All language subtitles for Episode 03 Witch Hunts

The u.S. Intelligence
community said in a statement

that it is confident that
Russia's senior-most officials

directed the hacking of emails

from the Democratic
national committee

to interfere with the u.S.
Election process.

The key issue
isn't what Russia did.

It's whether trump's team
colluded with Russia

to influence the election.

Moments ago, the appointment
of a special counsel

to oversee
the FBI investigation

of possible collusion

between the trump campaign
and the Russians.

Bob Mueller and his highly
conflicted team is going out

on a witch hunt now going back
into the financials--

that's a nice way
to say it.

They're a bunch
of damn democrats.

One of the biggest
political witch hunts

in the history
of this country.

I'm now talking about the
special counsel Robert Mueller.

I've never been involved in
an investigation on either side

that's more illegitimate
than this one.

And I wonder,
where's the sense of justice

on the part of Mueller,

on the part of
the justice department?

Was this the right move,

or is this part
of a witch hunt?

Well, I respect the move,
but the entire thing

has been a witch hunt,
and, there is no collusion

between certainly myself
and the Russians.

Zero.

Mr. President, in view
of, a new court ruling,

Monica Lewinsky
may have to tes--

appear before a grand jury.

Under the circumstances,
do you stand by your

previous denials
of any relationship with her,

and, do you think that,
the special prosecutor

has gone beyond the call
and is out to get you?

Well...i think
modestly observant people

are fully capable of drawing
their own conclusions.

Can you talk to US, sir?

No, I won't be making
any, statements.

The question
of whether we are capable

of holding the president
accountable

is an enduring one.

We need to be vigilant
about saying,

"are there mechanisms in place
to ensure accountability,

to ensure honesty,
lawful behavior?"

Then holding the wielders
of power accountable

when they cross the line.

We've had filegate.
We've had travelgate.

We've had so many gates,

I think it's time
to show him the front door.

What has happened
is, every issue

becomes political.

Every issue becomes a hammer

on which to beat
the other side up with.

The American people
sitting back

and seeing
that kind of partisanship

are left
in a state of confusion

as to whether or not
what is being investigated

is real, or is it just part
of the political game?

I, Ronald Reagan...

William Jefferson Clinton...

Do solemnly swear...

Do solemnly swear...

...and will,
to the best of my ability...

...preserve,
protect, and defend...

...the constitution
of the United States.

...potentially
damaging cloud is hanging

over the white house
this morning.

Kenneth starr
has been granted permission

to expand
his investigation.

At issue,

whether Mr. Clinton
had a sexual relationship

with a former
white house intern,

Monica Lewinsky,
and whether he conspired

to convince her to lie
about it under oath.

Mr. Clinton gave
a sworn deposition under oath.

He denied any affair.

Monica Lewinsky
has reportedly turned over

a dress that has
physical evidence

to support her claim
that she had

a sexual relationship
with the president.

However, this has not yet...

Kenneth starr
has gone directly

to FBI director Louis freeh

to ask assistance
from the FBI crime lab.

Special counsel
Ken starr said,

"I need an agent to come
to the white house

with one of our prosecutors.

We're gonna draw
Clinton's blood.

We need it sent
to the FBI labs."

Bob bittman,
one of the prosecutors

and an agent,
turned up at the white house

at nine or ten o'clock.

Clinton was having dinner
in the dining room

with cornel west,
a Princeton professor,

and Clinton
is just furious.

Clinton comes upstairs.
They draw his blood.

It's very, very creepy
and tense.

The level of mistrust
on all sides was so high

that when Clinton got up
and went back downstairs,

bittman says to the agent,
"hey, you know,

I-I took my eye
off of that vial

for just a half a second.

I--are we sure he didn't
pull a switcheroo?"

And the agent says,
"no, i-i...

I-I was watching it
every second,

and-and it's still warm.

His blood is still warm."

The president
was flabbergasted by it

and certainly trying
to figure out,

why was Mr. Starr,
who had been assigned

to look at,
one set of, issues,

now all of a sudden looking
into his, you know,

personal affairs, as it were?

Mr. President, what does
the oath mean to you?

It's the president
of the United States.

What does that oath
mean to you?

Well, an oath means,

you know, thou shalt not
tell a lie.

Arkansas
is a much smaller society

and environment
than you would expect.

The main city, little rock,
is astonishingly small.

I mean, when you first
fly in there,

you can't believe
how dinky it is.

And then once you get
out of the city,

it's a very rural state.

