Bill Clinton on fighting impeachment
Bill Clinton on fighting impeachment
In this web exclusive, former President Bill Clinton tells Mo Rocca that despite what he calls the voters’ referendum against Republicans in the 1998 midterms, the GOP and House Speaker Newt Gingrich pushed to impeach Clinton over the Monica Lewinsky affair as an exercise of power, and that he fought impeachment efforts to protect the office of the President.
Read the full article on CBS Politics
Truth Analysis
Analysis Summary:
The article is mostly accurate, with key claims about the impeachment proceedings and the reasons behind them supported by multiple sources. However, the framing of the 1998 midterms as a "voters' referendum against Republicans" is a potentially biased interpretation, and the claim that Clinton fought impeachment "to protect the office of the President" is presented as his stated reason, without independent verification of his motivations.
Detailed Analysis:
- Claim: Clinton says the 1998 midterms were a "voters' referendum against Republicans."
- Verification Source #N: None of the provided sources directly address this claim. This is an interpretation of the election results.
- Claim: The GOP and House Speaker Newt Gingrich pushed to impeach Clinton over the Monica Lewinsky affair.
- Verification Source #1: Supports the connection to the Lewinsky affair, stemming from the Paula Jones civil suit.
- Verification Source #3: Confirms the affair with Monica Lewinsky.
- Verification Source #5: Confirms the House voted to impeach Clinton on December 19, 1998.
- Claim: Clinton fought impeachment efforts to protect the office of the President.
- Verification Source #N: None of the provided sources directly verify Clinton's *stated* motivation. This is presented as his perspective.
- Claim: The impeachment was over the Monica Lewinsky affair.
- Verification Source #1: Connects the impeachment to the Lewinsky affair, stemming from the Paula Jones civil suit.
- Verification Source #4: States the impeachment articles were centered around perjury and obstruction of justice.
Supporting Evidence/Contradictions:
- The claim that the impeachment stemmed from the Monica Lewinsky affair is supported by Verification Source #1 and Verification Source #3.
- Verification Source #4 clarifies that the actual articles of impeachment were for perjury and obstruction of justice, which arose from the investigation into the Lewinsky affair. This doesn't contradict the article's claim, but provides more specific detail.
- The article presents Clinton's reason for fighting impeachment as "to protect the office of the President," but this is not independently verified by the provided sources. This is presented as his perspective.
- The claim about the 1998 midterms being a "voters' referendum against Republicans" is not covered by any of the provided sources. This is an interpretation of the election results and could be considered a biased framing.