INVESTIGATING THE PRESIDENT
The Michigan Daily - Tuesday, September 22, 1998 -- 9
Judiciary
The Washington Post
WASHINGTON - Rep. Christopher Cannon
(R-Utah) heard "some pretty bizarre things"
spoken "in a pretty reasonable voice" Rep.
Thomas Barrett (D-Wis.) who braced for the
worst, thought it might have been "a wash."
But these and other members of the House
udiciary Committee agreed that while the
release of President Clinton's videotaped grand
jury testimony yesterday did not decide the case
against him, it made a formal impeachment
inquiry increasingly more probable.
"The next big question is to justify whether
there is enough evidence to make an inquiry,"
said senior committee member Charles Canady
(R-Fla). "I haven't made a final judgment, but
there's a lot pointing in that direction."
The 37 members of the Judiciary Committee
reviewing the independent counsel's report
n Clinton's relationship with former White
committee says tapes change
House intern Monica Lewinsky. They had nitely knows exactly what happened. He not And in contrast to pre-videotape efforts to
refused to discuss the videotape and the accom- only fails to answer without justification, he gauge the temper of his district, voters yester-
panying evidence until their formal release. refers to a document that misleads the grand jury day had relaxed a bit, Cannon added. "I
In general, committee members regarded the and that impedes their work." sensed some relief that there was nothing else
new material as a reinforcement for their previ- But Rep. Melvin Watt (D-N.C.) said that the ugly on the tape. For a lot of people, it wasn't
ously held views. Republicans focused on videotape "is not the point." He described the as bad as they thought, and they thought
whether Clinton committed perjury in his grand committee's handling of the investigation as "a 'Thank God."'
jury testimony. Democrats attacked the GOP for blatantly political process, and there is nobody Barrett said parts of Clinton's testimony
deliberately trying to embarrass Clinton and stepping forward on the other side to say that our may help the president hold off an impeach-
railroad him out of office. responsibilities are more important than the ment proceeding, but other parts would hurt
Rep. Robert Barr Jr. (R-Ga.) one of Clinton's political agenda. There is a rush to have the press him: "In general it may be a wash, and there
most ferocious critics, said that the videotaped and the public try the president." may be a backlash" against Republicans, he
grand jury testimony "to me presents a very Despite predictable responses to the video- said. "I talked to a number of people who
strong case for obstruction ofjustice and perjury." tape, several committee members found a more said even prior to the release: 'enough
"For example," Barr said, "the president con- complicated message. Cannon said reaction already."'
tinually refers to this piece of paper, his so- among his constituents in Utah was "interesting Release of the videotape, added Rep: John
called statement, instead of answering directly. and relatively mixed." Those who watched the Conyers Jr. (D-Detroit), the committee's top
Every time he does that it would be a separate videotape "felt some sympathy" for Clinton, he Democrat, shows "an unhealthy preoccupation
count of obstruction of justice because he's said, but "are still looking for the truth and won- with ... unnecessary disclosure of salacious and
impeding the work of the grand jury. He defi- dering where to find it." lurid details of sex" and cautioned that "if we are
Intern was Starr's
best witness
WASHINGTON (AP) - Circled
dates in her calendar Never-sent letters.
Indiscreet conversations. Even before
she agreed to cooperate with prosecu-
tors, Monica Lewinsky had created a
trail of evidence about an affair she says
was grounded in love and "a little bit of
obsession."
Hundreds of pages of grand jury testi-
mony, . personal notes and e-mail
changes released yesterday reveal a
eeply vulnerable young woman whip-
sawed by emotions during her affair with
President Clinton. The man she nick-
named "Handsome" and referred to in
gushy letters as "so heavenly" and "sim-
ply delicious" was also a "big creep" and
"that shmucko" in notes to friends.
She felt jilted, perhaps emotionally on
edge as the relationship slipped away.
"Please do not do this to me,"
*winsky said in a handwritten June
1997 letter to Clinton that had all seven
words underlined. "I feel disposable,
used and insignificant."
"I believe the time has finally come
for me to throw in the towel," she wrote
in a note found on her computer. "I give
up. You let me down, but I shouldn't
have trusted you in the first place."
Lewinsky circled dates in her calen-
dar each time she met or talked with
linton. Her home computer's memory
s filled with undelivered letters to
the president and e-mail exchanges
with friends. She blabbed to several
pals, including Linda Tripp, about the
White House trysts.
