Clinton Tells House Panel He Did Not Lie, Obstruct Law

While once again apologizing because his personal conduct “was wrong,” President Clinton formally advised the House Judiciary Committee in writing Friday that he never committed perjury or obstructed justice in attempts to hide his sexual trysts with former White House intern Monica S. Lewinsky.

The president’s answers to 81 questions posed by the committee’s Republicans marked his most direct communication with the panel to date as it considers whether to approve articles of impeachment, which could lead to his removal from office.

For the most part, his response illustrated his vastly different version of events from that of the GOP-led committee. Where GOP investigators saw nefarious presidential conduct, Clinton portrayed his actions as innocent and aboveboard.

And the answers showed the president’s memory to be fuzzy on several key matters--although aides for years have marveled at his power of recollection.

It also seemed clear that Clinton’s answers would not mollify ardent impeachment advocates.

The questions were sent to the White House several weeks ago, and Clinton submitted his answers after committee Chairman Henry J. Hyde (R-Ill.) threatened to subpoena him if he did not do so by Monday. The president signed the document after returning from Camp David late Friday.

“The president has responded to the chairman’s questions in good faith,” said Clinton’s personal attorney, David E. Kendall.

The lawyer added that he plans to send the committee another memorandum in the near future that “will address the issues we think are still out there.”

But he declined to say what those remaining issues are, and he also would not commit on whether the president, his lawyers or other White House staffers will accept an offer from the committee to further present the president’s defense at a special hearing.

“It’s dangerous to speculate on which way the White House is leaning” on whether to pursue his defense at another hearing, Kendall said.

The committee will hold a public hearing Tuesday, with a judge and convicted perjurers expected to assess the damage that perjury inflicts on the legal system. The rest of the week will be filled up with closed-door depositions. A committee vote on impeachment is expected by mid-December.

Hyde, in a brief statement, said only that “the committee will now carefully review the responses.”

But Jim Jordan, a spokesman for committee Democrats, criticized the question-and-answer process as “a silly, redundant and purely partisan political exercise.”

“Clearly the committee majority is less interested in shedding light on allegations against the president than playing frivolous semantic games,” Jordan said.

The president’s responses did not go beyond the carefully crafted questions that, at each turn, asked: “Do you admit or deny” a wide range of activities surrounding the Lewinsky matter.

The questions did not inquire about the sexual nature of Clinton’s relationship with the intern, but rather sought explanations for his behavior.

“We tried to provide information,” said one source close to the Clinton defense. “The admit-or-deny format is not a good way to do that. But we tried to be affirmative.”

Asked why it took so long to compile the answers, the source said: “The guy [Clinton] does have a day job. He’s been out of the country, dealing with Iraq, dealing with a lot of things.”

And, the source added, noting that the committee did not impose a deadline for the answers: “You get 30 days in civil litigation to respond.” Asked how much time the president actually spent in drafting the answers, the source said: “You can assume he was involved.”

Clinton often chalked up his behavior to purely innocent actions.

For instance, the committee asked him about leading questions and comments that he allegedly made to Bettie Currie, his personal secretary, as the affair was becoming public knowledge.

The GOP investigators contend Clinton was trying to influence her recollection through remarks such as, “You were always there when she was there, right?” so that she would back up his false cover story.

But Clinton pointed out that Currie had not yet been called as a witness and, when he learned she had been subpoenaed, he said he told her: “Just relax, go in there and tell the truth.”

At the same time, Clinton said in his answers that he intentionally misled some of his aides.

“As I have previously acknowledged, I did not want my family, friends, or colleagues to know the full nature of my relationship with Ms. Lewinsky . . .,” Clinton said. “I misled people about this relationship. I have repeatedly apologized for doing so.”

He could not recall whether he had telephoned Lewinsky to offer her help in finding a new job in New York. He also did not remember discussing with Currie the gifts he had given to Lewinsky, and he recalled some but not all of the presents Lewinsky told the grand jury she had received from Clinton.

He did not remember whether he had told Lewinsky that her name was on the witness list in the Paula Corbin Jones sexual harassment lawsuit that was filed against him.

“It is quite possible that that happened,” Clinton said. “I don’t have any memory of it. But I certainly wouldn’t dispute that I might have said that.”

Clinton also could not recall all of his discussions with political advisor Dick Morris.

After the scandal broke, Morris told the grand jury, he did some polling and learned that the public was most concerned about obstruction of justice and subornation of perjury, not whether Clinton had simply had engaged in a sexual affair outside his marriage.

Morris told the grand jury that Clinton then said, “Well, we just have to win then”--a statement Clinton said “I do not recall saying.”