There are very few roads.

And people
are doing logging everywhere.

Like, in-in their--in their
neighborhood, they'll, like,

log out to a lot down
the street to make money.

But everybody who's in
the sort of upper middle class

is connected.

So the bankers,
the lawyers,

the poultry magnates,

and the judges, um, especially,

they are all
very intimately involved

in one another's business.

It's a tiny society.

Bill and Hillary Clinton

kind of take Arkansas
by storm.

They were la cr�me de la cr�me
of Arkansas,

even at a very young age.

Bill Clinton was governor
at early 30s.

But they were also
making connections

with some of these
Arkansas rogue characters,

including Jim mcdougal
and Susan mcdougal;

Vince foster, who was
Hillary's law partner;

webb hubbell,
another law partner.

They were part of Arkansas

and lots of fun.

Hillary and I
and Vince foster

would go to lunch quite often,

and became
very good friends.

Bill loved to play golf,
and I loved to play golf,

so we started
playing golf together.

And they made friends all over
the country pretty quickly.

And it was pretty clear
to everyone that at some point,

he would want
to run for president.

The next president of
the United States of America,

senator Bill Clinton.

When the Clintons
first came to the white house,

there was a sense
that they were a little bit

rough around the edges,
not sophisticated.

They had a lot of people
around them that--

living and doing business
in Arkansas--

maybe didn't seem
like a problem.

But Arkansas mores
are just different, um,

than what plays in Washington.

That got them entangled
very quickly

in a lot of scandals.

As their friend webb hubbell,
um, used to say,

"it's not a conspiracy.
It's just Arkansas."

Here they are.

They just got elected
by a huge margin

by the American people

to the highest office
in the land.

All of the adoration,
all of the acclaim,

all of the great stories

about what a hell
of a candidate they were,

all of that is past history.

Suddenly, as president
of the United States,

they're finding that they're
getting picked at,

in terms of--of issues
that they feel

are not that important.

Welcome to Washington.

Any questions?

Why was
the transportation officer--

office fired?
Looks like a massacre.

And, is the FBI,
um, investigating,

and, did
the president do this?

Travelgate is sort of

a quintessentially Arkansas
kind of story.

Bill Clinton's cousin
Catherine Cornelius

was handling some
of the travel arrangements

for the campaign itself.

They got to the white house,
and they decided

the white house travel office,
which arranges travel

for reporters
accompanying the president--

they wanted to just
take it over.

The president
has spoken frequently

about there being a crisis
of confidence in government.

What does it say to that
if this woman who is a cousin

of the president is appointed
to head the office?

It is a distant cousin,
first of all, let me point out.

Second of all...

Well, it-it is, okay?
It is.

And second of all, she--

what's distant?

Let's define our terms.

I-I don't have
the exact family tree

available right now,
but she...

The travelgate
episode, in my view,

was a tempest in the teapot.

In the end,
the Clinton administration

did its own little
investigation.

There were mild reprimands
issued, and that was it.

So this did not turn
into anything significant.

But it was part of the constant
drumbeat in the early stages

of the Clinton administration
of, you know,

just minor corruption
that sort of fuel--

primed the pump
for what came after it.

To give a cloak
of legitimacy to the firing

of these travel office
workers,

the white house announced
there would be

an FBI investigation.

And it was very clear,
the FBI resented

the, effort
by the white house

to use the FBI

to justify what they had done.

I think it kind of set the tone

for much that was
to come after.

Nineteen ninety-three,

the FBI's in bad shape.

There was
the disastrous confrontation

with the millennial
branch davidian cult

down in waco, Texas.

In the aftermath of waco,

right-wing militias
and other right-wing groups

suggested that our--
that law enforcement

in the United States were...
Were jackbooted thugs.

A standoff between
a man who is wanted by the FBI

and a large number
of federal agents

in a remote section
of Idaho.

Two people have already died.

During the standoff,
an FBI sharpshooter

killed Weaver's wife.

It's hard to overstate
the chaos

of the initial months
of the Clinton presidency.

They're really scrambling.

It shows when Clinton
goes through one choice

for Attorney General,
she has nanny problems.

Second choice
for Attorney General,

she has nanny problems.

Third choice is Janet Reno,

and she has no nanny problems
because she has no kids.

I made the decision.
I'm accountable.

The buck stops with me.

And nobody ever accused me
of running from a decision

that I made based on the best
information that I had.

She was a tough
prosecutor from Miami.

She had nothing
in her background

that would indicate there was
any problem whatsoever

in confirmation.