Those actions gave prosecutors
mountains of evidence - without or
without her cooperation. By the time
she appeared before a grand jury, pros-
ecutor Kenneth Starr had a detailed
Eart outlining, in Lewinsky's words,
some of the highlights of my relation-
ship with the president?'
1 "Pizza night," a Nov. 17, 1995: An
encounter that included sex.
. "Thank you note" from Sept. 5,
1996: 'Tie is really beautiful.'
. "Conversation, including job talk
and phone sex": Feb. 8, 1997.
. "Private encounter. Christmas
kiss": Dec. 28, 1997.
Even without a chart, Lewinsky's
wide range of emotions were evident
throughout the thousands of pages of
documents released yesterday.
She was in love.
"Bill, I love you with all my heart,"
she wrote. In an e-mail, she said, "I
want to hug him so bad right now I
could cry." She testified, "I fell in love."
Lewinsky said Clinton had a "beauti-
ful soul. I just thought he was just this
incredible person and when I looked at
him I saw a little boy and - I don't know
what the truth is anymore."
She was in lust.
"We were very compatible sexually,"
Lewinsky testified. "I've always felt that
he was sort of my sexual soulmate.'
Asked if the relationship was love or sex-
ual obsession, she said, "more love with a
little bit ofobsession. But definitely love."
She feared losing him.
"Please be nice to me," she wrote.
"Please be my friend."
She was angry.
"In some way, I hope I never hear
from him again because he'll just lead
me on because he doesn't have the
(guts) to tell me the truth." She called
him a vulgarity beginning with "f" in
one e-mail to a friend. She broke down
and cried in one grand jury session,
saying, "I hate Linda Tripp" for tipping
Starr to the affair.
She was poignant.
"It's just hard thinking my dad might
see this," she said during an embarrass-
ing stage of testimony. After Clinton
confessed to the nation about their
affair on Aug. 17, with nary a mention
of her, she testified, "I had wanted him
to say that I was a nice, decent person
and that he was sorry this had hap-
pened"
nothing
not very careful, this inquiry itself may soon
become more unpopular than the actual conduct
of the inquiry."
Barrett said that among his constituents in
Milwaukee, "we have people saying they think it
helped the president, and other calls saying
'move forward with impeachment.' It's certainly
a mixed bag"
Cannon said he was impressed that the video-
tape showed "the president is an attractive per-
son" But, "he said some pretty bizarre things in
a pretty reasonable voice," particularly in his
verbal acrobatics describing his sexual encoun-
ters with Lewinsky.
For these reasons, Cannon said, the committee
needed to continue its labors: "I've said we
either have to vindicate him or remove him from
office," Cannon said. "We need to decide
whether to open a formal inquiry, and the soon-
er we do it, the better."
Professors
discuss
scandal in
classes
Lecturers call for
caution when coming to
conclusions about the
President
By Josh Kroot
For the Daily
The Monica Lewinsky scandal
became a hot topic of discussion in
classes today as the nation got its first
look at President Clinton's August 17
grand jury testimony.
In his class on contemporary
political issues, political science
Prof. Gregory Markus devoted the
first 15 minutes of his lecture to the
subject.
"We should think about what is
best for the country - not what is
good for Democrats or Republicans
or Hillary or Chelsea," he told the
class. "My answer as to what is best
is 'I don't know yet."'
But as new information is released
to the public, students and teachers
across campus are taking sides in the
scandal.
Today's release of Clinton's video-
taped testimony has intensified debate
the in many classes.
ing The four-hour testimony was
mal originally shown live to a grand jury
e. on closed circuit television in
ess- August.
the It featured Clinton defending him
inal self against charges of perjury and
hey obstruction of justice by Independent
igly Counsel Kenneth Starr.
The question that remains to be
dale answered is whether or not Clinton
ked committed high crimes and misde-
the meanors, an impeachable offense.
hat "In some cases, the Supreme Court
l to decides an issue is too political and
won't rule," University President Lee
, a Bollinger told his freedom of speech
ally and press class yesterday.
out "Impeachment is probably one of these
rare cases."
not The Supreme Court is not the only
ton group reluctant to pass judgment on the
ent- fate of the president.
sin- Many students and professors at the
University have not made up their
Ion minds.
ie'll "The message we are getting is
the that we should have an opinion,"
fore Markus said. "But there is still evi-
dence to look at and things to
osi- decide."
lie," And the release today of 2,800 pages
ails of evidence will likely complicate mat-
the ters even more.
the Although most professors have
. not yet decided how they will deal
deo with the scandal during the remain-
ome der of the term, they have enough
the material to continue the debate into
deo. the winter.
