Original subtitles

♪ suspenseful music ♪

[woman] 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.

[woman 2] 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--

[Dobbs] 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?

[male reporter] 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, uh, there is no collusion

between certainly myself and the Russians.

Zero.

♪♪♪

[woman] Mr. President, in view of, uh, 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, uh, do you think that, uh, 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.

[male reporter] Can you talk to us, sir?

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

[Starr] 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, uh, 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.

[Panetta] 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?

♪♪♪

♪ dramatic music ♪

♪♪♪

[Reagan] I, Ronald Reagan...

William Jefferson Clinton...

Do solemnly swear...

Do solemnly swear...

♪♪♪

[Nixon] ...and will, to the best of my ability...

[George W. Bush] ...preserve, protect, and defend...

[Trump] ...the Constitution of the United States.

♪♪♪

[helicopter rotors whirring]

[radio tuning]

[woman] ...potentially damaging cloud is hanging

over the White House this morning.

Kenneth Starr has been granted permission

to expand his investigation.

- [radio tuning] - [man] 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.

[man 2] Mr. Clinton gave a sworn deposition under oath.

He denied any affair.

[woman] 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...

[man] Kenneth Starr has gone directly

to FBI Director Louis Freeh

to ask assistance from the FBI crime lab.

[radio tuning]

♪♪♪

[Schmidt] 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, uh, you know,

I-I took my eye off of that vial

for just a half a second.

I--uh, 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."

[Podesta] The president was flabbergasted by it

and certainly trying to figure out,

why was Mr. Starr, who had been assigned

to look at, uh, one set of, uh, issues,

now all of a sudden looking into his, uh, 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.

♪ Glen Campbell's "Arkansas" playing ♪

♪♪♪

♪ Arkansas, land of opportunity... ♪

[Schmidt] 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.

♪ Dirt roads that lead nowhere ♪

♪ Except to houses that need repair... ♪

[Schmidt] 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.

♪ rock music ♪

Bill and Hillary Clinton

kind of take Arkansas by storm.

They were la crème de la crème 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.

[Hubbell] They were part of Arkansas

and lots of fun.

Hillary and I and Vince Foster

would go to lunch quite often,

uh, and became very good friends.

Uh, 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.

♪ Fleetwood Mac's "Don't Stop" playing ♪

[man] The next President of the United States of America,

Senator Bill Clinton.

♪ Don't stop thinking about tomorrow ♪

♪ Don't stop, it'll soon be here ♪

♪ It'll be better than before... ♪

[Schmidt] 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.

♪ rock music ♪

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,

uh, "It's not a conspiracy. It's just Arkansas."

[Panetta] 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, uh,

in terms of, uh--of issues that they feel

are not that important.

Welcome to Washington.

Any questions?

[female reporter] Why was the transportation officer--

office fired? Looks like a massacre.

And, uh, is the FBI, um, investigating,

and, uh, did the president do this?

[Schmidt] 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.

[male reporter] 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... - [reporters clamoring]

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

And second of all, she--

[female reporter] What's distant?

Let's define our terms.

I-I don't have the exact family tree

available right now, but she...

[Gormley] 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,

uh, just minor corruption that sort of fuel--

primed the pump for what came after it.

[Isikoff] 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, uh, the FBI resented

the, uh, 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.

[helicopter rotors whirring]

♪ dramatic music ♪

[Weiner] Nineteen ninety-three,

the FBI's in bad shape.

There was the disastrous confrontation

with the millennial Branch Davidian cult

down in Waco, Texas.

[Gorelick] 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.

[man] 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.

[man 2] 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.

[Hubbell] 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."

[laughs]

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.

[Weiner] 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.

[Clinton] 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.

- [applause] - That's very nice.

[Weiner] 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.

♪ suspenseful music ♪

[Weiner] 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.

[Gorelick] 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.

[Weiner] 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...

[Schmidt] 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.

[camera shutter clicking]

[La Bella] 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, "Oh, 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.

[camera shutter clicking]

[Weiner] 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, uh,

while, uh, Clinton was governor.

And he sees Clinton

as a suspect in a criminal case.

♪ dramatic music ♪

[man] In a nutshell, what was the story of Whitewater?

[laughs]

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, uh, summarized.

[man] Can you tell me in a couple of sentences

what is Whitewater?

[sighs]

[laughs]

[sniffs]

♪♪♪

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, uh, lost $60 million,

and it was because of sham dealings--

real estate transactions.

[man] 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...

[gunshot]

♪ dramatic music ♪

[radio tuning]

[woman 2] ...the apparent suicide

of White House lawyer Vince Foster.

Bits of information gradually...

[man] 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.

[Hubbell] Vince Foster was our partner at the Rose Law Firm.

He came to Washington as the deputy White House counsel.

He was very close, uh, to both Hillary and myself,

as we practiced law together for 20 years,

seeing each other every day.

And tragically, uh, 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, uh, 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.

[Isikoff] 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, uh,

indicated that he had blown it in some way.

And, um, this contributed

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

[Schmidt] 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, uh, considered sport."

[man] 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.

[Gormley] 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.

[gunshot]

[splattering]

[Isikoff] 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,

uh, 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.

[Gormley] 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.

[reverse splattering]

Now leading congressional Republicans are asking

for independent investigations.

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

Otherwise, uh, 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, uh, 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.

[man] 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, uh-- of Watergate,

the throes of, uh, Irangate. [chuckles]

And the Congress, uh, had decided

that it was important, uh, 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, uh, 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.

[man] Do you think he ever regretted that he signed it?

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

he might have, uh-- he might have thought,

"It would have been a lot better, uh,

if I had not done it."

