After nearly 14 hours of debate, the House of Representatives approves
two articles of impeachment against President Bill Clinton, charging
him with lying under oath to a federal grand jury and obstructing
justice. Clinton, the second president in American history to be
impeached, vowed to finish his term.
In November 1995, Clinton began an affair with Monica Lewinsky, a
21-year-old unpaid intern. Over the course of a year and a half, the
president and Lewinsky had nearly a dozen sexual encounters in the
White House. In April 1996, Lewinsky was transferred to the Pentagon.
That summer, she first confided in Pentagon co-worker Linda Tripp
about her sexual relationship with the president. In 1997, with the
relationship over, Tripp began secretly to record conversations with
Lewinsky, in which Lewinsky gave Tripp details about the affair.
In December, lawyers for Paula Jones, who was suing the president on
sexual harassment charges, subpoenaed Lewinsky. In January 1998,
allegedly under the recommendation of the president, Lewinsky filed an
affidavit in which she denied ever having had a sexual relationship
with him. Five days later, Tripp contacted the office of Kenneth
Starr, the Whitewater independent counsel, to talk about Lewinsky and
the tapes she made of their conversations. Tripp, wired by FBI agents
working with Starr, met with Lewinsky again, and on January 16,
Lewinsky was taken by FBI agents and U.S. attorneys to a hotel room
where she was questioned and offered immunity if she cooperated with
the prosecution. A few days later, the story broke, and Clinton
publicly denied the allegations, saying, "I did not have sexual
relations with that woman, Ms. Lewinsky."
In late July, lawyers for Lewinsky and Starr worked out a
full-immunity agreement covering both Lewinsky and her parents, all of
whom Starr had threatened with prosecution. On August 6, Lewinsky
appeared before the grand jury to begin her testimony, and on August
17 President Clinton testified. Contrary to his testimony in the Paula
Jones sexual-harassment case, President Clinton acknowledged to
prosecutors from the office of the independent counsel that he had had
an extramarital affair with Ms. Lewinsky.
In four hours of closed-door testimony, conducted in the Map Room of
the White House, Clinton spoke live via closed-circuit television to a
grand jury in a nearby federal courthouse. He was the first sitting
president ever to testify before a grand jury investigating his
conduct. That evening, President Clinton also gave a four-minute
televised address to the nation in which he admitted he had engaged in
an inappropriate relationship with Lewinsky. In the brief speech,
which was wrought with legalisms, the word "sex" was never spoken, and
the word "regret" was used only in reference to his admission that he
misled the public and his family.
Less than a month later, on September 9, Kenneth Starr submitted his
report and 18 boxes of supporting documents to the House of
Representatives. Released to the public two days later, the Starr
Report outlined a case for impeaching Clinton on 11 grounds, including
perjury, obstruction of justice, witness-tampering, and abuse of
power, and also provided explicit details of the sexual relationship
between the president and Ms. Lewinsky. On October 8, the House
authorized a wide-ranging impeachment inquiry, and on December 11, the
House Judiciary Committee approved three articles of impeachment. On
December 19, the House impeached Clinton.
On January 7, 1999, in a congressional procedure not seen since the
1868 impeachment trial of President Andrew Johnson, the trial of
President Clinton got underway in the Senate. As instructed in Article
1 of the U.S. Constitution, the chief justice of the U.S. Supreme
Court (William Rehnquist at this time) was sworn in to preside, and
the senators were sworn in as jurors.
Five weeks later, on February 12, the Senate voted on whether to
remove Clinton from office. The president was acquitted on both
articles of impeachment. The prosecution needed a two-thirds majority
to convict but failed to achieve even a bare majority. Rejecting the
first charge of perjury, 45 Democrats and 10 Republicans voted "not
guilty," and on the charge of obstruction of justice the Senate was
split 50-50. After the trial concluded, President Clinton said he was
"profoundly sorry" for the burden his behavior imposed on Congress and
the American people.
history.com/tdih.do
two articles of impeachment against President Bill Clinton, charging
him with lying under oath to a federal grand jury and obstructing
justice. Clinton, the second president in American history to be
impeached, vowed to finish his term.
