January 8, 1999
Former Illinois Senator Paul Simon: "You have to be an extreme Clinton zealot to believe perjury was not committed."
Oh, Never Mind?
The impeachment trial of President Bill Clinton began in great
solemnity yesterday with the swearing in of Chief Justice Rehnquist as
presiding judge and 100 Senators as jurors. Despite the gravity of the
moment, it is a given of the age in which we live that the American public is
about to be buffeted this way and that by a torrent of opinion, spin and
political maneuver. One prominent charge now made is that the Republicans
are set on this course only out of vengeance and hatred for Bill Clinton
personally. Henry Hyde has said the process is about the rule of law. We
think it would help at this juncture to put on the record the thoughts of
prominent Democrats, in their own words, about the President's conduct in
office. We will see in days ahead whether the Democrats hold to these
views or sweep them away to suit the politics of the moment.
***
NBC's Matt Lauer, Jan. 27, 1998: "If an American
President had an adulterous liaison in the White
House and lied to cover it up, should the American
people ask for his resignation?"
Hillary Clinton: "Well, they should certainly be
concerned about it."
Lauer: "Should they ask for his resignation?"
Hillary Clinton: "Well, I think that, if all that were proven
true, I think that would be a very serious offense."
Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan: Perjury is "an impeachable offense."
There is a "crisis of the regime. . . . You cannot have this kind of conduct as
normal and acceptable and easily dismissed unless there is a great effort to
do so."
House Minority Leader Richard Gephardt: "If Congress decides to go
forward with an impeachment process we will be involved in perhaps the
most important task the Congress will ever have. We have to, under the
Constitution, carefully examine the facts and then make a judgment on
whether or not he should be expelled from office."
Former White House Press Secretary Mike McCurry to the BBC: "I have
enormous doubts [about Mr. Clinton's ability to lead] "because of the
recklessness of his behavior."
Senator Joseph Lieberman: "Such behavior is not just inappropriate; it is
immoral. And it is harmful."
Then-Representative, now-Senator Paul Sarbanes, during the Nixon
impeachment hearings: "Underlying all the constitutional relationships we talk
about is the necessity for standards of honesty, truth and integrity. Our own
system of free government cannot operate if those standards are not
honored."
Now-Senator Charles Schumer: "To me it is clear that the President lied
when he testified before the grand jury."
Rep. Robert Wexler: "The President did not tell the truth. He lied under
oath. That's something we have to deal with. . . . His actions are
indefensible."
Rep. Rick Boucher: "That statement was made under oath. I personally
don't think it was truthful."
Charles Ruff, White House Counsel: "Necessarily, I appear also on behalf
of the man whose conduct has brought us to what, for all of us, is this
unwelcome moment. Neither the President nor anyone speaking on his
behalf will defend the morality of his personal conduct. The President had a
wrongful relationship with Monica Lewinsky. He violated his sacred
obligations to his wife and daughter. He misled his family, his friends, his
colleagues and the public. And in doing so, he betrayed the trust placed in
him not only by his loved ones but by the American people."
Former Illinois Senator Paul Simon: "You have to be an extreme Clinton
zealot to believe perjury was not committed."
From a New York Times editorial on the conditions for censure: "...and
an abandonment by Mr. Clinton of the strategy of lying about his lies."
***
President Clinton, January 26, 1998: "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."
From the text of the censure resolution offered by Democrats in the House
Judiciary Committee: "That it is the sense of Congress that - (1) on January
20, 1993, William Jefferson Clinton took the oath prescribed by the
Constitution of the United States faithfully to execute the office of President;
implicit in that oath is the obligation that the President set an example of high
moral standards and conduct himself in a manner that fosters respect for the
truth; and William Jefferson Clinton, has egregiously failed in this obligation,
and through his actions has violated the trust of the American people,
lessened their esteem for the office of President, and dishonored the office
which they have entrusted to him; (2)(A) William Jefferson Clinton made
false statements concerning his reprehensible conduct with a subordinate;
(B) William Jefferson Clinton wrongly took steps to delay discovery of the
truth . . ."
Senator Robert Byrd on C-SPAN: "Votes may shift depending on things
that are unforeseen at the present. Who knows? This could conceivably end
different."
interactive2.wsj.com |
