Impeachment of Bill Clinton

In the November 1998 House elections, the Democrats picked up five seats in the House, but the Republicans still maintained majority control. The results went against what House Speaker Newt Gingrich predicted, who, before the election, had been reassured by private polling that Clinton's scandal would result in Republican gains of up to thirty House seats. Shortly after the elections, Gingrich, who had been one of the leading advocates for impeachment, announced he would resign from Congress as soon as he was able to find somebody to fill his vacant seat;[19][20] Gingrich fulfilled this pledge, and officially resigned from Congress on January 3, 1999.[21]

Impeachment proceedings were held during the post-election, "lame duck" session of the outgoing 105th United States Congress. Unlike the case of the 1974 impeachment process against Richard Nixon, the committee hearings were perfunctory but the floor debate in the whole House was spirited on both sides. The Speaker-designate, Representative Bob Livingston, chosen by the Republican Party Conference to replace Gingrich as House Speaker, announced the end of his candidacy for Speaker and his resignation from Congress from the floor of the House after his own marital infidelity came to light.[22] In the same speech, Livingston also encouraged Clinton to resign. Clinton chose to remain in office and urged Livingston to reconsider his resignation.[23] Many other prominent Republican members of Congress (including Dan Burton,[22] Helen Chenoweth,[22] and Henry Hyde,[22] the chief House manager of Clinton's trial in the Senate) had infidelities exposed about this time, all of whom voted for impeachment. Publisher Larry Flynt offered a reward for such information, and many supporters of Clinton accused Republicans of hypocrisy.[22]

On December 11, 1998, the House Judiciary Committee agreed to send three articles of impeachment to the full House for consideration. The vote on two articles, grand jury perjury and obstruction of justice, was 21–17, both along party lines. On the third, perjury in the Paula Jones case, the committee voted 20–18, with Republican Lindsey Graham joining with Democrats, in order to give President Clinton "the legal benefit of the doubt".[24] The next day, December 12, the committee agreed to send a fourth and final article, for abuse of power, to the full House by a 21–17 vote, again, along party lines.[25]

Although proceedings were delayed due to the bombing of Iraq, on the passage of H. Res. 611, Clinton was impeached by the House of Representatives on December 19, 1998 on grounds of perjury to a grand jury (first article, 228–206)[26] and obstruction of justice (third article, 221–212).[27] The two other articles were rejected, the count of perjury in the Jones case (second article, 205–229)[28] and abuse of power (fourth article, 148–285).[29] Clinton thus became the second U.S. president to be impeached; the first, Andrew Johnson, was impeached in 1868.[30][31] The only other previous U.S. president to be the subject of formal House impeachment proceedings was Richard Nixon in 1973–74. The Judiciary Committee agreed to a resolution containing three articles of impeachment in July 1974, but Nixon resigned from office soon thereafter, before the House took up the resolution.[32]

H. Res. 611 – Impeaching President Bill Clinton December 19, 1998
First article (perjury / grand jury)	Party			Total votes[26]
	Democratic	Republican	Independent
Yea Y	005	223	000	228
Nay	200	005	001	206
Second article (perjury / Jones case)	Party			Total votes[28]
	Democratic	Republican	Independent
Yea	005	200	000	205
Nay Y	200	028	001	229
Third article (obstruction of justice)	Party			Total votes[27]
	Democratic	Republican	Independent
Yea Y	005	216	000	221
Nay	199	012	001	212
Fourth article (abuse of power)	Party			Total votes[29]
	Democratic	Republican	Independent
Yea	001	147	000	148
Nay Y	203	081	001	285

Five Democrats (Virgil Goode, Ralph Hall, Paul McHale, Charles Stenholm and Gene Taylor) voted in favor of three of the four articles of impeachment, but only Taylor voted for the abuse of power charge. Five Republicans (Amo Houghton, Peter King, Connie Morella, Chris Shays and Mark Souder) voted against the first perjury charge. Eight more Republicans (Sherwood Boehlert, Michael Castle, Phil English, Nancy Johnson, Jay Kim, Jim Leach, John McHugh and Ralph Regula), but not Souder, voted against the obstruction charge. Twenty-eight Republicans voted against the second perjury charge, sending it to defeat, and eighty-one voted against the abuse of power charge.

