December 8, 2007
Hillary Rodham Clinton is supposed to be smart. But how smart is it for a woman with such a bad reputation for truthfulness and veracity to put those character traits at the center of the campaign?
The irony of her potshots at Barack Obama's character has hardly gone unnoticed. Nor has the idiocy of her December 2 press release breathlessly revealing that "in kindergarten, Senator Obama...
January 27, 2001
Mr. Clinton admits and acknowledges ... that he knowingly gave evasive and misleading answers, in violation of Judge [Susan Webber] Wright's discovery orders ... in an attempt to conceal ... the true facts about his improper relationship with Ms. Lewinsky.... He engaged in conduct prejudicial to the administration of justice in that his discovery responses interfered with the conduct of the Jones...
April 15, 2000
"President Clinton is not `above the law.' His conduct should not be excused, nor will it. The President can be criminally prosecuted, especially once he leaves office. In other words, his acts may not be `removable' wrongs, but they could be `convictable' crimes."
February 10, 1999
JIM LEHRER: Margaret Warner begins our coverage of the Kenneth Starr investigation story.
MARGARET WARNER: As the senate winds up its impeachment trial of the president, Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr is coming under investigation on a growing number of fronts. Today's "New York Times" reported the Justice Department has decided to open an inquiry into whether Starr's...
January 26, 1999
MARGARET WARNER: In addition to the hours of public arguments in the senate over witnesses, there have been extensive negotiations behind the scenes. Some insight into both now from Boston Globe columnist Tom Oliphant and National Journal columnist Stuart Taylor, who is also a contributor to Newsweek.
MARGARET WARNER: Tom, the Senate is behind closed doors debating this. Why has this witness...
January 13, 1999
MARGARET WARNER: Stuart, what else do we need to know about this man that you think will affect how we conduct this trial?
STUART TAYLOR: Well, you cover it pretty well. I think the top of it is - he's a very smart man - he's no nonsense - as Jeff recently wrote in the New Yorker. He runs a poker game that includes some interesting players, and the idea is let's play the poker, no nonsense. The...
December 19, 1998
MARGARET WARNER: Paul, Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole just sent out another sort of public letter yesterday saying even though he would have voted to impeach in the House, he still thinks some sort of censure deal is the way to go. Do you think Dole's going to play an active role in this? Do you think he has clout if he decides to do so?
PAUL GIGOT: Oh, he has some personal contacts...
December 9, 1998
JIM LEHRER: Tom, what do you make of - here are two of the target members of Congress,>two members of the House, two moderate Republicans, twenty to thirty of them, everybody says - their colleagues and folks like that are going to make the decision - what do you make of what they just told Margaret?
TOM OLIPHANT: Well, they underlined the...
December 9, 1998
JIM LEHRER: And, once again, good morning from Washington. I'm Jim Lehrer. Welcome to PBS's special NewsHour coverage of the House Judiciary Committee hearings on the impeachment of President Clinton. Today, the President's attorneys wrap up their two-day impeachment defense. We expect to hear from a panel of five attorneys on the standards for obstruction of justice and perjury...
December 9, 1998
TOM OLIPHANT: Well, we got - we got the moment before the climactic moments of this inquiry -- I think in terms of testimony and everything, this panel has ended the House Judiciary Committee's impeachment inquiry, and other than hearing from the poor defendant's lawyer and having the case summarized and articles presented and voted on, the case is pretty much over.
JIM LEHRER: Do...
December 9, 1998
JIM LEHRER: President Clinton's legal defense before the House Judiciary Committee. Stuart Taylor of the National Journal and Newsweek magazines and Tom Oliphant of the Boston Globe are back to offer their commentary. The NewsHour's chief Washington correspondent, Margaret Warner, is here to assist me in keeping the story line going, among other things. And speaking of the story...
December 8, 1998
TOM OLIPHANT: Yes, as far as that goes, but it may be necessary to go further because there are disagreements within the Republican majority that involve how to write the articles of impeachment by the time they're to be submitted on the weekend. You know, they don't have agreement on what the charges are yet, and they may disagree among...
December 8, 1998
JIM LEHRER: And good morning from Washington. I'm Jim Lehrer. Welcome to PBS's special NewsHour coverage of the House Judiciary Committee hearings on the impeachment of President Clinton.
Today the President's attorneys begin a two-day defense presentation. We expect to hear from Gregory Craig, special assistant to the President and special counsel and to Charles Ruff, the White House...
