Eleanor Finch
The Clinton–Lewinsky scandal of the 1990s led to impeachment proceedings against then-US President Bill Clinton. The scandal centred on Clinton's sexual relationship with Monica Lewinsky, a 22-year-old White House intern. Clinton was asked about the nature of his relationship with Lewinsky during a deposition and subsequently in front of a grand jury. Clinton denied having a sexual relationship with Lewinsky, based on his interpretation of the phrase sexual relations. This denial became the basis for an impeachment charge of perjury.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Date of the scandal | November 1995 - March 1997 |
| Number of sexual encounters | 9 |
| Clinton's response | Clinton denied having sexual relations with Lewinsky. Later, he said he had made the right decision in not resigning. |
| Outcome | Clinton was impeached for lying under oath, obstruction of justice, abuse of power, and other offenses. He was also fined $90,000 and his license to practice law was suspended. |
| Public opinion | Most Americans gave Clinton low marks for character and honesty but high marks for performance. They wanted him censured and condemned for his conduct but not impeached and removed. |
| Other allegations | Cristy Zercher, Eileen Wellstone, Sandra Allen James, and a former professor from the University of Arkansas have all accused Clinton of sexual misconduct or assault. |
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What You'll Learn
Clinton's impeachment
The impeachment of Bill Clinton, the 42nd president of the United States, was initiated by the House of Representatives of the 105th United States Congress on December 19, 1998. The catalyst for Clinton's impeachment was the Starr Report, a September 1998 report prepared by Independent Counsel Ken Starr for the House Judiciary Committee. The report included details of a sexual relationship between Clinton and Monica Lewinsky, a White House intern at the time.
The specific charges against Clinton were lying under oath and obstruction of justice. Two other articles had been considered but were rejected by the House vote. The charges stemmed from a sexual harassment lawsuit filed against Clinton by Paula Jones, accusing him of sexual harassment when he was governor of Arkansas. During the pre-trial discovery in the lawsuit, Clinton denied having a sexual relationship with Lewinsky.
Starr's investigation expanded to include determining whether Clinton had lied under oath during his deposition. Lewinsky was granted immunity and testified before Starr's grand jury, confirming the relationship. Clinton subsequently admitted to lying under oath. Starr's report also alleged that Clinton had instructed others to obstruct justice by lying on his behalf.
The House of Representatives voted in favour of two articles of impeachment, finding that Clinton had committed perjury before the grand jury and had obstructed justice. However, the Senate trial in early 1999 did not produce the two-thirds majority vote required to convict Clinton and remove him from office. On February 12, 1999, Clinton was acquitted on both counts, remaining in office for the remainder of his second term.
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Lewinsky's testimony
On July 28, 1998, Monica Lewinsky received transactional immunity in exchange for grand jury testimony concerning her relationship with then-US President Bill Clinton. She also turned over a semen-stained blue dress to Starr investigators, which, when tested by the FBI, matched Clinton's semen, thereby providing unambiguous circumstantial evidence that proved the relationship despite Clinton's official denials.
Lewinsky said she had had sexual encounters with Clinton on nine occasions from November 1995 to March 1997. According to her published schedule, First Lady Hillary Clinton was at the White House for at least some portion of seven of those days. Lewinsky also testified that the President had inserted a cigar into her vagina.
Clinton denied having sexual relations with Lewinsky, claiming that certain acts were performed on him, not by him, and therefore he did not engage in sexual relations. He also relied on the definition of "sexual relations" as proposed by the prosecution and agreed upon by the defense and Judge Susan Webber Wright, who was hearing the Paula Jones case. Clinton later said, "I thought the definition included any activity by [me], where [I] was the actor and came in contact with those parts of the bodies" which had been explicitly listed (and "with an intent to gratify or arouse the sexual desire of any person").
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Clinton's deposition
In his deposition for the Jones lawsuit, Clinton denied having sexual relations with Monica Lewinsky, a White House intern. Clinton was asked, "Have you ever had sexual relations with Monica Lewinsky, as that term is defined in Deposition Exhibit 1?" The judge ordered that Clinton be given an opportunity to review the agreed definition. Based on the definition created by the Independent Counsel's Office, Clinton answered, "I have never had sexual relations with Monica Lewinsky."
