Impeachment of Bill Clinton

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The impeachment trial of President Bill Clinton in 1999, Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist presiding. The House managers are seated beside the quarter-circular tables on the left and the president's personal counsel on the right, much in the fashion of President Andrew Johnson's trial.

President Bill Clinton was acquitted by the Senate on February 12, 1999 of the December 19, 1998, impeachment charge by the House of Representatives. The charges were perjury and obstruction of justice, arising from the Lewinsky scandal. After a 21-day trial, the Senate vote fell short of the two-thirds majority required for conviction and removal from office under the Constitution. The impeachment proceedings were largely party-line, with no Democratic Senators voting for conviction and only three Democratic Representatives voting for impeachment. In all, 55 senators voted "not guilty," and 45 voted "guilty" on the charge of perjury. The Senate also acquitted on the obstruction charge with 50 votes cast each way.

While the impeachment process dominated American politics for the better part of the year and took up much of the energy of the Clinton administration as it ran its course, it also failed to win the president's opponents much of the political advantage that they sought. Shortly before the 1998 midterm elections, Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, R-Georgia, predicted a 32-seat gain in the House for Republicans and according to CNN.com archives from November 1998, Gingrich made far-reaching efforts to link Democratic congressional candidates to President Clinton.^{[citation needed]} This plan actually backfired in favor of the Democrats. Opinion polls throughout the trial illustrated that the public opposed impeaching the president by margins of 65–70% ^[1] and the President's public job-approval ratings remained extremely high throughout the entire year, even more popular than he had been prior to the scandal.^[2] In fact, shortly after his December 1998 impeachment his popularity attained its highest level ever with a 73 percent approval rating, and public perceptions of the Republican majority in Congress diminished.^[3] Such may have contributed to the surprise subsequent loss of five seats suffered by the Republican party in the United States House of Representatives in that year's congressional election.^[4] The election was largely seen as public vindication for President Clinton and then-Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle, D-South Dakota, proclaimed that the Democrats had achieved prominent victories in the elections.

1 The independent counsel investigation
2 The January 1998 press conference
3 Impeachment by the House of Representatives
4 Impeachment trial before the U.S. Senate
5 Senate vote: perjury charge
6 Senate vote: obstruction of justice charge
- 6.1 Voting not guilty
- 6.2 Voting Guilty
7 The aftermath
- 7.1 Contempt of court citation
- 7.2 Political ramifications
8 Notes
9 External links

[edit] The independent counsel investigation

The charges arose from an investigation by Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr. 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" ^[5] that Clinton claims to have construed to mean only vaginal intercourse. A much-quoted 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".^[6] Linda Tripp, one of Lewinsky's confidantes, provided Starr with taped phone conversations in which Lewinsky discussed having oral sex with Clinton. Based on these tapes, Starr concluded that Clinton had committed perjury.

[edit] The January 1998 press conference

After rumors 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." ^[7] Months later, Clinton admitted that his relationship with Lewinsky was "wrong" and "not appropriate." In fact, Clinton engaged in oral sex with Ms. Lewinsky on several occasions. 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.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Impeachment by the House of Representatives

Clinton, under threat of impeachment, reaffirming his intentions not to resign.

The House Judiciary Committee conducted no investigations of its own into Clinton's alleged wrongdoing, and it held no serious impeachment-related hearings before the 1998 mid-term elections. Nevertheless, impeachment was one of the major issues in the election; the Republicans were for it, and the Democrats were against it. In November, the Democrats picked up seats in the Congress. It is unusual for the President's party to gain seats in a mid-term election, especially during the second "lame duck" term. (The previous mid-term election, in 1994 had been a major debacle for Clinton's Democratic Party.)

Impeachment proceedings were initiated during the post-election, lame duck session of the outgoing 105th Congress. The committee hearings were perfunctory, but the floor debate in the whole House was spirited on both sides. The presumptive Speaker-Elect, Bob Livingston, resigned his job as an indirect result of Clinton's impeachment debate. Livingston resigned after his own marital infidelity came to light and encouraged Clinton to do the same. Clinton chose to remain in office and encouraged Livingston to reconsider resigning.^[8] House manager Henry Hyde's marital infidelity was also revealed during the Clinton impeachment.^[9]

Upon the passage of H. Res. 611, 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 the second U.S. president to be impeached, following 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). Four Republicans opposed all four articles, while five Democrats voted for at least one of them. Much of the House debate was held in closed session, which has led to speculation that the disclosure of confidential information played a part in the impeachment proceedings.