The Senate trial began on January 7, 1999, with Chief Justice of the United States William Rehnquist presiding. The first day consisted of formal presentation of the charges against Clinton, and of Rehnquist swearing in all arguants in the trial.

Thirteen House Republicans from the Judiciary Committee served as "managers", the equivalent of prosecutors: Henry Hyde (chairman), Jim Sensenbrenner, Bill McCollum, George Gekas, Charles Canady, Steve Buyer, Ed Bryant, Steve Chabot, Bob Barr, Asa Hutchinson, Chris Cannon, James E. Rogan and Lindsey Graham.

Clinton was defended by Cheryl Mills. Clinton's counsel staff included Charles Ruff, David E. Kendall, Dale Bumpers, Bruce Lindsey, Nicole Seligman, Lanny A. Breuer and Gregory B. Craig.[36]

A resolution on rules and procedure for the trial was adopted unanimously on the following day;[37] however, senators tabled the question of whether to call witnesses in the trial. The trial remained in recess while briefs were filed by the House (January 11) and Clinton (January 13).[38][39]

The managers presented their case over three days, from January 14 to 16, with discussion of the facts and background of the case; detailed cases for both articles of impeachment (including excerpts from videotaped grand jury testimony that Clinton had made the previous August); matters of interpretation and application of the laws governing perjury and obstruction of justice; and argument that the evidence and precedents justified removal of the President from office by virtue of "willful, premeditated, deliberate corruption of the nation's system of justice through perjury and obstruction of justice".[40] The defense presentation took place January 19–21. Clinton's defense counsel argued that Clinton's grand jury testimony had too many inconsistencies to be a clear case of perjury, that the investigation and impeachment had been tainted by partisan political bias, that the President's approval rating of more than 70 percent indicated his ability to govern had not been impaired by the scandal, and that the managers had ultimately presented "an unsubstantiated, circumstantial case that does not meet the constitutional standard to remove the President from office".[40] January 22 and 23 were devoted to questions from members of the Senate to the House managers and Clinton's defense counsel. Under the rules, all questions (over 150) were to be written down and given to Rehnquist to read to the party being questioned.

On January 25, Senator Robert Byrd moved for dismissals of both articles of impeachment for lack of merit. On the following day, Representative Bryant moved to call witnesses to the trial, a question the Senate had scrupulously avoided to that point. In both cases, the Senate voted to deliberate on the question in private session, rather than public, televised procedure. On January 27, the Senate voted on both motions in public session; the motion to dismiss failed on a nearly party line vote of 56–44, while the motion to depose witnesses passed by the same margin. A day later, the Senate voted down motions to move directly to a vote on the articles of impeachment and to suppress videotaped depositions of the witnesses from public release, Senator Russ Feingold again voting with the Republicans.

Over three days, February 1–3, House managers took videotaped closed-door depositions from Monica Lewinsky, Clinton's friend Vernon Jordan, and White House aide Sidney Blumenthal.[41] On February 4, however, the Senate voted 70–30 that excerpting these videotapes would suffice as testimony, rather than calling live witnesses to appear at trial. The videos were played in the Senate on February 6, featuring 30 excerpts of Lewinsky discussing her affidavit in the Paula Jones case, the hiding of small gifts Clinton had given her, and his involvement in procurement of a job for Lewinsky.

