Death of American Virtue - Ken Gormley [276]
President Clinton appeared “rocked” by events. As he huddled with his closest aides, he insisted that the story was false but provided scant explanation. Recalled Podesta, the president met with him personally and gave him “a strong denial” that left him “with the feeling that something funky was going on, but that he hadn’t had sex with [the intern].” Clinton had planned to spend the day giving interviews to generate support for his State of the Union initiatives the following week. Instead, the chief executive faced a barrage of questions about “adultery and obstruction of justice” from reporters. In a prescheduled interview with Jim Lehrer for PBS’s NewsHour, from which he could not extricate himself, a defensive president (accompanied for moral support by his chocolate Labrador retriever, Buddy) told Lehrer emphatically: “There is no improper relationship” with Lewinsky. The low-key but persistent Lehrer pressed the president to define what he meant by “no improper relationship.” Clinton tensed up, then responded: “Well, I think you know what it means. It means that there is not a sexual relationship, an improper sexual relationship, or any other kind of improper relationship.”
In an interview with National Public Radio later that day, radio journalists Mara Liasson and Robert Siegel pressed for additional answers. Liasson asked with a tone of bewilderment: “Mr. President, where do you think this comes from? Did you have any kind of relationship with her [Lewinsky] that could have been misconstrued?” Clinton did his best to deflect the question: “Mara, I’m going to do my best to cooperate with the investigation.… I think it’s more important for me to tell the American people that there wasn’t improper relations, I didn’t ask anyone to lie, and I intend to cooperate. And I think that’s all I should say right now so I can get back to the work of the country.”
In a third scheduled telephone interview with the Capitol Hill publication Roll Call, the “I-word” was finally uttered by a reporter, which brought terror to the souls of White House advisers. The questioner asked President Clinton: “Some Republicans have been talking about impeachment for months now. And even your former adviser, George Stephanopoulos [of ABC News], mentioned it this morning.… What is your reaction to the suggestion that this may lead to impeachment?” The president tried to squelch this talk immediately: “Well, I don’t believe it will. I’m going to cooperate with this investigation. And I made it very clear that the allegations are not true. I didn’t ask anybody not to tell the truth. And I’ll cooperate.”
The Roll Call journalist next pressed for more details concerning the nature of the president’s relationship with Monica Lewinsky, asking bluntly: “Was it in any way sexual?” Clinton paused, then gave his most definitive answer of the day, careful to use the past tense: “The relationship was not sexual,” he said. “And I know what you mean, and the answer is no.”
White House aides hunkered down, trying to calculate what bombshell might drop next. The president himself, in between horrific interviews, placed an urgent call to his erstwhile consultant Dick Morris, who could sympathize with the president’s dilemma: He himself had been outed for having an affair with a high-priced hooker that involved a foot fetish. “I just slipped up with that girl,” Clinton told his former pollster, almost in tears. The two men talked over the options—should the president come clean in public? Ask forgiveness? Fight Starr to the death? As Morris later recalled, he was struck with a brilliant idea: “Let’s poll it!” he said. By late that night, Morris had called Clinton in the private residence with preliminary results. On the questions