And we thought
we had hit a home run.

She came up and went through
a vetting process

in a law firm
here in Washington.

White house counsel
Bernie Nussbaum says,

"so I guess y'all
are recommending her."

And they go, "no,
we recommend that she--

the president
not appoint her."

And-and Bernie goes, "why?"

And they said,
"she's too clean.

There's gotta be something
here we haven't found."

Washington wasn't ready
to have somebody

who had nothing
in their background

that they could find wrong.

My hope is, my country
will have been strengthened

and enriched by my service.

The FBI director,
William sessions,

had been correctly accused
of petty corruption.

Reno helps stiffen
Clinton's spine

to push out sessions.

And the search for a successor

is hurried.

Today I am pleased to nominate

a law enforcement legend

to be the director of the FBI,

judge Louis freeh.

Judge freeh knows the FBI.

He is a highly decorated
former agent and supervisor.

He has investigated
and prosecuted

some of the most notorious
and complex crimes of our time.

- Judge freeh.
- Thank you very much.

That's very nice.

Freeh pops up
on everybody's chart

as someone who really
looks good on paper.

And he does.

There wasn't a lot
of interviewing.

There wasn't a lot of vetting.

It's like,
"this guy looks good.

Let's put him in."

I was born in Jersey city,
and from about the age

of my eldest son,
I wanted to be an FBI agent.

Louis freeh's
a working-class guy,

Roman catholic choirboy
growing up,

and an altar boy in not only
training but in demeanor

as an adult.

He's young.
He's 43.

A fresh face.
Highly qualified.

Director freeh
was a so-called brick agent,

meaning he started off
in life as an agent.

He ultimately became
a prosecutor,

a very well-known prosecutor.

He ultimately became a judge.

But in his DNA

was the DNA
of a brick agent.

And he brought
that perspective

to his role as director.

His worldview

is about violations
of criminal law.

He's not a politician.

He's not a Washington insider.

And he turned out to be

a very bad fit inside
the Clinton administration.

I, Louis j. Freeh...

I, Louis j. Freeh...

...do solemnly swear...

...do solemnly swear...

Director freeh
had a very tense relationship

with the Clinton white house.

I mean, they basically
didn't like each other.

That's-that's for sure.

To fully understand
the relationship between

Louis freeh
and President Clinton,

you have to understand
Louis freeh.

He's one of
the straightest shooters

that you ever want to meet.

He's one of those people who,

if he tells you something,

you say, "okay.

I'm betting my child's life
on this because

it's coming from Louis."

It's just--it's who he is.

I don't care how much money
you threw at him,

how much power
you threw at him.

Louis would never
compromise his principles.

I think people know
Bill Clinton.

And in his first days

as FBI director,

things get off
on the wrong foot.

Freeh learns immediately
that the FBI has

a criminal investigation
going on

pertaining to
real estate dealings

in the state of Arkansas,

while, Clinton
was governor.

And he sees Clinton

as a suspect
in a criminal case.

In a nutshell, what
was the story of whitewater?

I was afraid you were
gonna ask me that.

Um, not--i mean, I knew
you were gonna ask me that.

But it's not easily,
um, summarized.

Can you tell me
in a couple of sentences

what is whitewater?

Wow.

In Arkansas, Bill Clinton
had become friends

with a gentleman
named Jim mcdougal.

He was a very eccentric man,
by all accounts.

And he began investing
in real estate deals.

And the one that excited him
the most was this beautiful

piece of property
up in the ozark mountains

that came to be known
as whitewater.

He wanted Clinton, who was
likely to be the next governor,

to be part of this deal.

The Clintons put
no money down.

It was a small investment.

But the whitewater development
was on the wrong side

of the white river
to be successful,

and it started
losing money quickly.

Jim mcdougal hid that

from the Clintons
and other investors,

and so he went on
to buy a bank

called Madison guaranty
savings & loan.

Jim started using
some of the money

of the savings & loan

to pay off the interest
or the debt

of the--of the whitewater.

Mcdougal's savings & loan,
lost $60 million,

and it was because
of sham dealings--

real estate transactions.

Did mcdougal improperly
channel money from the s&l

to the whitewater development

or to help pay then-governor
Clinton's campaign debts?

And did mcdougal's
savings & loan

escape close scrutiny
by the state

because of his friendship
and partnership

with governor Clinton?

It was just so complicated,

and there wasn't
much of substance

in terms of the Clintons'
behavior in all of that.

