President of the United States on December 19, 1998 by the House of Representatives. The charges were perjury and obstruction of justice arising from the Lewinsky scandal. The Senate acquitted Clinton on both counts in a trial concluding on February 12 1999.

Related Topics:
Bill Clinton - Impeach - President of the United States - December 19 - 1998 - House of Representatives - Perjury - Obstruction of justice - Lewinsky scandal - February 12 - 1999

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The charges arose from an investigation by independent counsel Kenneth Starr.

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Independent counsel - Kenneth Starr

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Originally dealing with the failed land deal years earlier known as Whitewater, Starr, with the approval of Attorney General Janet Reno, expanded his investigation into Clinton's conduct during the sexual harassment lawsuit filed by a former Arkansas government employee, Paula Jones. In a sworn deposition for this case, Clinton denied having "sexual relations" or a "sexual affair" with White House intern Monica Lewinsky. At the deposition the judge ordered a precise legal definition of the term "sexual relations" that could be construed to mean only vaginal intercourse. A much misquoted statement from Clinton's Grand Jury testimony showed him questioning the precise use of the word "is." Clinton said, "It depends on what the meaning of the word 'is' is. If the?if he?if 'is' means is and never has been, that is not?that is one thing. If it means there is none, that was a completely true statement."http://www.time.com/time/daily/scandal/testimony/temp4.html Linda Tripp, betraying Lewinsky's trust, provided Starr with taped phone conversations in which she discussed having oral sex with Clinton. Based on these tapes Starr concluded that Clinton's statements constituted perjury. Many commentators were bemused at the zeal with which Starr pursued Clinton, leading to references to the "Starr Chamber".

Related Topics:
Whitewater - Attorney General - Janet Reno - Paula Jones - Monica Lewinsky - Intercourse - Linda Tripp - Oral sex - Perjury - Starr Chamber

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After rumours of the scandal reached the news, Clinton publicly stated, "I did not have sexual relations with that woman, Miss Lewinsky." In his Paula Jones deposition, he swore, "I have never had sexual relations with Monica Lewinsky. I've never had an affair with her." http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/special/clinton/stories/whatclintonsaid.htm Months later, Clinton confessed "Indeed, I did have a sexual relationship?" Clinton was widely perceived as deliberately misleading the public by using his legalistic parsing of the term "sexual relations" to exclude oral sex in ordinary speech.

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Clinton was impeached on December 19, 1998 by the House of Representatives on grounds of perjury to a grand jury (by a 228-206 vote) and obstruction of justice (by a 221-212 vote), becoming only the second U.S. President to be impeached (the previous one being Andrew Johnson in 1868). Two other articles of impeachment failed — a second count of perjury in the Jones case (by a 205-229 vote), and one accusing Clinton of abuse of power (by a 148-285 vote). The articles of impeachment did not achieve significant bipartisan support, however, four Republicans opposed all four articles, while five Democrats voted for at least one of them. Much of the House debate was held in private session, which has led to speculation that the disclosure of confidential information played a part in the impeachment proceedings.

Related Topics:
Impeached - December 19 - 1998 - House of Representatives - Perjury - Obstruction of justice - Andrew Johnson - 1868 - Abuse of power

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The Senate impeachment trial lasted from January 7, 1999 until February 12. No witnesses were called during the trial. A two-thirds majority, 67 votes, would have been necessary to remove the President from office. The perjury charge was defeated with 45 votes for conviction and 55 against. The obstruction of justice charge was defeated with 50 for conviction and 50 against. Again, the impeachment effort did not have bipartisan support.

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January 7 - 1999 - February 12

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The day before leaving office, Clinton agreed to a five year suspension of his Arkansas law license as part of an agreement with the independent counsel to end the investigation. Based on this suspension, Clinton was also automatically suspended from the United States Supreme Court bar, from which he chose to resign. http://conlaw.usatoday.findlaw.com/supreme_court/orders/2001/111301pzor.html

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Clinton also was assessed a $90,000 fine by federal judge Susan Webber Wright for contempt of court and ordered to pay over $900,000 to Paula Jones.

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