But Clinton did remember that Harry Thomason, a longtime friend and Hollywood producer, advised him how to respond publicly to the accusations. “I recall his encouraging me to state my denial forcefully,” the president said.

The source close to the president’s defense said it was “hard to say” why Clinton could recall some matters but not others. “But,” the source said, “he remembers a lot; there is an enormous amount of information here.”

Clinton’s harshest critics on the Judiciary Committee were unimpressed by his answers.

“He seems to have a very malleable view of the truth,” said Rep. Charles T. Canady (R-Fla.). “The truth seems to be defined by the moment.” Canady added that Clinton was probably lying again in his responses by repeatedly asserting that he did not lie previously.

Rep. Bob Barr (R-Ga.), another panelist who favors impeachment, dismissed the Clinton document as nothing more than “tortured legal reasoning and convenient memory lapses.”

But Clinton said in his introduction to his answers that he hoped this “will contribute to a speedy and fair resolution of this matter.”

On a personal note about the affair, he added: “My conduct was wrong. It was also wrong to mislead people about what happened, and I deeply regret that.

“For me, this long ago ceased to be primarily a legal or political issue and became instead a painful personal one, demanding atonement and daily work toward reconciliation and restoration of trust with my family, my friends, my administration and the American people.”

Times staff writer Elizabeth Shogren contributed to this story.

President Clinton’s full responses to the 81 questions from the House Judiciary Committee are on The Times’ Web site: https://www.latimes.com/scandal.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Sampling of Clinton’s Response

Excerpts from President Clinton’s response to questions posed by the House Judiciary Committee:

1. Do you admit or deny that you are the chief law enforcement officer of the United States of America?

CLINTON: The president is frequently referred to as the chief law enforcement officer, although nothing in the Constitution specifically designates the president as such. Article II Section 1 of the United States Constitution states that “the executive power shall be vested in a president of the United States of America,” and the law enforcement function is a component of the executive power.

*

8. Do you admit or deny that you telephoned Monica Lewinsky early in the morning on October 10, 1997, and offered to assist her finding a job in New York?

CLINTON: I understand that Ms. Lewinsky testified that I called her on the 9th of October, 1997, . . .I do not recall that particular telephone call.

*

41. As to each, do you admit or deny that you gave the following gifts to Monica Lewinsky at any time in the past?

a. A lithograph

b. A hatpin

c. A large “Black Dog” canvas bag

d. A large “Rockettes” blanket

e. A pin of the New York skyline

f. A box of cherry chocolates

g. A pair of novelty sunglasses

h. A stuffed animal from the “Black Dog”

i. A marble bear’s head

j. A London pin

k. A shamrock pin

l. An Annie Lennox compact disc

m. Davidoff cigars

CLINTON: In my deposition in the Jones case, I testified that I “certainly . . . could have” given Ms. Lewinsky a hat pin and that I gave her “something” from the Black Dog. . . . In my grand jury testimony, I indicated that in late December 1997 . . . I gave Ms. Lewinsky a Canadian marble bear’s head carving, a Rockettes blanket, some kind of pin, and a bag (perhaps from the Black Dog) to hold these objects.

. . . I also stated that I might have given her such gifts as a box of candy and sunglasses, although I did not recall doing so, and I specifically testified that I had given Ms. Lewinsky gifts on other occasions. . . . I do not remember giving her the other gifts listed in Question 41, although I might have. As I have previously testified, I receive a very large number of gifts from many different people, sometimes several at a time. I also give a very large number of gifts. I gave Ms. Lewinsky gifts, some of which I remember and some of which I do not.

*

79. Do you admit or deny that you made a false or misleading public statement in response to a question asked on or about January 26, 1998, when you stated: “But I want to say one thing to the American people--I want you to listen to me. I am going to say this again. I did not have sexual relations with that woman, Ms. Lewinsky?”

CLINTON: I made this statement on January 26, 1998, although not in response to any question. In referring to “sexual relations,” I was referring to sexual intercourse. . . . As I stated in response to request Nos. 62 to 68, in the days following the January 21, 1998, disclosures, answers like this misled people about this relationship, for which I have apologized.

*

80. Do you admit or deny that you made false and misleading public statements in response to a question asked on or about January 26, 1998, when you stated “. . . I never told anybody to lie, not a single time. Never?”

CLINTON: This statement was truthful: I did not tell Ms. Lewinsky to lie, and I did not tell anybody to lie about my relationship with Ms. Lewinsky. I understand that Ms. Lewinsky also has stated that I never asked or encouraged her to lie.

Source: Times Wire Reports