In November 1995, Clinton began an affair with Monica Lewinsky, a
21-year-old unpaid intern. Over the course of a year and a half, the
president and Lewinsky had nearly a dozen sexual encounters in the
White House. In April 1996, Lewinsky was transferred to the Pentagon.
That summer, she first confided in Pentagon co-worker Linda Tripp
about her sexual relationship with the president. In 1997, with the
relationship over, Tripp began secretly to record conversations with
Lewinsky, in which Lewinsky gave Tripp details about the affair.
In December, lawyers for Paula Jones, who was suing the president on
sexual harassment charges, subpoenaed Lewinsky. In January 1998,
allegedly under the recommendation of the president, Lewinsky filed an
affidavit in which she denied ever having had a sexual relationship
with him. Five days later, Tripp contacted the office of Kenneth
Starr, the Whitewater independent counsel, to talk about Lewinsky and
the tapes she made of their conversations. Tripp, wired by FBI agents
working with Starr, met with Lewinsky again, and on January 16,
Lewinsky was taken by FBI agents and U.S. attorneys to a hotel room
where she was questioned and offered immunity if she cooperated with
the prosecution. A few days later, the story broke, and Clinton
publicly denied the allegations, saying, "I did not have sexual
relations with that woman, Ms. Lewinsky."
In late July, lawyers for Lewinsky and Starr worked out a
full-immunity agreement covering both Lewinsky and her parents, all of
whom Starr had threatened with prosecution. On August 6, Lewinsky
appeared before the grand jury to begin her testimony, and on August
17 President Clinton testified. Contrary to his testimony in the Paula
Jones sexual-harassment case, President Clinton acknowledged to
prosecutors from the office of the independent counsel that he had had
an extramarital affair with Ms. Lewinsky.
In four hours of closed-door testimony, conducted in the Map Room of
the White House, Clinton spoke live via closed-circuit television to a
grand jury in a nearby federal courthouse. He was the first sitting
president ever to testify before a grand jury investigating his
conduct. That evening, President Clinton also gave a four-minute
televised address to the nation in which he admitted he had engaged in
an inappropriate relationship with Lewinsky. In the brief speech,
which was wrought with legalisms, the word "sex" was never spoken, and
the word "regret" was used only in reference to his admission that he
misled the public and his family.
Less than a month later, on September 9, Kenneth Starr submitted his
report and 18 boxes of supporting documents to the House of
Representatives. Released to the public two days later, the Starr
Report outlined a case for impeaching Clinton on 11 grounds, including
perjury, obstruction of justice, witness-tampering, and abuse of
power, and also provided explicit details of the sexual relationship
between the president and Ms. Lewinsky. On October 8, the House
authorized a wide-ranging impeachment inquiry, and on December 11, the
House Judiciary Committee approved three articles of impeachment. On
December 19, the House impeached Clinton.
On January 7, 1999, in a congressional procedure not seen since the
1868 impeachment trial of President Andrew Johnson, the trial of
President Clinton got underway in the Senate. As instructed in Article
1 of the U.S. Constitution, the chief justice of the U.S. Supreme
Court (William Rehnquist at this time) was sworn in to preside, and
the senators were sworn in as jurors.
Five weeks later, on February 12, the Senate voted on whether to
remove Clinton from office. The president was acquitted on both
articles of impeachment. The prosecution needed a two-thirds majority
to convict but failed to achieve even a bare majority. Rejecting the
first charge of perjury, 45 Democrats and 10 Republicans voted "not
guilty," and on the charge of obstruction of justice the Senate was
split 50-50. After the trial concluded, President Clinton said he was
"profoundly sorry" for the burden his behavior imposed on Congress and
the American people.
history.com/tdih.do
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