On February 8, closing arguments were presented with each side allotted a three-hour time slot. On the President's behalf, White House Counsel Charles Ruff declared:

There is only one question before you, albeit a difficult one, one that is a question of fact and law and constitutional theory. Would it put at risk the liberties of the people to retain the President in office? Putting aside partisan animus, if you can honestly say that it would not, that those liberties are safe in his hands, then you must vote to acquit.[40]

Chief Prosecutor Henry Hyde countered:

A failure to convict will make the statement that lying under oath, while unpleasant and to be avoided, is not all that serious ... We have reduced lying under oath to a breach of etiquette, but only if you are the President ... And now let us all take our place in history on the side of honor, and, oh, yes, let right be done.[40]

On February 9, after voting against a public deliberation on the verdict, the Senate began closed-door deliberations instead. On February 12, the Senate emerged from its closed deliberations and voted on the articles of impeachment. A two-thirds vote, 67 votes, would have been necessary to convict on either charge and remove the President from office. The perjury charge was defeated with 45 votes for conviction and 55 against, and the obstruction of justice charge was defeated with 50 for conviction and 50 against.[3][42][43] Senator Arlen Specter voted "not proved"[lower-alpha 2] for both charges,[44] which was considered by Chief Justice Rehnquist to constitute a vote of "not guilty". All 45 Democrats in the Senate voted "not guilty" on both charges, as did five Republicans; they were joined by five additional Republicans in voting "not guilty" on the perjury charge.[3][42][43]

Robe worn by Chief Justice William Rehnquist during the impeachment trial

Congressional Record page, February 12, 1999, opening of the final day of the impeachment trial