And so it had really
just fallen

to a little Ember
in the coals.

And then all of a sudden...

...the apparent suicide

of white house lawyer
Vince foster.

Bits of information
gradually...

The number two lawyer
at the white house,

foster was one
of Bill Clinton's oldest

and closest friends.

His body was found last night.

It appears he shot himself.

Vince foster was our
partner at the Rose law firm.

He came to Washington as the
deputy white house counsel.

He was very close,
to both Hillary and myself,

as we practiced law
together for 20 years,

seeing each other every day.

And tragically, he
committed suicide in July of--

I think it was July
of our first year there.

He went to fort Marcy park,
a civil war, park

just across the potomac river,

and pulled out a gun
and shot himself.

It really knocked
the white house for a loop.

And the Clintons, um,
and the people--their friends--

it was devastating.

Good afternoon.

I have just met with
the white house staff,

um, to basically talk with them
a little bit about the death

of my friend of 42 years,
Vince foster.

It is an immense personal loss
to-to me and to Hillary

and to many of his
close friends here

and a great loss to the
white house and to the country.

This kind of took on
a little greater significance

when it became clear
that Hillary Clinton

had blamed Vince foster

for the handling
of the travel office matter.

Hillary Clinton had snapped
at Vince foster,

indicated that he had
blown it in some way.

And, um, this contributed

to some serious, um, depression
he was having at the time.

There was
a suicide note that was found.

One of the things
he wrote was,

"I'm not meant for this life
in Washington.

Here, ruining people
is, considered sport."

A file on
the whitewater development

in which the Clintons
invested

was taken
from Vincent foster's

white house office
immediately after his suicide.

The white house said it was
personal Clinton business

and gave it to the president's
private lawyer.

Foster had the files
because he handled

President Clinton's
legal work

involving an Arkansas
land development company.

Vince foster's death,
that's when people started

saying, "wait a minute.

He's the one who had
the whitewater documents.

Wait a minute.
This was--

the Clintons were involved
in a conspiracy."

I want to tell my friends
and my colleagues now

why I believe there's
a connection between

Vince foster's death and
the whitewater investigation

that's not being pursued.

First of all, he died under

very mysterious-mysterious
circumstances.

His body was moved.
There's no question about it.

And yet nobody accepts that.

There were dark allegations

that the Clintons had been
involved in his death.

I contacted a ballistics expert
in California who stated

that after passing
through a man's skull,

a .38-caliber bullet should
travel no more than

1,200 to 1,600 feet,
or about 300 to 500 yards.

The FBI should have been able
to find that bullet.

Dan Burton
was so fascinated

by these conspiracy theories,

he shot a watermelon
in his backyard

to sort of reenact
why Vince foster

could not have killed himself

in the way multiple
government investigations

firmly concluded he did.

I don't know whether
Vince foster,

died of suicide
or not.

I-I just don't know.

But I'm convinced in my mind
that he did not die

at fort Marcy park.

I don't know whether
he committed suicide

or what happened.

The fact
that he killed himself

is not in dispute

and has never been in dispute

among sane people.

It's crazy.

And-and can you imagine
how horrible that is

for the people--
especially his family--

to think that that happened

or-or even hear those words?

I mean, they-they're having
enough of a hard time.

I'm still having enough
of a hard time

thinking about somebody
who committed suicide.

You always think, "what could
I have done to change that?"

And to hear all these
conspiracy theories

is just awful.

This was horrifying
to bill and Hillary Clinton.

They were grieving
at the same time

these dark conspiracies
were being floated.

But it was connecting
all of these dots.

As one person said,

people started connecting dots
that didn't connect.

And that's really
what fanned whitewater

and the whole investigation
back to life.

Now leading congressional
Republicans are asking

for independent investigations.

Seems to me that there ought
to be some independent review.

Otherwise, I think the
democrats control the house.

They control the senate.
They control the white house.

The American people are gonna
start asking questions,

"why can't we have the facts?"

Mr. President,
do you support the idea

of naming a,
special prosecutor

for the whitewat--
to investigate

the whitewater affair?

I have nothing to say
about that.

I've-I've said that we would
turn the records over.

There's nothing else for me
to say about that.

What is your thinking now
on the public release

of documents
and an independent counsel?

Well, first of all, my thinking
is that this is a situation

without precedent
in American history.

Drop a--you seemed
to drop a hint there--

sorry, you got
the two questions, Jim.

- Okay.
- You had your two questions.

All righty.

I'm sorry you're not
interested in the truth.