Clinton later clarified his understanding of the definition, stating that he believed it included any activity where he was the actor and came into contact with specific parts of the body "with the intent to gratify or arouse the sexual desire of any person." In other words, Clinton denied ever having contacted Lewinsky's "genitalia, anus, groin, breast, inner thigh, or buttocks."
However, evidence in the form of a blue dress with Clinton's semen provided by Lewinsky contradicted Clinton's testimony. Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr concluded that Clinton's sworn testimony was perjurious and that he had lied under oath. Starr's charge of illegal conduct by Clinton, along with allegations of obstruction of justice, formed the core of Clinton's impeachment.
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Public opinion
Supporters of Clinton alleged that the matter should remain private and called some of the supporters of Clinton's impeachment hypocritical. A highly publicised investigation campaign actively sought information that might embarrass politicians who supported impeachment. According to the British newspaper The Guardian, Larry Flynt, the publisher of Hustler magazine, offered a $1 million reward. Flynt was a sworn enemy of the Republican party and sought to dig up dirt on the Republican members of Congress who were leading the impeachment campaign against Clinton.
In the wake of the #MeToo movement, various commentators and Democratic political leaders, as well as Lewinsky herself, have revisited their view that the affair was consensual, instead characterising it as an abuse of power or harassment, given the power differential between a president and a 22-year-old intern. Lewinsky, who was a White House intern at the time, has since described the relationship as a "gross abuse of power" where the power differential between the two was so great that "consent might well be rendered moot". However, in an interview in 2018, Hillary Clinton stated that her husband's affair with Lewinsky did not constitute an abuse of power because Lewinsky "was an adult".
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Sexual misconduct
The sexual misconduct allegations against former US President Bill Clinton include the Clinton–Lewinsky scandal, in which Clinton was accused of having an inappropriate relationship with a 22-year-old White House intern, Monica Lewinsky. Clinton initially denied the allegations, but later admitted to "inappropriate" conduct and misleading the nation. He, however, maintained that he had not lied or instructed anyone else to do so. The scandal led to Clinton's impeachment proceedings, with charges of perjury and obstruction of justice.
During the impeachment process, other allegations of sexual misconduct by Clinton also surfaced. These included accusations of groping and sexual assault by Cristy Zercher, a former flight attendant, and Kathleen Willey, a former White House aide. Eileen Wellstone also accused Clinton of sexually assaulting her when they were students at Oxford, and Sandra Allen James, a campaign staffer, alleged that Clinton exposed himself and forced her to perform oral sex on him. Additionally, a former professor from the University of Arkansas claimed that Clinton had groped a female student and tried to trap her in his office during his time as a professor.
The Clinton–Lewinsky scandal has had a significant impact on Clinton's legacy, with many revisiting the issue of consent in light of the power differential between a president and an intern. Lewinsky herself has characterised the relationship as a "gross abuse of power", while some commentators and political leaders have described it as harassment. However, during the scandal, supporters of Clinton argued that the matter should remain private and that calls for his resignation or impeachment were hypocritical.
While Clinton did not resign, the scandal had consequences for his professional life. In 2001, his license to practice law was suspended in Arkansas for five years, and later by the United States Supreme Court.
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Frequently asked questions
No, Clinton did not ask Congress what constituted sexual conduct. However, during the impeachment proceedings, Clinton's lawyers made arguments based on dictionary definitions of "sexual relations".
The Clinton-Lewinsky scandal refers to the sexual relationship between President Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky, a 22-year-old White House intern, from 1995 to 1997.
The scandal led to impeachment proceedings against Clinton, with charges of perjury and obstruction of justice. It also damaged his reputation and led to a re-evaluation of his legacy, particularly in light of the #MeToo movement.
Clinton's supporters argued that the matter should remain private and that impeachment was unnecessary. They also questioned the motives of the Republican Party, who were leading the impeachment campaign.
Yes, Clinton faced several other allegations of sexual misconduct, including groping and sexual assault. These allegations were made by Cristy Zercher, Eileen Wellstone, Sandra Allen James, and Kathleen Willey, among others.
