Death of American Virtue - Ken Gormley [518]
One close friend of the Clintons would later say: Confidential source, interview by author; Schmidt and Weisskopf, Truth at Any Cost, 233. One account suggests that it was late Thursday night when Bill Clinton actually broke the news that he had “strayed,” when Chelsea was out with friends. However, that timing is inconsistent with the Clintons’ own accounts, and those of close friends, who say that Bill did not confess to Hillary until Saturday morning.
Those closest to the Clintons: Betsey Wright, interview by author.
OIC’s blue Crown Victoria and two vans pulled up: Robert J. Bittman, interview by author; Jackie Bennett, interview by author; itinerary, Starr personal papers, KWS Outbox, F8, Aug. 1998.
Kendall replied, “Fine”: Ken Starr, interview by author; Robert J. Bittman, interview by author.
the independent counsel grimly reported: Robert J. Bittman, interview by author.
A diagram of the Map Room: Ibid.; diagram of Map Room, Starr personal papers, KWS Outbox, F8, Aug. 1998.
“physically quite large”: Ken Starr, interview by author.
“When I was alone with Ms. Lewinsky”: “Testimony of William Jefferson Clinton Before the Grand Jury Empaneled for Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr,” 17 Aug. 1998, transcript published by Jurist, University of Pittsburgh, at www.jurist.law.pitt.edu/transcr.htm, 5 (hereinafter cited as Transcript).
Starr’s prosecutors instantly called for: Paul Rosenzweig, interview by author.
“admission was not a shock”: Robert J. Bittman, interview by author.
Wisenberg wanted to “hit [Clinton]”: Sol Wisenberg, interview by author.
President Clinton seemed to be more in control: Ibid.
“She’s basically a good girl”: Transcript, 60–61.
in a spontaneous burst of candor: Transcript, 38–39.
the Starr prosecutors were getting exasperated: Sol Wisenberg, interview by author.
they were getting pummeled: Paul Rosenzweig, interview by author.
some prosecutors watching the faces: Ken Starr, interview by author; Paul Rosenzweig, interview by author.
Wisenberg took over, throwing off the gloves: Transcript, 45.
It was perhaps the most genuine explanation: Paul Rosenzweig, interview by author.
By delving into: The president’s principal defense was that his conduct did not fall within the definition of “sexual relations,” because he was on the receiving end of oral sex. Yet this defense was a real stretch, given the context of the Jones litigation, which specifically revolved around allegations that he had requested oral sex from Paula Jones. Even if one was able to accept that argument, Clinton could no longer dance around the fact that this sexual relationship with Monica Lewinsky had been a two-way street. There was now ample evidence—from Monica herself—that the president had been on the giving and receiving end of sexual activity with Lewinsky.
In response to: Transcript, 46–47, 54. To the extent that the president or his lawyers would try to revert to the argument that he had engaged in such conduct, but that he had lacked the intent to “arouse or gratify” Monica Lewinsky, such a technical argument would almost rise to the level of the absurd. Under such a defense, every male charged with sexual misconduct under the federal statute from which the definition was derived would simply protest: “I did it for self-gratification—I had no intent to gratify my female partner!” That, of course, would render the criminal laws meaningless.
“It depends on what the meaning of”: Transcript, 29.
A number of grand jurors audibly “snorted”: Paul Rosenzweig, interview by author.
But the clock was running: Ken Starr, interview by author.
Already, his lawyers had been compiling: “AMA Fires Journal Editor: Oral Sex Triggers Action,” ABCNews.com, 15 Jan. 1999, Kendall papers. The JAMA editor who republished these findings in the midst of the Clinton scandal was fired because of the awkward “timing” of publishing the article.
Some members of religious groups: Alan Guttmacher Institute, “Scattered Evidence Indicates Oral Sex Becoming Increasingly Common Among Teens,” news