[edit] Impeachment trial before the U.S. Senate

The Senate impeachment trial lasted from January 7, 1999, until February 12. Clinton was defended by Cheryl Mills. No live witnesses were called during the trial, although four witnesses were interviewed on videotape: President Clinton, Monica Lewinsky, Clinton's friend Vernon Jordan, and White House aide Sidney Blumenthal.

Thirteen House Republicans from the Judiciary Committee served as "managers," the equivalent of prosecutors:

A two-thirds majority, 67 votes, would have been necessary to convict and remove the President from office. The perjury charge was defeated with 45 votes for conviction and 54 against, with one senator quoting Scottish law voting "not proven," believing the President did not receive a fair trial. This was recorded as "not guilty" in the Senate records. The obstruction of justice charge was defeated with 50 for conviction and 50 against.

[edit] Senate vote: perjury charge

[edit] Voting not guilty

Republicans: Chafee of Rhode Island, Collins of Maine, Gorton of Washington, Jeffords of Vermont, Shelby of Alabama, Snowe of Maine, Stevens of Alaska, Thompson of Tennessee, and Warner of Virginia.

Democrats: Akaka of Hawaii, Baucus of Montana, Bayh of Indiana, Biden of Delaware, Bingaman of New Mexico, Boxer of California, Breaux of Louisiana, Bryan of Nevada, Byrd of West Virginia, Cleland of Georgia, Conrad of North Dakota, Daschle of South Dakota, Dodd of Connecticut, Dorgan of North Dakota, Durbin of Illinois, Edwards of North Carolina, Feingold of Wisconsin, Feinstein of California, Graham of Florida, Harkin of Iowa, Hollings of South Carolina, Inouye of Hawaii, Johnson of South Dakota, Kennedy of Massachusetts, Kerrey of Nebraska, Kerry of Massachusetts, Kohl of Wisconsin, Lincoln of Arkansas, Landrieu of Louisiana, Lautenberg of New Jersey, Leahy of Vermont, Levin of Michigan, Lieberman of Connecticut, Mikulski of Maryland, Moynihan of New York, Murray of Washington, Reed of Rhode Island, Reid of Nevada, Robb of Virginia, Rockefeller of West Virginia, Sarbanes of Maryland, Schumer of New York, Torricelli of New Jersey, Wellstone of Minnesota, and Wyden of Oregon.

[edit] Voting guilty

Republicans: Abraham of Michigan, Allard of Colorado, Ashcroft of Missouri, Bennett of Utah, Bond of Missouri, Brownback of Kansas, Bunning of Kentucky, Burns of Montana, Campbell of Colorado, Cochran of Mississippi, Coverdell of Georgia, Craig of Idaho, Crapo of Idaho, DeWine of Ohio, Domenici of New Mexico, Enzi of Wyoming, Fitzgerald of Illinios, Frist of Tennessee, Gramm of Texas, Grams of Minnesota, Grassley of Iowa, Gregg of New Hampshire, Hagel of Nebraska, Hatch of Utah, Helms of North Carolina, Hutchinson of Arkansas, Hutchison of Texas, Inhofe of Oklahoma, Kyl of Arizona, Lott of Mississippi, Lugar of Indiana, Mack of Florida, McCain of Arizona, McConnell of Kentucky, Murkowski of Alaska, Nickles of Oklahoma, Roberts of Kansas, Roth of Delaware, Santorum of Pennsylvania, Sessions of Alabama, Smith of New Hampshire, Smith of Oregon, Thomas of Wyoming, Thurmond of South Carolina, and Voinovich of Ohio.

Democrats: None.