At that point,
we'd been through

the throes of--
of Watergate,

the throes of, irangate.

And the congress,
had decided

that it was important,
to be able to have

a special counsel to conduct

those kinds of investigations.

And I remember
going in to the president

and telling him that congress
had passed that legislation.

I said, "look, I don't think
you wanna be viewed

as rejecting
this kind of proposal.

For you as president,
it would convey the impression

that somehow you might
have something to hide."

You could see
he was concerned.

He said, "passing this
legislation could come back

to not only haunt me but haunt
other presidents as well."

But at the same time,
I think he also recognized

that in the end, he really
didn't have much choice

but to sign
that legislation.

Do you think he ever
regretted that he signed it?

I'm sure there were
moments where, you know,

he might have--
he might have thought,

"it would have been
a lot better,

if I had not done it."

Kenneth starr
arrived at the office

of the independent counsel
at 3:30

but had little to say.

Can you talk to US, sir?

No, I won't be making
any, statement.

He's a republican,

having served
as solicitor general

in the bush administration.

He's here to take
the whitewater investigation.

I had a sense
that investigating

the president
of the United States

was not by its nature
a career-enhancing move

and that it would likely,

be, viewed,

with, a lot of disdain,

anger, rancor,
and so forth.

"Hey, you're
investigating my guy.

I voted for that person.
Why are you investigating him?

You must be a bad person."

"You must be on a political
witch hunt."

So I saw some of that
as I peered into the future

and speculating about
what it would be.

I underestimated the intensity
of the controversy.

President Bill Clinton

and Ken starr
represented in many ways

the reverse side
of the same coin.

On one sense, you had these two
people who were very similar.

They were born within several
hundred miles of each other--

Ken starr in Texas,
Bill Clinton in Arkansas--

within ten days of each other.

But Bill Clinton's life
in hot Springs,

where there was gambling
and people betting on ponies

and drinking, was really
the antithesis of the life

that Ken starr grew up in:

Fundamentalist Christian
environment

in a little white house
planted in a cow pasture.

Ken starr
worked on capitol hill

for a conservative texan
member of congress

and was the youngest person

ever appointed to the u.S.
Court of appeals in D.C.

So both of them
are self-made men

who rise to the top
of their professions

at a very young age,

and the collision between them
is even more tragic

when you see,
the-the train wreck

at the end of the story.

There are a number of persons,

including most recently
Mr. Mcdougal,

who have entered
into discussions

with the government
in our ongoing effort

to understand
all the facts.

We have made very substantial
progress in this investigation,

and at the same time, our
investigation is going forward.

Starr and the others
were running the show.

But freeh never balked about

supplying as many agents

and as much help
as starr asked for.

Louis freeh
is all but measuring

the commander in chief
for prison stripes.

He cannot help but see
the president through

any other prism.

And frankly,
it distorts his judgment.

He turns in
his white house pass.

He refuses to set foot
in the white house.

And he cuts off communication

with the president
of the United States.

Clinton definitely felt that

"that effing freeh,"
as he put it,

was out to get him.

Now, you're the president
of the United States.

You got a lot on your plate.

The idea that you've got
a powerful member

of your administration

placing you in his gun sights

is pretty unpleasant
to contemplate.

A top administration aide used
the word "scurrilous" today

to describe charges made
in the conservative magazine

American spectator
that President Clinton,

while governor of Arkansas,
used state troopers

to help arrange dates for him
with a number of women.

One of the troopers
made some allegation

to bringing a woman
named Paula

to,
the governor's hotel room.

He presented his-hisself to me

in a very unprofessional
manner,

and I would call it
sexual harassment.

The graphic details were that
Clinton proceeded to make

a number of sexual
advances to her,

dropping his pants,
exposing himself,

and asking for oral sex.

It has always been about a man
who exposed himself.

The next thing you know,
she files a civil lawsuit

against the president
of the United States.

She made allegations,

that amounted to,
under federal law,

an alleged violation
of her civil rights--

call it sexual harassment--

in-in the work--
in the workplace.

It had no direct,
effect at the time,

on our investigation.

That was to come.

What was the first time
that term "gate" was applied

to some kind of political
scandal other than Watergate?

Well, i--this is not a subject
I have researched.

Gee, there were so many.
Koreagate.

There was a koreagate, I think.

There was Iran-contragate.

How many gates
did the Clintons have?

Quite a few.

My gosh.
Well, they had--

they had travelgate.

Monicagate.
Filegate.

You're testing my memory here.

