Impeachment of Bill Clinton

Bill Clinton was impeached as President of the United States on December 19, 1998 by the House of Representatives and subsequently acquitted by the Senate on February 12, 1999. 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 for and 50 against. 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. Opinion polls throughout the trial illustrated that the public opposed impeaching the president by margins of 65–70% [1], and may have contributed to the subsequent loss of seats suffered by the Republican party in the United States House of Representatives and the senate.

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" [2] that Clinton 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."[3] Linda Tripp, one of Lewinsky's confidantes, provided Starr with taped phone conversations in which she discussed having oral sex with Clinton. Based on these tapes Starr concluded that Clinton had committed perjury.

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." [4] 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.

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

Impeachment by the House of Representatives

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.)

The Republican leadership feared that they couldn't get enough votes to impeach Clinton in the incoming 106th Congress. So they hastily initiated impeachment proceedings 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 ironically lost his job as an indirect result of Clinton's impeachment debate: Livingston was forced to resign after his own marital infidelity came to light.

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 closed session, which has led to speculation that the disclosure of confidential information played a part in the impeachment proceedings.

Impeachment trial before the U.S. Senate

The Senate refused to hold a trial during the few remaining days before the 105th Congress ended. The constitutionality of holding the trial over until the 106th Congress was widely questioned. However, as was frequently noted during the Senate trial, the most recent impeachment proceedings, against Judge Walter Nixon, also spanned two Congresses. The Republican leadership in the House could theoretically have scheduled a second impeachment debate in the new Congress: however it is highly unlikely that they would have been able to get enough votes the second time around.

Another President whose name was frequently brought up was President Richard M. Nixon, who resigned instead of facing an impeachment trial. He was posthumously praised for having spared the nation the ordeal of an impeachment trial. Clinton's impeachment trial turned out not to be as much of a national ordeal as had been feared beforehand. There were few expressions of outrage against either President Clinton or the Republican leadership, and public opinion favored keeping him in office. And, it was fairly clear from the start that Clinton had enough votes in the Senate to acquit him. Clinton only needed 34 votes to stay in office, and his party held 45 out of 100 seats in the Senate. Even if every Republican would have voted against him (and in the end several Republicans voted for him) he could survive as long as no more than 12 Democrats deserted. (In the end, all 45 Democrats voted to acquit on both charges.)

The Senate impeachment trial lasted from January 7, 1999 until February 12. 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. Much was made of conversations between the President and his secretary, Betty Currie, which supposedly proved that Clinton was obstructing justice by pressuring her to lie about his involvement with Ms. Lewinsky. However, Currie was not questioned. The key "lie" which Clinton was allegedly pressuring Currie (and Blumenthal) to make was that it was Lewinsky who initially pursued Clinton, not vice versa: unfortunately for the prosecution, Lewinsky herself stated that she was the one who instigated the relationship.

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 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, though several Republicans voted to acquit.

Senate vote: perjury charge

Voting not guilty

Republicans: Chafee of Rhode Island, Collins of Maine, Gorton of Washington, Jeffords of Vermont, Shelby of Alabama, Snowe of Maine, Specter of Pennsylvania, 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.

Voting guilty

Republicans: Abraham, Mich. Allard, Colo. Ashcroft, Mo. Bennett, Utah Bond, Mo. Brownback, Kan. Bunning, Ky. Burns, Mont. Campbell, Colo. Cochran, Miss. Coverdell, Ga. Craig, Idaho Crapo, Idaho DeWine, Ohio Domenici, N.M. Enzi, Wyo. Fitzgerald, Ill. Frist, Tenn. Gramm, Texas Grams, Minn. Grassley, Iowa Gregg, N.H. Hagel, Neb. Hatch, Utah Helms, N.C. Hutchinson, Ark. Hutchison, Texas Inhofe, Okla. Kyl, Ariz. Lott, Miss. Lugar, Ind. Mack, Fla. McCain, Ariz. McConnell, Ky. Murkowski, Alaska Nickles, Okla. Roberts, Kan. Roth, Del. Santorum, Pa. Sessions, Ala. Smith, N.H. Smith, Ore. Thomas, Wyo. Thurmond, S.C. Voinovich, Ohio

Democrats: None.

Senate vote: obstruction of justice charge

Voting not guilty

Republicans: Chafee, R.I. Collins, Maine Jeffords, Vt. Snowe, Maine Specter, Pa

Democrats: Akaka, Hawaii Baucus, Mont. Bayh, Ind. Biden, Del. Bingaman, N.M. Boxer, Calif. Breaux, La. Bryan, Nev. Byrd, W.Va. Cleland, Ga. Conrad, N.D. Daschle, S.D. Dodd, Conn. Dorgan, N.D. Durbin, Ill. Edwards, N.C. Feingold, Wis. Feinstein, Calif. Graham, Fla. Harkin, Iowa Hollings, S.C. Inouye, Hawaii Johnson, S.D. Kennedy, Mass. Kerrey, Neb. Kerry, Mass. Kohl, Wis. Lambert-Lincoln, Ark. Landrieu, La. Lautenberg, N.J. Leahy, Vt. Levin, Mich. Lieberman, Conn. Mikulski, Md. Moynihan, N.Y. Murray, Wash. Reed, R.I. Reid, Nev. Robb, Va. Rockefeller, W.Va. Sarbanes, Md. Schumer, N.Y. Torricelli, N.J. Wellstone, Minn. Wyden, Ore.

Voting guilty

Republicans: Abraham, Mich. Allard, Colo. Ashcroft, Mo. Bennett, Utah Bond, Mo. Brownback, Kan. Bunning, Ky. Burns, Mont. Campbell, Colo. Cochran, Miss. Coverdell, Ga. Craig, Idaho Crapo, Idaho DeWine, Ohio Domenici, N.M. Enzi, Wyo. Fitzgerald, Ill. Frist, Tenn. Gorton, Wash. Gramm, Texas Grams, Minn. Grassley, Iowa Gregg, N.H. Hagel, Neb. Hatch, Utah Helms, N.C. Hutchinson, Ark. Hutchison, Texas Inhofe, Okla. Kyl, Ariz. Lott, Miss. Lugar, Ind. Mack, Fla. McCain, Ariz. McConnell, Ky. Murkowski, Alaska Nickles, Okla. Roberts, Kan. Roth, Del. Santorum, Pa. Sessions, Ala. Shelby, Ala. Smith, N.H. Smith, Ore. Stevens, Alaska Thomas, Wyo. Thompson, Tenn. Thurmond, S.C. Voinovich, Ohio Warner, Va.

Democrats: None.

The aftermath: 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[5].

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 . . ." [6]

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. [7]

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