Lewinsky affair

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Monica Lewinsky
President Bill Clinton

The Lewinsky Affair , also known as the Monicagate after the Watergate Affair , was a political affair in the United States over allegations that President Bill Clinton had a sexual relationship with intern Monica Lewinsky and lied about it. Reports on the extramarital affair led to impeachment proceedings being initiated by the American House of Representatives in 1998 , which failed in the Senate after 21 days of negotiations. The charges were perjury and evasion of punishment because Clinton testified under oath that he had no sexual relations whatsoever with Lewinsky.

course

Monica Lewinsky was hired as a White House intern in 1995 during Clinton's first term . During her tenure, as later investigations found, she was in an extramarital relationship with Clinton. After completing her internship, Lewinsky worked in the United States Department of Defense , where she told her colleague Linda Tripp (1949-2020) her experiences in the White House. Tripp secretly recorded these conversations and passed them on to Kenneth Starr , who was already investigating Clinton on behalf of Congress as Independent Counsel in the Whitewater and other political affairs.

The affair hit the media through the Drudge Report website on January 17, 1998 and was first picked up by the Washington Post . After initial denials by the President, Clinton appeared at a press conference on January 26, making the following much-cited statement:

“Now, I have to go back to work on my State of the Union speech. And I worked on it until pretty late last night. But I want to say one thing to the American people. I want you to listen to me. I'm going to say this again. I did not have sexual relations with that woman, Miss Lewinsky. I never told anybody to lie, not a single time; never. These allegations are false. And I need to go back to work for the American people. Thank you."

“Now I have to get back to my work on the government statement. I worked on it late into the night yesterday. But I want to say one thing to the American people. I want you to listen to me. I will say it again. I did not have a sexual relationship with this woman, Miss Lewinsky. I have never asked anyone to lie for me, not once; No way. These allegations are untrue. And now I have to go back to work for the American people. Many thanks."

- Bill Clinton

Despite this explanation, the affair remained a constant topic in the American media for months. The main part of the public discussion was whether or not Clinton had lied. After the affair became known, Lewinsky refused to divulge further details, so that the press had to limit itself to the contents of the tapes as sources.

The affair developed when Lewinsky was promised immunity in late July 1998 if she testified before a grand jury about her relationship with Clinton. As part of her testimony - that she had had oral sex with Clinton - she presented investigators with a dress stained with the President's ejaculate that Linda Tripp advised she had kept unwashed. The genetic material contained in the stain on the dress could have identified President Clinton's DNA and thus proved the veracity of the allegations.

Clinton admitted before the grand jury on August 17 that he had an "inappropriate relationship" with Lewinsky. That evening he explained the situation on a television broadcast.

Perjury charges

In his testimony under oath in the Paula Jones case, Clinton denied his relationship with Lewinsky. Based on the dress as evidence, the investigators concluded around Kenneth Starr that this statement could not be truthful and that the criminal offense of perjury was fulfilled. On the other hand, detailed media reports made grave allegations against Special Counsel Kenneth Starr and his investigations. He allegedly investigated biased, blackmailed witnesses against them with criminal investigations, sneaked judicial orders through false information, concealed the role of those involved in the proceedings and the circumstances of his investigation. The final report was deliberately designed unilaterally, relieving information was systematically hidden.

At the end of his tenure, Clinton was punished by a judge for contempt of court but not for perjury. His bar license was permanently revoked in his home state of Arkansas for five years pending trial in the federal Supreme Court. He was also fined over $ 90,000. Clinton chose not to appeal these measures.

Impeachment proceedings

Clinton's false testimony and his suspected influence of Lewinsky was considered sufficient by the Republican majority in Congress and some members of the Democratic Party to seek impeachment. The House of Representatives voted by a majority to initiate the case on charges of these two offenses. The trial took place in the Senate, whose members acted as juries according to the constitution. It was directed by Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist and began on January 7, 1999. At the end of the impeachment proceedings, the Senate found Clinton not guilty of perjury by 55-45 votes and not guilty of obstruction by 50-50 votes. The proceedings ended with this result in the absence of a required two-thirds majority of the Senators on February 12, 1999, Clinton remained in office.

Linguistic Sexology

Shortly after Clinton's statement, the Kinsey Institute published a 1991 study of 599 students from 29 states. For 59% of the participants, oral-genital contact did not fall under the term “having sex”. 19% also saw it in penile-anal intercourse. The conclusion that was drawn was that Americans have different views on the subject. The decision to publish this study at this point cost George D. Lundberg - editor-in-chief of the Journal of the American Medical Association - the job.

literature

  • Richard P. Barberio: Presidents and Political Scandal: Managing Scandal in the Modern Era. Springer International, Cham 2020, ISBN 978-3-030-45503-3 , pp. 79-96 (= 5. Clinton and the Lewinsky Affair ).
  • R. Busby: Defending the American Presidency: Clinton and the Lewinsky Scandal. Palgrave Macmillan, Basingstoke 2001, ISBN 978-0-333-91250-8 .
  • Leonard V. Kaplan, Beverly Moran (Eds.): Aftermath: The Clinton Impeachment and the Presidency in the Age of Political Spectacle. NYU Press, New York 2001, ISBN 978-0-8147-4742-1 .

Web links

Commons : Lewinsky affair  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ "sexual relations". In: Merriam-Webster Online. Retrieved on January 11, 2015 (English, no singular): "sexual relations (noun plural): Definition of SEXUAL RELATIONS: sexual intercourse, First Known Use of SEXUAL RELATIONS: 1890; Medical Definition of SEXUAL RELATIONS: coitus "
  2. ↑ "sexual relation". In: leo.org. Retrieved on January 11, 2015 (English): "sexual relation - the sexual intercourse / the supplement (outdated)"
  3. ↑ "sexual relations". In: Macmillan Dictionary. Retrieved on January 11, 2015 (English, no singular): "sexual relations (formal): the act of having sex with someone"
  4. ↑ [literally: 'no sexual relations', 'no sexual relations'] with this woman, Miss Lewinsky. I haven't told anyone to lie, not once, never. These allegations are false. And I have to get back to my work for the American people. Thank you.
  5. ^ Bill Clinton's August 17 speech to the American public re: Monica Lewinsky. In: The “Unofficial” Bill Clinton (English, transcript, with reactions).
  6. ↑ Renata Adler: Decoding The Starr Report ( Memento from July 10, 2014 in the Internet Archive ). In: Vanity Fair, December 1998
  7. ↑ John M. Broder, Neil A. Lewis: Clinton is found to be in contempt on Jones lawsuit. In: The New York Times. April 13, 1999, accessed May 21, 2012 .
  8. ↑ Anne Gearan: Clinton Disbarred From Supreme Court. Associated Press Writer, October 1, 2001, accessed May 21, 2012 .
  9. ^ Robert L. Jackson: Clinton Fined $ 90,686 for Lying in Paula Jones Case. In: Los Angeles Times. July 30, 1999, accessed May 21, 2012 .
  10. ↑ SA Sanders, JM Reinisch: Would you say you "had sex" if ...? In: Journal of the American Medical Association . tape 281 , no. 3 , January 20, 1999, p. 275-277 , doi : 10.1001 / jama.281.3.275 (English, jama.jamanetwork.com ).
  11. ↑ Lauren Cox: Study: Adults Can't Agree What 'Sex' Means. In: ABC News. March 8, 2010, pp. 1–2 , accessed January 12, 2015 (English).