I don't think I'm the filegate
kind of person.

What was filegate?

All right, look, I am--

filegate.
Travelgate.

Whitewater investigation.

None of that amounted
to absolutely anything.

There were no crimes committed.

There were, you know,

perhaps mistakes
of judgment made.

But much of it was just
downright silly,

a waste of taxpayers' money,

and an exercise
in partisanship.

Nothing ever gets pinned
on the Clintons.

Nevertheless, there's
a continual hue and cry.

The call of the bloodhounds
arises every morning

with the idea that
there's something there.

There must be something there.

There apparently was
a systematic influx

of illegal money in our
presidential race last year.

We will be wanting to know
who knew about it,

who should have known about it,
and whether or not

there was an attempt
to cover it up.

There was
a broad accusation

that the government of
the people's republic of China

was attempting to buy influence
in the Clinton white house

by funneling cash into the
president's reelection campaign

in 1996.

And Bill Clinton
forcefully said,

"there's nothing here."

And Louis freeh...

Said the white house was lying.

Fund-raising practices
by the president

involving foreign contributors

are being looked into
by the justice department.

Foreign influence
and particularly foreign money

provides opportunity
for blackmail,

avenues for national security
information

to be sold abroad.

So anytime that you have
serious allegations

of direct foreign meddling
in an election,

it should be taken
very seriously.

My marching orders
from director freeh

was to follow the evidence
wherever it led.

Now, one thing he did want--

and he was very specific
about this--

was that he wanted US to go
directly at what he considered

the core group:
The president himself,

the vice president,
leadership within

the Democratic
national committee.

We learned through

tracing the money
through grand jury subpoenas

that these people
that contributed

to the Democratic
national committee

were not the true donors.

These donors were
reimbursed through cash.

If you went
to the source of the cash,

you found that
that money came in

typically through
foreign wires from overseas.

You would inspect the checks,

and they'd all be dated
the same day.

They'd all have
the same amount.

And they'd all be Asian names
that were associated

with the checks.

The one thing
they were all buying

and the one common denominator
that was here

was access.

Access equals ability

to get what you want done
done.

I want access to the president.

I want access
to the vice president.

I want access to the high
levels of people at the dnc.

Charlie trie
operated a Chinese restaurant

in little rock and began
contributing heavily

to the Democratic
national committee.

Charlie trie
was in the white house,

and he had a bag of checks,
and he gave it to them.

Bag of checks.
I mean...

I mean, really?

John huang,
who was seeking

Asian-American money

that had close ties
to the Chinese government

and indeed Chinese military
intelligence as well.

We knew who the bad guys were,
all right?

We started with
the-the bundlers, okay?

And we could work up the chain.

But unlike other cases,
we can only go so high.

There was something called
the independent counsel act,

and the independent counsel act
was the law of the land

at the time.
It has since sunset.

And it basically said that
the department of justice

cannot investigate
certain covered persons.

The president
of the United States,

the vice president,
cabinet-level positions

within any administration

were then considered
covered persons

such that if a credible
and specific

allegation of criminal
misconduct was made,

it would trigger
this requirement

that the matter be investigated
by an independent counsel

as opposed to
the department of justice,

or the Attorney General.

Louis freeh called forcefully
for the appointment

of yet another
independent counsel

to look into the Chinese
cash allegations.

Looking at all
of the evidence,

are there facts there that,
as you understand them,

indicate that covered persons
may have violated federal laws?

Under the facts and the law
as I understand them to be,

the matter, in my opinion,
should be referred

to an independent counsel.

Numerous allegations
have been made

against
high government officials.

We have reviewed every one
of them to see if there's

specific and credible
information that a crime

may have been committed
by a covered person.

Today, following the law's
letter, I have decided

that the allegations
against President Clinton,

vice president Gore,

and former energy secretary
Hazel O'Leary

do not at this time
warrant the appointment

of an independent counsel.

Do not at this time
warrant the appointment

of an independent counsel.

There's no doubt in my mind

that Janet Reno
was protecting the president.

One of the things that I found
very interesting--

which I believe to this day--
is, if you,

are going to make
appointments

as president
of the United States,

the most important appointment
that you will make

for your cabinet or for
his admin--your administration

is the Attorney General,
because if the Attorney General

will cover your back
and protect you,

you can get away
with almost anything.

We can prove that foreign money
was, placed into

the, Democratic
national committee,

coffers.

We can prove
that money was laundered

through the nuns conduit
violations of the law.