November 19, 1998
JIM LEHRER: And there we have it: Kenneth Starr delivering his statement to - as he just said it - to the chairman, to the committee, and to the American people. It was estimated beforehand it would take about two hours, and it did, in fact, take almost two hours.
We have some commentary now. We go to National Journal and Newsweek columnist Stuart Taylor and author/journalist...
November 19, 1998
JIM LEHRER: Good afternoon from Washington. I'm Jim Lehrer. And we're back with our special PBS NewsHour coverage of Kenneth Starr's testimony before the House Judiciary Committee. Stuart Taylor of the National Journal and Newsweek Magazines and author/journalist Elizabeth Drew are back to offer their commentary. The NewsHour's chief Washington correspondent, Margaret Warner, is...
November 19, 1998
JIM LEHRER: All right. An afternoon break. We're uncertain at this point as - let's see - Congressman Gekus - there are 35 actually - yes, there are - there are still 30 to go -- Margaret, if I have counted right. Margaret Warner is here, along with Stuart Taylor and Elizabeth Drew for this break. As you heard Chairman Hyde say, they will be back at 5 after 2. I wouldn't take any bets on...
November 19, 1998
JIM LEHRER: And to some analysis and commentary about this day from Stuart Taylor, columnist for the National Journal and Newsweek, and author/journalist Elizabeth Drew.
JIM LEHRER: Elizabeth, what, in your opinion, was the most important thing that happened today?
ELIZABETH DREW: I think the most important thing that happened today was that it was a very large and dramatic example...
November 19, 1998
JIM LEHRER: The president's personal attorney, David Schippers, is the majority counsel. They will each question Kenneth Starr when we come back at 8:25. We want to have some comments here now of again from Stuart Taylor and Elizabeth Drew, who along with NewsHour Chief Washington Correspondent Margaret Warner has been watching Kenneth Starr's testimony.
I've been making some rough...
November 19, 1998
JIM LEHRER: And good evening once again. I'm Jim Lehrer. We're back with our special PBS NewsHour coverage of Kenneth Starr's testimony before the House Judiciary Committee. Stuart Taylor of the National Journal and Newsweek Magazines and author/journalist Elizabeth Drew are back to offer their commentary. The NewsHour's chief Washington Correspondent, Margaret Warner, is also here to assist...
November 19, 1998
JIM LEHRER: And good morning from Washington. I’m Jim Lehrer. Welcome to PBS’s special NewsHour coverage of the House Judiciary Committee hearings on the impeachment of President Clinton. The witness today and possibly tomorrow will be independent counsel Kenneth Starr. It was his four hundred page plus report of allegations against the President that led to these formal impeachment...
October 2, 1998
JIM LEHRER: Congress will release another batch of documents from the Kenneth Starr investigation tomorrow. They come as a prelude to a decision on whether to launch an impeachment inquiry against President Clinton. The Starr investigation that led to the documents and to the proceedings has been the subject of much debate. Margaret Warner now samples that disagreement with two columnists who...
October 2, 1998
From: Susan Estrich
Subject: Start the Coffee
Posted Monday, Sept. 28, 1998, at 2:08 PM ET
Dear Stuart:
What timing.
Here we are, back at Slate, just in time for the President to settle the Paula Jones lawsuit. The unthinkable becomes a footnote. What a difference a year can make. If he'd settled it before his January deposition, none of this would have happened. All he had to do was say he...
January 26, 1998
PHIL PONCE: Differing views on the independent counsel law and how it's being implemented now. Joseph DiGenova was the U.S. attorney during the Reagan administration and was appointed independent counsel to investigate former Bush officials in the Clinton passport matter. Kenneth Gormley is professor of law at Duquesne University; Anthony Lewis is a columnist with the New York Times. Byron York...
January 22, 1998
PHIL PONCE: We get answers from NewsHour regular Stuart Taylor, senior writer with the National Journal and contributing editor to Newsweek. Joining him are Dan Webb, a former special prosecutor during the Iran-Contra investigation, and Richard Ben-Veniste, an assistant special prosecutor during Watergate, and the former Democratic counsel during the Senate Whitewater probe. Gentlemen, welcome....
October 27, 1997
FOR A LEGAL DOCUMENT, the language is raw. ""Please admit or deny the following,'' says the ""request for admissions'' served on President Clinton last week. ""While he was governor of the state of Arkansas, Defendant Clinton had sexual relations with women (other than Hillary Rodham Clinton) and members of the Arkansas State Police arranged meetings between...