Articles of Impeachment, U.S. Senate judgement (67 "guilty" votes necessary for a conviction)
Article One (perjury / grand jury)	Party		Total votes
	Democratic	Republican
Guilty	00	45	45
Not guilty Y	45	10	55
Article Two (obstruction of justice)	Party		Total votes
	Democratic	Republican
Guilty	00	50	50
Not guilty Y	45	05	50
Roll call votes on the Articles of Impeachment Senator Party–state Article One vote Article Two vote Spencer Abraham R–MI Guilty Guilty Daniel Akaka D–HI Not guilty Not guilty Wayne Allard R–CO Guilty Guilty John Ashcroft R–MO Guilty Guilty Max Baucus D–MT Not guilty Not guilty Evan Bayh D–IN Not guilty Not guilty Bob Bennett R–UT Guilty Guilty Joe Biden D–DE Not guilty Not guilty Jeff Bingaman D–NM Not guilty Not guilty Kit Bond R–MO Guilty Guilty Barbara Boxer D–CA Not guilty Not guilty John Breaux D–LA Not guilty Not guilty Sam Brownback R–KS Guilty Guilty Richard Bryan D–NV Not guilty Not guilty Jim Bunning R–KY Guilty Guilty Conrad Burns R–MT Guilty Guilty Robert Byrd D–WV Not guilty Not guilty Ben Nighthorse Campbell R–CO Guilty Guilty John Chafee R–RI Not guilty Not guilty Max Cleland D–GA Not guilty Not guilty Thad Cochran R–MS Guilty Guilty Susan Collins R–ME Not guilty Not guilty Kent Conrad D–ND Not guilty Not guilty Paul Coverdell R–GA Guilty Guilty Larry Craig R–ID Guilty Guilty Mike Crapo R–ID Guilty Guilty Tom Daschle D–SD Not guilty Not guilty Mike DeWine R–OH Guilty Guilty Chris Dodd D–CT Not guilty Not guilty Byron Dorgan D–ND Not guilty Not guilty Pete Domenici R–NM Guilty Guilty Dick Durbin D–IL Not guilty Not guilty John Edwards D–NC Not guilty Not guilty Mike Enzi R–WY Guilty Guilty Russ Feingold D–WI Not guilty Not guilty Dianne Feinstein D–CA Not guilty Not guilty Peter Fitzgerald R–IL Guilty Guilty Bill Frist R–TN Guilty Guilty Slade Gorton R–WA Not guilty Guilty Bob Graham D–FL Not guilty Not guilty Phil Gramm R–TX Guilty Guilty Rod Grams R–MN Guilty Guilty Chuck Grassley R–IA Guilty Guilty Judd Gregg R–NH Guilty Guilty Chuck Hagel R–NE Guilty Guilty Tom Harkin D–IA Not guilty Not guilty Orrin Hatch R–UT Guilty Guilty Jesse Helms R–NC Guilty Guilty Fritz Hollings D–SC Not guilty Not guilty Tim Hutchinson R–AR Guilty Guilty Kay Bailey Hutchison R–TX Guilty Guilty Jim Inhofe R–OK Guilty Guilty Daniel Inouye D–HI Not guilty Not guilty Jim Jeffords R–VT Not guilty Not guilty Tim Johnson D–SD Not guilty Not guilty Ted Kennedy D–MA Not guilty Not guilty Bob Kerrey D–NE Not guilty Not guilty John Kerry D–MA Not guilty Not guilty Herb Kohl D–WI Not guilty Not guilty Jon Kyl R–AZ Guilty Guilty Mary Landrieu D–LA Not guilty Not guilty Frank Lautenberg D–NJ Not guilty Not guilty Patrick Leahy D–VT Not guilty Not guilty Carl Levin D–MI Not guilty Not guilty Joe Lieberman D–CT Not guilty Not guilty Blanche Lincoln D–AR Not guilty Not guilty Trent Lott R–MS Guilty Guilty Richard Lugar R–IN Guilty Guilty Connie Mack III R–FL Guilty Guilty John McCain R–AZ Guilty Guilty Mitch McConnell R–KY Guilty Guilty Barbara Mikulski D–MD Not guilty Not guilty Daniel Patrick Moynihan D–NY Not guilty Not guilty Frank Murkowski R–AK Guilty Guilty Patty Murray D–WA Not guilty Not guilty Don Nickles R–OK Guilty Guilty Jack Reed D–RI Not guilty Not guilty Harry Reid D–NV Not guilty Not guilty Chuck Robb D–VA Not guilty Not guilty Pat Roberts R–KS Guilty Guilty Jay Rockefeller D–WV Not guilty Not guilty William Roth R–DE Guilty Guilty Rick Santorum R–PA Guilty Guilty Paul Sarbanes D–MD Not guilty Not guilty Chuck Schumer D–NY Not guilty Not guilty Jeff Sessions R–AL Guilty Guilty Richard Shelby R–AL Not guilty Guilty Bob Smith R–NH Guilty Guilty Gordon H. Smith R–OR Guilty Guilty Olympia Snowe R–ME Not guilty Not guilty Arlen Specter R–PA Not guilty Not guilty Ted Stevens R–AK Not guilty Guilty Craig L. Thomas R–WY Guilty Guilty Fred Thompson R–TN Not guilty Guilty Strom Thurmond R–SC Guilty Guilty Robert Torricelli D–NJ Not guilty Not guilty John Warner R–VA Not guilty Guilty George Voinovich R–OH Guilty Guilty Paul Wellstone D–MN Not guilty Not guilty Ron Wyden D–OR Not guilty Not guilty Sources: [45][46][47]

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 orders to testify truthfully in the Paula Jones sexual harassment lawsuit. For this, 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.[48]

Regarding Clinton's January 17, 1998, deposition where he was placed under oath, Webber Wright 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.[48]

On the day before leaving office on January 20, 2001, Clinton, in what amounted to a plea bargain, agreed to a five-year suspension of his Arkansas law license and to pay a $25,000 fine as part of an agreement with independent counsel Robert Ray to end the investigation without the filing of any criminal charges for perjury or obstruction of justice.[49][50] Clinton was automatically suspended from the United States Supreme Court bar as a result of his law license suspension. However, as is customary, he was allowed 40 days to appeal the otherwise automatic disbarment. Clinton resigned from the Supreme Court bar during the 40-day appeals period.[51]

Eventually, the court dismissed the Paula Jones harassment lawsuit, before trial, on the grounds that Jones failed to demonstrate any damages. However, while the dismissal was on appeal, Clinton entered into an out-of-court settlement by agreeing to pay Jones $850,000.[52][53]