[man] Kenneth Starr arrived at the office

of the independent counsel at 3:30

but had little to say.

[male reporter] Can you talk to us, sir?

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

[man] He's a Republican,

having served as solicitor general

in the Bush administration.

He's here to take the Whitewater investigation.

[Starr] 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, uh,

be, uh, viewed, uh,

with, uh, a lot of disdain,

uh, 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." [laughs]

"You must be on a political witch hunt." [laughs]

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.

[camera shutters clicking]

[Gormley] 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, uh, the-the train wreck

at the end of the story.

[Starr] 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.

[Schmidt] 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.

[Weiner] 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.

♪ dramatic music ♪

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.

[Isikoff] One of the troopers made some allegation

to bringing a woman named Paula

to, uh, 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.

[Starr] She made allegations,

uh, that amounted to, under federal law,

an alleged violation of her civil rights--

uh, call it sexual harassment--

uh, in-in the work-- in the workplace.

It had no direct, uh, effect at the time,

uh, on our investigation.

That was to come.

♪♪♪

[man] 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.

[man] How many gates did the Clintons have?

[laughs] Quite a few.

Oh, my gosh. Well, they had, uh--

uh, they had Travelgate.

Monicagate. Filegate.

You're testing my memory here.

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

[man] What was Filegate?

All right, look, I am-- [scoffs]

Filegate. Travelgate.

Whitewater investigation.

None of that amounted to absolutely anything.

There were no crimes committed.

Uh, there were, you know,

perhaps mistakes of judgment made.

But much of it was just downright silly,

a waste of taxpayers' money,

uh, 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.

♪♪♪

[gavel banging]

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.

[Weiner] 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.

[man] Fund-raising practices by the president

involving foreign contributors

are being looked into by the Justice Department.

[Barr] 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.

[Lampinski] 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.

[La Bella] 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.

[Lampinski] Charlie Trie operated a Chinese restaurant

in Little Rock and began contributing heavily

to the Democratic National Committee.

[La Bella] 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...

ugh! I mean, really?

[Isikoff] 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.

[Lampinski] 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,

uh, or the attorney general.

Louis Freeh called forcefully for the appointment

of yet another independent counsel

to look into the Chinese cash allegations.

[Barr] 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,

uh, 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.

[tape rewinding]

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, uh,

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, uh, placed into

the, uh, uh, Democratic National Committee,

uh, 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? Uh, 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.

[Isikoff] There are parallels between what happened in '96

and what happened in 2016.

They are both instances of a foreign adversary,

um, uh, making efforts to influence our election.

But, um, you know, clearly the Russian effort

in 2016 was, uh,

much broader,

much more aggressive, uh, much more encompassing,

and, in many ways much more diabolical

than what took place in '96.

[Podesta] Some people ended up being found criminally liable

but nobody at a senior level that would have triggered,

uh, and tripped the Independent Counsel Statute.

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

It was always, uh, substitute your own ad hoc judgment,

uh, for what, uh, is right,

and-and as I believe, uh,

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.

[laughs] There was there, there.

There was something going on.

♪ Unforgettable ♪

♪♪♪

♪ That's what you are... ♪

[La Bella] The Whitewater investigation

was stalling out by 1997.

♪ Unforgettable... ♪

[La Bella] 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.

♪ How the thought of you does things to me... ♪

[Schmidt] The Clinton White House

was feeling very much

like they were out of the woods with Ken Starr

and feeling like they had, uh, defeated him.

♪ Unforgettable ♪

♪ In every-- ♪

♪ dramatic music ♪

Move back! Move back!

[woman] New allegations that President Clinton

had an affair with a former White House intern and then...

[man] Just who is Monica Lewinsky?

- CBS News... - [woman] A whirlpool

of charges, reports, and rumors

has kept on spinning.

[man] speaking French

[woman] Then there's the dress, which could have

possible DNA evidence. Lewinsky left...

[man] Monica!

[woman] Monica, look over here!

[Starr] The name Monica Lewinsky

was utterly unknown to us until January of 1998

when information came to us

that there might very well be,

uh, an activity underway to bring about

perjury and subornation of perjury

by the President of the United States

in the Paula Corbin Jones litigation.

[man] 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...

[Gormley] 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.

[whirring]

[Barr] 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, uh, activity

was not, um, uh, 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.

Uh, 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, uh, embarrassed."

This was a serious context

of a duly authorized, uh, 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.

[applause]

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,

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

Can't the nation be spared?

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

uh, 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.

[Schmidt] 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.

♪ dramatic music ♪

Governor, are you ready to take the oath?

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

[Clinton] 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.

[Isikoff] 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...

[man] ...so help me God.

...so help me God.

- [man] Congratulations. - [cheers and applause]

[Clinton] 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.

Uh, but in the end, the truth is gonna come out.

Better that it be done on your terms, uh,

in speaking honestly, uh, to the people who elected you

than to have, uh, a special prosecutor or an indictment

or an impeachment, uh, do that for you.

[man] 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.

[Starr] 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, uh, committed.

[gavel bangs]

The unfinished business is further consideration

of House Resolution 611,

which the clerk will report by title.

[Hays] 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.

[Livingston] But to the president, I would say

you, sir, may resign your post.

[people shouting]

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,

uh, 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.

[man] 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?

- [man] Mr. Abraham. - [Abraham] Guilty.

[man] Mr. Abraham, guilty.

[Gormley] 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, uh, a failure

to fulfill the constitutional role

that one has as elected officials.

[woman] Mr. Allard, guilty.

Mr. Grassley, guilty.

Mr. Domenici, guilty.

Mr. Allard...

[Giuliani] 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.

♪ dramatic music ♪

♪♪♪