June 23, 1997
JIM LEHRER: Today's three major Supreme Court cases are first tonight. The biggest decision may have been not to hear a case involving First Lady Hillary Clinton. The issue was attorney-client privilege and centered on notes of conversations between presidential lawyers and Mrs. Clinton. NewsHour regular Stuart Taylor of the American Lawyer and Legal Times is here for the details. The case began...
June 9, 1997
PUT ASIDE, FOR A MOMENT, ALL THE POLITICAL WAR-GAM- ing and the hotel-room titillation. At heart, just how strong a case does Paula Jones have? The answer changes depending on whether you focus on facts or law, and on which facts are most important to you. One relevant comparison: Jones's evidence that Bill Clinton did what she says he did seems stronger than Anita Hill's rather weak evidence of...
May 27, 1997
JIM LEHRER: Today's two major Supreme Court cases are first tonight. One was a decision, the other a hearing. The decision was the unanimous ruling that Paula Corbin Jones can proceed with her sexual harassment suit against President Clinton while he is in office. NewsHour regular Stuart Taylor of the American Lawyer and Legal Times is here. He wrote an extensive piece in the American Lawyer last...
June 24, 1996
CHARLES ARLT, Defendant: They took everything we had. We didn't hide a dime, every transaction was done by the law.
JAMES WREN, Defendant: The government took vehicles, automobiles, and they took aircraft, they took--
MR. KAYE: After the men were indicted on criminal charges, the government filed a civil forfeiture suit in order to confiscate their property. Wren's lawyer, Shawn Perez, says the...
June 3, 1996
Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr has no evidence at this point that comes anywhere near warranting criminal prosecution of President Bill Clinton, as far as the public record discloses.
But suppose that Starr has a secret smoking gun, or comes up with one in the next few months. Suppose, for example, that lie succeeds in squeezing one or more of the three former Clinton associates convicted by a...
March 11, 1996
Indonesia-Lippo-Riady-Huang-Hub-bellgate. Taiwangate. Koreagate (II). Buddhist-Temple-Goregate. Filegate. Travelgate. Paulagate. Cisnerosgate Espygate.
Where to begin?
Some speculations: The man to watch will be Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr, who is still trying to build a case against the president or the first lady or both. The probability that Stair will accuse one or both of crimes seems...
February 12, 1996
The most important lawyer in America this year is Kenneth Starr, the Whitewater independent counsel.
Starr has the awesome responsibility of passing the most definitive official judgment that we will get in this election year on whether President Bill Clinton and first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton are lawbreakers, or liars, or both. And it's time Starr began working at that job full time and...
February 6, 1996
ELIZABETH FARNSWORTH: Thank you both for being with us. Rex Nelson, this trial is set to begin March 4th. Refresh our memory about the trial. What's--who's being charged with what?
REX NELSON, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette: (Little Rock) Well, of course, we have a Whitewater grand jury which has been meeting for quite some time here in Little Rock. An indictment came down from that grand jury on...
January 23, 1996
MARGARET WARNER: First Lady Hillary Clinton has been subpoenaed by Whitewater Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr to appear before a federal grand jury here in Washington this Friday. For more on this unprecedented event we hear from Stuart Taylor, correspondent for the American Lawyer and Legal Times and a regular on the NewsHour. All first, first give us the context for this. Which grand jury...
March 27, 1995
Q: At any point did you lie to the FBI?
A: No, I did not.
With that, Henry Cisneros lied again, this time (March 15) to USA Today. Fortunately for Cisneros, who is secretary of housing and urban development, and for President Bill Clinton, lying to the news media (and the American people) is not a crime.
But lying to the Federal Bureau of Investigation is. It's a federal felony, punishable by...
September 19, 1994
In a sad display of Democratic hypocrisy-only cosmetically offset by a smaller dose of the Republican variety-President Bill Clinton is about to trash one of the Constitution's cardinal principles: its solemn reservation to Congress of the power "to declare war."
If this would-be imperial president fulfills his lawless (and foolish) vow to invade Haiti without first seeking a...
May 30, 1994
"The entire presidency could turn on the occurrence of a trial like this" -White House Special Counsel Lloyd Cutler, May 24, on "The MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour."
Wow. That really lets the cat out of the bag. This stuff about "temporal immunity" (as Cutler called it) is not, at bottom, about diverting President Bill Clinton from his weighty duties or wasting his time (...