Opponents of Clinton's impeachment demonstrating outside the Capitol in December 1998

Polls conducted during 1998 and early 1999 showed that only about one-third of Americans supported Clinton's impeachment or conviction. However, one year later, when it was clear that impeachment would not lead to the ousting of the President, half of Americans said in a CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll that they supported impeachment but 57% approved of the Senate's decision to keep him in office and two thirds of those polled said the impeachment was harmful to the country.[54]

While Clinton's job approval rating rose during the Clinton–Lewinsky scandal and subsequent impeachment, his poll numbers with regard to questions of honesty, integrity and moral character declined.[55] As a result, "moral character" and "honesty" weighed heavily in the next presidential election. According to 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."[56][57][58] 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 prospects. 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 four suggests that a previously unexamined variable played a major role in 2000—the retiring president's personal approval.[59]

The Stanford analysis, however, presented different theories and mainly argued that Gore had lost because he decided to distance himself from Clinton during the campaign. The writers of it concluded:[59]

We find that Gore's oft-criticized personality was not a cause of his under-performance. Rather, the major cause was his failure to receive a historically normal amount of credit for the performance of the Clinton administration ... [and] failure to get normal credit reflected Gore's peculiar campaign which in turn reflected fear of association with Clinton's behavior.[59]

According to the America's Future Foundation:

In the wake of the Clinton scandals, independents warmed to Bush's promise to 'restore honor and dignity to the White House'. According to Voter News Service, the personal quality that mattered most to voters was 'honesty'. Voters who chose 'honesty' preferred Bush over Gore by over a margin of five to one. Forty Four percent of Americans said the Clinton scandals were important to their vote. Of these, Bush reeled in three out of every four.[60]

Political commentators have argued that Gore's refusal to have Clinton campaign with him was a bigger liability to Gore than Clinton's scandals.[59][61][62][63][64] The 2000 U.S. Congressional election also saw the Democrats gain more seats in Congress.[65] As a result of this gain, control of the Senate was split 50–50 between both parties,[66] and Democrats would gain control over the Senate after Republican Senator Jim Jeffords defected from his party in early 2001 and agreed to caucus with the Democrats.[67]

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". According to the AP, "during the one-on-one meeting at the White House, which lasted more than an hour, Gore used uncommonly blunt language to tell Clinton that his sex scandal and low personal approval ratings were a hurdle he could not surmount in his campaign ... [with] the core of the dispute was Clinton's lies to Gore and the nation about his affair with White House intern Monica Lewinsky."[68][69][70] Clinton, however, was unconvinced by Gore's argument and insisted to Gore that he would have won the election if he had embraced the administration and its good economic record.[68][69][70]

Of the 13 members of the House who managed Clinton's trial in the Senate, one lost to a Democrat in his 2000 bid for re-election (James E. Rogan, to Adam Schiff). Charles Canady retired from Congress in 2000, following through on a previous term limits pledge to voters, and Bill McCollum ran unsuccessfully for the U.S. Senate. Asa Hutchinson, after being re-elected in 2000, left Congress after being appointed head of the Drug Enforcement Administration by President George W. Bush. In 2014, Hutchinson was elected governor of Arkansas. In 2002, two former House managers lost their seats after redistricting placed them in the same district as another incumbent (Bob Barr lost to John Linder in a Republican primary, and George Gekas lost to Democrat Tim Holden), while two more ran for the U.S. Senate (Lindsey Graham successfully, Ed Bryant unsuccessfully). The other five remained in the House well into the 2000s, and two (Jim Sensenbrenner and Steve Chabot) are still members (although Chabot lost his seat to Steve Driehaus in the 2008 elections, Chabot defeated Driehaus in a 2010 rematch). In 2009, Sensenbrenner served again as a manager for the impeachment of Judge Samuel B. Kent of Texas[71] as well as serving in 2010 as Republican lead manager in the impeachment of Judge Thomas Porteous of Louisiana.[72]