Tapes fail to stir controvers
Grand explanations
The Washington Post
WASHINGTON - Billed in advance as a potential
political earthquake, President Clinton's videotaped testi-
mony before independent counsel Kenneth Starr's grand
jury hit Washington yesterday with only a fraction of the
force Democrats had feared and Republicans had antici-
pated.
Democrats across the country saw a president more
sympathetic and reasonable than they had been led to
expect, while Republicans here and in key states saw an
evasive and occasionally combative chief executive split-
ting legal hairs over the definition of sex. But in the end,
neither side saw the four hours of testimony as a decisive
moment in the investigation that has consumed the coun-
try since last January.
Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) summed up the overall
impact of the event that brought official Washington to a
standstill this way. "I don't expect a meaningful impact on
the public's overall impression of the president or the
process that's under way," Grassley said in a statement.
"Based on the expectations built up by both sides, the
broadcast failed to register on the Richter scale."
Kathleen Hall Jamieson, who heads the Annenberg
School of Communication at the University of
Pennsylvania, said the video is likely to reinforce people's
attitudes but not change many minds. "Everything we
heard today we already knew," she said. "His responses
were less angry than we were led to believe."
Democrats and Republicans around the country
appeared more willing to offer their assessments of the
videotape than were politicians on Capitol Hill. Many
members of the House and Senate did not watch the
videotape as it was being aired by the major networks yes-
terday morning, and even some of those who did appeared
hesitant to rush to judgment before they had an idea of
where their constituents were heading.
There was an obvious sense of relief among some
Democrats that the release of Clinton's testimony had not
produced another moment of devastation for the president
- or for them as they look to the November midterm elec-
tions. But at the same time, there was no indication that
airing of the videotape had any immediate effect on slow
the momentum that has been building for a for
impeachment inquiry in the House Judiciary CommittN
Democrats were generally buoyed by the video, asst
ing it as far less damaging than expected. Some said
release of the testimony threatens to make congressio
Republicans look excessively partisan. But few said t
thought it would do much to brighten an increasin
gloomy outlook for Democrats in November.
Tad Devine, who worked in both the Walter Mont
and Michael Dukakis campaigns, said "Clinton loo
under control. This may be a strange situation where
expectations for an event collide with the reality of w
does happen with an event. This does not add any fue
the fire, and instead, it works in the other direction."
"I expected a lot worse," said Dane Strother
Democratic media strategist. "I saw a man who was re
anguished, really embarrassed and who wanted to be
of the room."
Karl Struble, a Democratic media consultant who is
particularly close to the White House, said Clin
appeared sometimes to be remorseful, sometimes res
ful. "Those are two things that make him look far less<
ister that Ken Starr has portrayed him," Struble said.
He said Clinton should tackle Republican critics head
by testifying directly before the Judiciary Committee. "H
do the same thing Ollie North did," he said, referring to
highly successful appearance of Lt. Col. Oliver North be:
the Iran-Contra Committee during the Reagan years.
But not all Democrats saw Clinton's testimony so p
tively. "I just think it brings back visions of Slick Wil
said Brian Lunde, a Democratic strategist. While the det
of the testimony were well known, he said, the release of
videotape gave Clinton's critics a chance to put it before
public again. "It's the drumbeat that won't stop," he said
Republicans were more conflicted. None said the vi
added significantly to the case against Clinton. St
argued that it will serve to push Clinton deeper into
quicksand, while others were strikingly critical of the vic
AP PHOTO
U .S. soldiers watch the broadcast of President Clinton's grand jury testimony
while serving on the NATO peace keeping force in Bosnia.
ANN ARBOR
Continued from Page 1
could not remember certain incidents
and conversations with Lewinsky and
White House staff.
Hickey did not believe Clinton's
memory was faulty, and called the pres-
ident an "artful dodger."
LSA first-year student Dan Miller
4mpared Clinton to a comered school-
boy.
"When (prosecutors) ask tough ques-
tions, he turns the blame around on
them," said Miller, as he prepared to go
toclass. "It's almost like when a teacher
catches a little kid breaking the rules."
Clinton won't be the only one
wounded in the testimony's aftermath;
the Democratic Party may be pulled
down with him, said Ed Sarpoulis, vice
president of Lansing-based EPIC/MRA
*Iling firm.
Sarpoulis said the scandal will
depress Democratic voter turnout 3to
5 percent. But the Democrats are still
better off than the Republicans were
in 1996 when 10 percent of
Republicans stayed home due to
Dole's weak candidacy, he said.
