|
|
|
(Photo: AP)
|
The Monica Lewinsky story began in the summer of 1995, when the recent Lewis and Clark College graduate got an unpaid internship at the White House. Shortly after accepting a paying job with the government, Lewinsky met President Clinton at an office party, where they flirted before meeting up later for a more intimate encounter.
Over the next 16 months, they had many sexual encounters, which continued after Lewinsky had transferred to a job at the Pentagon in April 1996. Lewinsky even placed an anonymous Valentine's Day note in the Washington Post, dedicated to "Handsome" and allegedly meant for Mr. Clinton. Also in February, Lewinsky discovered that the blue dress she had worn during an Oval Office encounter was stained with the president's semen.
That summer, Lewinsky became distraught over not being transferred back to the White House. She wrote Mr. Clinton a letter threatening that she might tell her parents about their affair. The president then had a meeting with Lewinsky where he criticized her for threatening to reveal their relationship. At that meeting, Lewinsky told him that Newsweek was working on an article about Kathleen Willey, who accused the president of groping her. Lewinsky said that she heard about the article from her Pentagon co-worker, Linda Tripp. When Mr. Clinton asked if Tripp knew about their affair, Lewinsky lied and said she hadn’t told her.
On August 11, 1997, Newsweek published the story in which Tripp claimed that Willey told her of Mr. Clinton’s advances. Clinton lawyer Robert S. Bennett publicly questioned Tripp's credibility, and a month later, Tripp began secretly recording her conversations with Lewinsky.
In October, the backers of Paula Jones's sexual harassment lawsuit against the president received three anonymous tips from a woman hinting at a Lewinsky-Clinton affair. Tripp was subpoenaed in the Jones case, followed by Lewinsky, who denied in an affidavit that she had a "sexual relationship" with Mr. Clinton. In January 1998, Tripp brought independent counsel Kenneth Starr the tapes of her Lewinsky conversations. Starr got permission from the Justice Department to expand his authority to investigate the Lewinsky affair. Starr's deputies had Tripp lure Lewinsky into a meeting, where Lewinsky was intercepted and questioned by U.S. attorneys.
Clinton gave his deposition in the Jones suit on Jan. 17, denying having had "sexual relations" with Lewinsky, under the definition provided by lawyers. That summer, Clinton testified after being subpoenaed by Starr, and acknowledged "inappropriate intimate contact" with Lewinsky, but he said that his January deposition in the Jones suit was correct. He refused to answer questions about the nature of his physical contact with Lewinsky.
On Sept. 9, 1998, Starr delivered his report to Congress. The House's Judiciary Committee voted to begin impeachment hearings, and in December, Republicans on the Judiciary Committee unveiled four proposed articles of impeachment against President Clinton, alleging he lied, obstructed justice and abused his power. White House Counsel Charles Ruff, wrapping up Clinton's defense before the committee, said his behavior was "morally reprehensible," but not worthy of impeachment.
On Dec. 19, the House approved two articles of impeachment, charging the president with lying under oath and obstructing justice. He became the first president to be impeached since Andrew Johnson in 1868. The vote then went to the Senate to decide if the president would be removed from power.
On Feb. 12, 1999, after extensive arguments from both sides in the Senate, President Clinton was acquitted of the two articles of impeachment. The vote was 55-45 on the perjury charge, and 50-50 on obstruction of justice. Afterward, Clinton said he was "profoundly sorry" for the burden he imposed on Congress and the American people.
|
|
|