Is he knowledgeable about
these things that went on

all around him?
That's the question.

And it's easy for someone
to say, "I didn't know."

But a good investigator and
good prosecutor, in my opinion,

in my experience, has to be
prepared to go further

and to look at other evidence.

There are parallels
between what happened in '96

and what happened in 2016.

They are both instances
of a foreign adversary,

um, making efforts
to influence our election.

But, um, you know,
clearly the Russian effort

in 2016 was,

much broader,

much more aggressive,
much more encompassing,

and, in many ways
much more diabolical

than what took place in '96.

Some people ended up
being found criminally liable

but nobody at a senior level
that would have triggered,

and tripped the
independent counsel statute.

To freeh, it didn't really
matter what the facts were.

It was always, substitute
your own ad hoc judgment,

for what, is right,

and-and as I believe,

rightness turned
into righteousness

which turned into arrogance.

I don't think there was anybody
in law enforcement that--

that was working on this
that felt,

"hey, there's no crime here.

This is all okay.

This is just 'politics.'"

we would hit
that glass ceiling,

which was
the independent counsel act.

Okay.

We-we can't go any further.

We can't issue a subpoena
that--to that person

because he or she's
a covered person.

We can't issue a subpoena
to that person

because he or she's
a covered person.

Or it's too close a call.

It was clear that there
was there, there.

There was there, there.

There was something going on.

The whitewater investigation

was stalling out by 1997.

In the view
of the starr prosecutors,

it was because people
like Jim mcdougal

and webb hubbell were
refusing to cooperate.

In the view
of the Clinton people,

it was because
there was no evidence

and the starr prosecutors
just had to give up.

The Clinton white house

was feeling very much

like they were out
of the woods with Ken starr

and feeling like
they had, defeated him.

Move back!
Move back!

New allegations
that President Clinton

had an affair with a former
white house intern and then...

Just who is
Monica Lewinsky?

CBS news...
-A whirlpool

of charges, reports,
and rumors

has kept on spinning.

Speaking French

then there's
the dress, which could have

possible DNA evidence.
Lewinsky left...

Monica!

Monica, look over here!

The name
Monica Lewinsky

was utterly unknown to US
until January of 1998

when information came to US

that there might very well be,

an activity underway
to bring about

perjury
and subornation of perjury

by the president
of the United States

in the Paula Corbin Jones
litigation.

In sworn testimony
that Mr. Clinton gave

in the Paula Jones
sexual harassment suit,

Mr. Clinton says he never
had sexual relations

with Monica Lewinsky,
saw her only...

The starr team felt
that they had been thwarted

at every turn by the Clintons.

The Monica Lewinsky matter
seemed like the one chance

to pin it down
that he had openly lied

in a federal case.

Monica Lewinsky
story broke.

My concern immediately was
that this is gonna overshadow

the campaign finance scandal.

And of course it did.

And I think that's
very unfortunate because

what was brushed aside,
I think, was more important

than the Monica Lewinsky
scandal.

I think it's a factor that
the underlying, activity

was not, um, a crime or
wasn't alleged to be a crime.

But the underlying activity
was alleged to be a violation

of the federal and civil rights
of a human being.

And let's--let's get rid
of those laws.

Let's get rid of litigation
as a mechanism for alleged

victims of sexual harassment
in the workplace--

which is what that
was all about--

and just say, "well, we don't
wanna handle it that way,

and we don't wanna have
to put people under oath,"

or, "we don't want people
to-to be, embarrassed."

This was a serious context

of a duly authorized,
lawsuit

involving the civil rights
of a human being.

I wanna say one thing
to the American people.

I want you to listen to me.
I'm gonna 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.

And I need to go back to work
for the American people.

Thank you.

My reactions through
that entire, um, saga,

including his testimony, um,

on that afternoon and then
watching him that evening

was one of profound
disappointment.

Can't we come clean?

Can't this get over?

Does this have to continue,

this--what I'm calling
this self-inflicted, wound?

Can't the nation be spared?

It was as if you were
on this very...

Unpleasant journey

and you just
want it to stop.

And it's so easy
for it to stop.

Just do the right thing.

Straighten it out.

Better late than never.

As you know,
in a deposition in January,

I was asked questions
about my relationship

with Monica Lewinsky.

While my answers
were legally accurate,

I did not volunteer
information.

Indeed, I did have a
relationship with miss Lewinsky

that was not appropriate.

In fact, it was wrong.

I know that my public comments
and my silence

about this matter
gave a false impression.