"If (the Democrats) get back to talk-
ing issues, they might not do as well as
'they would have without the scandal,
but they could still hold their own,"
Sarpoulis said.
With 64 incumbents losing their
seats in the Democrat-controlled state
house of representatives because of
term limits, Sarpoulis said the
Democrats are in danger of losing their
majority status.
"As of today, the most Democrats can
hope for (in the House) is a 55-55 tie,"
Sarpoulis said.
University College Democrats Chair
Kelley Boland said she does not think
the testimony will damage Ann
Arbor's voter turnout in the November
election.
"From what I've seen, (Starr's inves-
tigation) is a lot of heresy," said Boland,
an LSA junior. "I think people in
Washtenaw County - and especially
students - vote based on issue and not
scandal."
The fall election and the ultimate
result of the scandal are not the only
concerns on the public mind. Some stu-
dents and politicians are worried the
Oval Office itself will be tainted.
"Now that I'm actually seeing (the
testimony), I think it's really sad,"
said Law first-year student Chris
Smith. "It's devastating to the presi-
dency, and Clinton's behavior is to
blame."
CLINTON
Continued from Page 1
things no previous president has ever
had to contend with."
While the president repeatedly
brushed aside questions about their
sexual relationship, Lewinsky
described them to the grand jury in
sometimes-reluctant detail.
She rejected the president's legal-
istic descriptions of their relation-
ship.
"It's hard for me to feel that he has
characterized this relationship as a
service contract and that was never
something that I thought it was," she
said.
As chronicled in the Starr report,
Lewinsky testified that her relation-
ship with the president included
fondling and oral sex that began while
she was a 22-year-old intern in
November 1995.
She said Clinton suggested mis-
leading testimony she could give in
the Paula Jones sexual harassment
lawsuit and tacitly agreed that she
should hide gifts after they were sub-
poenaed.
Clinton, for his part, described a
relationship that involved intimate
encounters that began after her
internship ended and she had shifted
to a paid White House job. He stead-
fastly denied that, he fondled
Lewinsky or encouraged her to
obstruct justice.
"I absolutely never asked her to
lie," Clinton said emphatically during
his Aug. 17 testimony. He did
acknowledge: "It's an embarrassing
and personally painful thing, the
truth about my relationship with
Lewinsky."
The materials released yesterday
by the House Judiciary Committee
provides one side of the story: the
evidence that Starr said supports his
case for 11 possibly impeachable
offenses against the president. The
White House denounced the release
as "deeply flawed" and "regret-
table."
Two fat volumes of evidence accom-
panied the release of Clinton's video-
taped testimony, adding to the presi-
dent's embarrassment.
The material included a picture of
the dress the FBI concluded was
stained with his semen, brief private
phone messages he left on her
answering machine, and dozens of
love letters Lewinsky drafted but
never sent.
The evidence also included a chart
chronicling Clinton and Lewinsky's
encounters, which began in August
1995 with "eye contact" and "flirtation"
and led to "physical intimacy" that
November.
The last entry is Dec. 28, 1997 when
Lewinsky gave Clinton holiday presents
that included a suggestive candy gag
gift.
In his testimony, Clinton brushed
aside the question of whether he
encouraged Lewinsky to hide the sub-
poenaed gifts with Oval Office secre-
tary Betty Currie -an event Starrcited
as evidence of obstruction of justice.
Lewinsky "may have been worried
about this gift business but it didn't
bother me," he declared.
CLASSES
Continued from Page 1
every president."
News organizations have been airing reports on
the President at all times of the day, often pre-
emptying programming with Clinton coverage.
That included no less than three cable stations
broadcasting the full testimony yesterday morn-
ing and networks showing parts as they were
made available.
Bus Hutchings said the current attention being
paid to the scandal could be dwarfed by future
developments, which could include public
impeachment hearings.
"There's going to be a bit of a frenzy,"
Hutchings said before the tape was released.
The use of sex as a tool of political attack is
innovative and new, Morantz-Sanchez said.
She said some people are trying to make this into a
sex scandal or a discussion about lying, but some peo-
ple are just trying to get past the entire thing.
"I really think we've lost the direction and
meaning of politics, and I don't know if we'll ever
get it back," she said.
Morantz-Sanchez said the cultural impact of
the scandal will continue for years to come. She
said the standards being set for candidates probe-
bly will have the most lasting impact.
In the future, the nation won't be able to "find
a candidate that will live up to the sexual stan-
dards we've set for Clinton," she said. "The
Puritans tried it, but it just didn't work."
4
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