[edit] Voting "not proven"

Specter of Pennsylvania (recorded as "not guilty" in the Senate records)

[edit] Senate vote: obstruction of justice charge

[edit] Voting not guilty

Republicans:

Chafee, RI
Collins, ME
Jeffords, VT
Snowe, ME
Specter, PA

Democrats:

Akaka, HI
Baucus, MT
Bayh, IN
Biden, DE
Bingaman, NM
Boxer, CA
Breaux, LA
Bryan, NV
Byrd, WV
Cleland, GA
Conrad, ND
Daschle, SD
Dodd, CT
Dorgan, ND
Durbin, IL
Edwards, NC
Feingold, WI
Feinstein, CA
Graham, FL
Harkin, IA
Hollings, SC
Inouye, HI
Johnson, SD
Kennedy, MA
Kerrey, NE
Kerry, MA
Kohl, WI
Lambert-Lincoln, AR
Landrieu, LA
Lautenberg, NJ
Leahy, VT
Levin, MI
Lieberman, CT
Mikulski, MD
Moynihan, NY
Murray, WA
Reed, RI
Reid, NV
Robb, VA
Rockefeller, WV
Sarbanes, MD
Schumer, NY
Torricelli, NJ
Wellstone, MN
Wyden, OR

[edit] Voting Guilty

Republicans:

Abraham, MI
Allard, CO
Ashcroft, MO
Bennett, UT
Bond, MO
Brownback, KS
Bunning, KY
Burns, MT
Campbell, CO
Cochran, MS
Coverdell, GA
Craig, ID
Crapo, ID
DeWine, OH
Domenici, NM
Enzi, WY
Fitzgerald, IL
Frist, TN
Gorton, WA
Gramm, TX
Grams, MN
Grassley, IA
Gregg, NH
Hagel, NE
Hatch, UT
Helms, NC
Hutchinson, AR
Hutchison, TX
Inhofe, OK
Kyl, AZ
Lott, MS
Lugar, IN
Mack, FL
McCain, AZ
McConnell, KY
Murkowski, AK
Nickles, OK
Roberts, KS
Roth, DE
Santorum, PA
Sessions, AL
Shelby, AL
Smith, NH
Smith, OR
Stevens, AK
Thomas, WY
Thompson, TN
Thurmond, SC
Voinovich, OH
Warner, VA

Democrats: None.

[edit] The aftermath

[edit] Contempt of court citation

In April 1999, about two months after being acquitted by the Senate, Clinton was cited by Federal District Judge Susan Webber Wright for civil contempt of court for his "willful failure" to obey her repeated orders to testify truthfully in the Paula Jones sexual harassment lawsuit. For this citation, Clinton was assessed a $90,000 fine, and the matter was referred to the Arkansas Supreme Court to see if disciplinary action would be appropriate.^[10]

Regarding Clinton's January 17, 1998, deposition where he was placed under oath, the judge wrote:

"Simply put, the president's deposition testimony regarding whether he had ever been alone with Ms. (Monica) Lewinsky was intentionally false, and his statements regarding whether he had ever engaged in sexual relations with Ms. Lewinsky likewise were intentionally false . . . ." ^[11]

In January 2001, on 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. ^[12]

[edit] Political ramifications

While Clinton's job approval rating rose during the Lewinsky scandal and subsequent impeachment, his poll numbers with regard to questions of honesty, integrity and moral character declined.^[13] According to the The Daily Princetonian, after the 2000 presidential election, "post-election polls found that, in the wake of Clinton-era scandals, the single most significant reason people voted for Bush was for his moral character."^[14]^[15]^[16] According to an analysis of the election by Stanford University:

"A more political explanation is the belief in Gore campaign circles that disapproval of President Clinton’s personal behavior was a serious threat to the vice president’s propects. Going into the election the one negative element in the public’s perception of the state of the nation was the belief that the country was morally on the wrong track, whatever the state of the economy or world affairs. According to some insiders, anything done to raise the association between Gore and Clinton would have produced a net loss of support—the impact of Clinton’s personal negatives would outweigh the positive impact of his job performance on support for Gore. Thus, hypothesis 4 suggests that a previously unexamined variable played a major role in 2000—the retiring president’s personal approval."^[17]

Al Gore reportedly confronted Clinton after the election, and "tried to explain that keeping Clinton under wraps [during the campaign] was a rational response to polls showing swing voters were still mad as hell over the Year of Monica."^[18]^[19]