I misled people,

including even my wife.

I think that that
was a very revealing moment

when the public could see

this guy is a liar.

I mean, he lied to me.

Governor, are you ready
to take the oath?

- I am.
- Will you please raise...

I can only tell you
I was motivated by a desire

to protect myself
from the embarrassment

of my own conduct.

The fact that these questions
were being asked

in a politically inspired
lawsuit--

which has since
been dismissed--

was a consideration too.

I think, as a general rule,

the American public
would like to be able to trust

what their presidents
have to say.

There will be times of crises,
and if our government

or at least the head
of our government

has a track record
of continually saying

false things, um,
then we don't know when,

if at all,
we can trust him or her.

...preserve, protect,
and defend

the constitution
of the United States...

...preserve, protect,
and defend

the constitution
of the United States...

...so help me god.

...so help me god.

Congratulations.

I had real
and serious concerns

about an independent counsel
investigation

that began with
private business dealings

20 years ago,
then into my private life.

The truth will come out...
One way or the other.

You can try to hide it.

You can try
to play games with it.

You can try to avoid it.

But in the end,
the truth is gonna come out.

Better that it be done
on your terms,

in speaking honestly,
to the people who elected you

than to have, a special
prosecutor or an indictment

or an impeachment,
do that for you.

This is where starr's
possible grounds

for impeachment begin.

There are 11 counts.

Count one, that the president
lied under oath

in the Jones case when he
denied his sexual affair.

Two, he lied under oath
to the grand jury

about his sexual relationship.

The facts
were the facts,

and as I said to
the house of representatives,

to the judiciary committee,

"this is yours.
This is what we've found.

My duty as a law officer is
to bring this to your attention

because there's substantial
and credible information

that an impeachable offense
may have been, committed.

The unfinished business
is further consideration

of house resolution 611,

which the clerk
will report by title.

A resolution impeaching
William Jefferson Clinton,

president of the United States,

for high crimes
and misdemeanors.

Today Republicans with
a small handful of democrats

will vote to impeach
President Clinton. Why?

We believe he assaulted
our legal system in every way.

Let it be said that
any president who cheats

our institutions
shall be impeached.

But to
the president, I would say

you, sir, may resign your post.

It is our laws--the criminal
code of the United States

of america--which,
based on exhaustive evidence,

this president has violated

pursuant to a pattern
of activity.

To me, there is no doubt
that the impeachment

of William Jefferson Clinton,

was helpful
to our national health.

It stood very clearly
for the proposition

that there is such a thing
as rule of law,

that there is

a standard below which

presidents
shall not be allowed,

at least without
paying a price for it to act.

The senate meets today
to conclude this trial

by voting on the articles
of impeachment,

thereby fulfilling
its obligation

under the constitution.

Article one.

In his conduct while
president of the United States,

William Jefferson Clinton,
in violation

of his constitutional oath
faithfully to execute

the office of president
of the United States,

has willfully corrupted
and manipulated

the judicial process
of the United States

for his personal gain
and exoneration.

Senators, how say you?

Is the respondent,
William Jefferson Clinton,

guilty or not guilty?

Mr. Abraham.
-Guilty.

Mr. Abraham, guilty.

It's very dangerous
when either party

uses impeachment proceedings

to try to push a political end,

to try to push a palace coup.

On the other hand,
it's equally dangerous

if either political party
refuses to stand up

to the facts
if there is evidence

of some high crime
or misdemeanor

that threatened
the well-being of the state

that requires a president's
removal from office.

Either scenario

is, a failure

to fulfill
the constitutional role

that one has
as elected officials.

Mr. Allard, guilty.

Mr. Grassley, guilty.

Mr. Domenici, guilty.

Mr. Allard...

If perjury
was committed,

if there was a statement
that turns out to be

provably untrue later,
then I think the president

has to be treated
like everyone else.

'Cause I think,
under the criminal law,

everybody should be
treated the same.

If the president
is asked to testify,

subpoenaed to testify
before a grand jury,

and says,
"no, not gonna do it"?

You gotta do it.

You don't have
a choice about that.

We've gone through this
terrible four-year--

this last four-year cycle
with Monica

and the-the worst of all,
the Linda tripps of the world,

and I-I just--
I just hate what I see.

I hate what it represents
for the country.

We've been a--
been a laughingstock

all over the world.

And you're talking about lies

where you look into a camera
and you say,

"I did not have sex
with blah, blah, blah."

And it's--what's happened
in the last three or four years

is truly disgraceful.