I told you he would admit to having a relationship with the HOE.
Some quotes from last nights speech.
CLINTON: I MISLEAD THE WORLD, I'M SORRY, I LIED TO MY WIFE, IT WAS WRONG, IT IS PRIVATE AND NOBODY'S BUSINESS BUT OURS', LET'S MOVE ON...LOLSODAMNHARD...What a loser. And I thought the VSE, etc ,etc was bad. Throw CLINTON into the Pink Sheets, roll him back or just de-list him from all exchanges..What a two-bit-low-life-punk he is.
He makes John Felderhof and the late David Walsh look like the good guys:-(
Clinton Apologizes for His Conduct
Says "It's Time to Move On"
By JOHN SOLOMON
.c The Associated Press
WASHINGTON (Aug. 17) - Abandoning months of denial, President Clinton acknowledged to a grand jury and the nation Monday that he had an inappropriate relationship with a young White House intern. But he refused to give detailed answers to some questions about the explicit nature of his contacts with Monica Lewinsky.
''I misled people, including my wife. I deeply regret that,'' Clinton told Americans in a prime-time address in which he criticized the independent counsel investigation. ''Even president's have private lives,'' he said.
''Indeed, I did have a relationship with Ms. Lewinsky that was not appropriate. In fact, it was wrong,'' Clinton said in the nationally televised address hours after becoming the first president to testify before a grand jury investigating his own conduct. ''It constituted a critical lapse in judgment and a personal failure on my part for which I am solely and completely responsible.''
In his speech Clinton said he never asked anyone to lie and said it was time to ease up on the sex-and-coverup investigation. However, prosecutors reserved the right to call him back for more testimony, sources said. And his dramatic reversal left even his own advisers worried about whether he lost credibility that would affect his ability to govern, especially with the threat of impeachment proceedings still possible.
The president said part of the reason he did not come forward earlier was to save himself and his family from embarrassment and because of his mistrust of Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr's investigation.
''This has gone on too long and cost too much and hurt too many people,'' Clinton said of Starr's investigation. ''It's past time to move on.''
Clinton said he took ''complete responsibility'' for his actions with Ms. Lewinsky but stopped far short of a full apology.
Mixing defiance with conciliation to stave off the possibility of impeachment proceeedings, Clinton insisted he did not commit perjury when he denied sexual relations with Ms. Lewinsky under oath in January and did not cause anyone else to obstruct justice.
Clinton said his sworn statement in the Paula Jones lawsuit was ''legally accurate'' but ''I did not volunteer information.''
''I told the grand jury today and I say to you now that at no time did I ask anyone to lie, to hide or destroy evidence or to take any other unlawful action,'' he added. Later he said, ''It is time to stop the pursuit of personal destruction and the prying into private lives and get on with our national life.''
The scope of his remarks did not satisfy a key Republican who had been urging him to testify fully as a way to avoid impeachment proceedings.
Senate Judiciary Chairman Orrin Hatch expressed anger at the president's attacks on Starr. ''Wasn't that pathetic? I tell you, what a jerk,'' Hatch said.
''That's the biggest mistake he's ever made.'' Still, Hatch said the president's expression of regret may be enough to persuade lawmakers to stop the inquiry if prosecutors did not find other evidence of obstruction of justice.
Democrats also were careful in their initial assessments.
''This is a sad day for America but I'm pleased the president chose to address the nation on this matter tonight.'' said Sen. Russell Feingold, a Wisconsin Democrat.
Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., said he believed Clinton may have done enough to stave off impeachment. ''He owed the people an apology and he gave it,'' Frank said. ''No matter what he said before, I cannot believe that would rise under any definition to perjury or impeachment.''
On vacation in Hawaii, Vice President Al Gore watched Clinton's address and then called the president. ''I am proud of him .... because he is a person who has had the courage to acknowledged mistakes.''
The president's refusal to answer explicit questions about the nature of his contacts may prevent prosecutors from determining whether he committed perjury when he testified in the Paula Jones sexual harassment lawsuit that he did not have ''sexual relations'' with Ms. Lewinsky.
Prosecutors told Clinton's lawyers they would have to review the president's answers before deciding whether to seek additional testimony, the sources said. ''There is some small chance he might be back,'' one source said.
Wearing a dark business suit and standing in the same Map Room where he testified hours earlier, Clinton said in his TV address that he disputed the most serious charges lodged against him. He said that his denial of ''sexual relations'' in January was ''legally accurate'' but acknowledged that ''I did not volunteer information.''
''I told the grand jury today and I say to you now that at no time did I ask anyone to lie, to hide or destroy evidence or to take any other unlawful action,'' he said.
Clinton defiantly called on prosecutors and Americans to let the matter rest. ''I intend to reclaim my family life for my family,'' Clinton said. ''This matter is between me, the two people I love most - my wife and our daughter - and our God. I must put it right and I am prepared to do whatever it takes to do so.''
Clinton attorney David Kendall confirmed to The Associated Press that Clinton refused to give detailed answers about the nature of intimate contacts between the president and Ms. Lewinsky.
''For over four hours, the president responded truthfully to the questions of prosecutors from the Office of Independent Counsel,'' Kendall said. ''He made the painful admission that he had inappropriate contact with Ms. Lewinsky. As to a very few highly intrusive questions with respect to the specifics of this contact, in order to preserve personal privacy and institutional dignity, he gave candid, but not detailed answers.''
Clinton's testimony was transmitted in a scrambled signal to a grand jury watching on television monitors at the federal courthouse.
Starr has been investigating allegations that Clinton had sexual relations with Ms. Lewinsky and then lied about it under oath in the Jones lawsuit, and tried to cover it up.
The grand jury session lasted all afternoon, until 6:25 p.m. EDT. Tuesday, the president was leaving with his wife and daughter for a vacation in Martha's Vineyard and aides suggested it would be a time for healing within the family.
With Congress awaiting a report from the special prosecutor, the president's dramatic reversal carried a high political price.
Lawmakers and Americans alike were forced to weigh why Clinton would drag the nation through seven months of political turmoil, waging a series of court battles at taxpayers' expense, to sustain his denial and avoid acknowledging a sexual relationship.
The president's appearance was also a defining moment for Starr, who endured months of stinging political and legal attacks to gather the evidence that forced Clinton to the witness stand. Prosecutors were eager to end their wide-ranging four-year-old investigation by sending a report to Congress.
''We are trying to complete the investigation as quickly as possible,'' Starr spokesman Charles Bakaly said. Starr left the White House without comment.
The formality of Monday's proceedings - jurors in a courtroom watching a closed circuit television - belied the personal anguish it was causing first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton and their college-age daughter, Chelsea.
''I think that Bill has a sense of embarrassment. Hillary, as the wife, there's a sense of humiliation,'' said the Rev. Jesse Jackson, who spent Sunday night counseling the first family. ''Theirs is a partnership. And my sense is they will survive.''
Ms. Lewinsky testified to the grand jury two weeks ago and her whereabouts Monday were not known.
Aides' first efforts to survey Democrats on Capitol Hill and urge them to come out early in defense of the president was met with a cool response. Lawmakers indicated they wanted to wait and see whether the president told the whole truth and to gauge public reaction.
Still, the president's strategists banked that candid testimony would sit well with Americans, who polls indicated continued to give Clinton high marks for his job performance and were anxious to see the matter put to rest.
AP-NY-08-17-98 2345EDT
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