by Peter Baker
Clinton jousted with the Starr lawyers every step of the way, insisting that there was no legal inconsistency between his past statements and his new admission, that he had been technically accurate before and did not commit perjury. Wisenberg noted that Clinton allowed his attorney during the Jones deposition to assert that there is absolutely no sex of any kind in any manner, shape, or form between Clinton and Lewinsky.
That was an utterly false statement. Is that correct? Wisenberg asked.
It depends on what the meaning of the word is is, Clinton responded. If theif heif is means is and never has been, that is notthat is one thing. If it means there is none, that was a completely true statement. The presidents lawyers winced. They believed he was being somewhat lighthearted about it, but recognized immediately that by quibbling over the tense of the verb, it would reinforce the public criticism of Clintons slippery style with words.
Convinced the videotape would eventually be made public, Clinton resisted strenuous attempts by Starrs prosecutors to get him to elaborate on his admission, declining to describe his sexual activities with Lewinsky. But with his finger wagging and his eyes narrowed in anger, Clinton lashed out against both the Jones lawyers for their bogus lawsuit and the Starr team for trying to criminalize my private life.
When they asked about his January 17 testimony in the Jones case, Clinton fell back on one of his fourteen prepared set pieces. My goal in this deposition was to be truthful, but not particularly helpful, he said. I did not wish to do the work of the Jones lawyers. I deplored what they were doing. I deplored the innocent people they were tormenting and traumatizing. I deplored their illegal leaking. I deplored the fact that they knew, once they knew our evidence, that this was a bogus lawsuit, and that because of the funding they had from my political enemies, they were putting ahead. I deplored it. But I was determined to walk through the minefield of this deposition without violating the law, and I believe I did. As for Starr, Clinton said resentfully, We have seen this four-year, forty-million-dollar investigation come down to parsing the definition of sex. Never mind that it was Clinton doing the parsing.
While the president was in with Starr and his deputies, the rest of the White House was in a strange state of suspended animation. The waiting was killing everyone; little real work was getting done at the most senior levels. Soon after the grand jury session began, the electronic surveillance equipment that monitored the presidents precise location at all times while in the White House showed that he had moved from the Map Room to the medical center. Some of his aides momentarily panicked. Was he all right? Doug Sosnik, the presidents counselor and constant companion for most of the past two years, raced from the West Wing over to the residence to find out, only to discover that they had just taken a break and retreated to the medical unit because it was next to the Map Room and had a refrigerator filled with Diet Coke. All over the White House, televisions were tuned to CNN, where a surreal game clock in the corner of the screen showed the time elapsed during the grand jury session as if it were a football game. Joe Lockhart, the deputy press secretary, grew so angry that he started throwing things at the television and finally called up CNN correspondent John King to tell him the clock was inaccurate anyway because they had no idea how much time had been spent in breaks. Soon afterward, the clock disappeared from the screen. One small victory, at least.
The political team reconvened in Ruffs office, including Podesta, McCurry, Lockhart, Emanuel, and Begala. Mickey Kantor sauntered in and began delivering a pep talk. The president appreciated everything everyone had done, he announced. Nobody should worry that the president had committed perjury, he added before leaving again.
The other aides were stunned at the presumption. Lockhart was particularly furious. They had spent every waking moment fighting for this president, absorbing his private tirades and being lied to by both the boss and his lawyers. And now this guy from the outside professed to convey the presidents feelings toward them? In their minds, Kantor was an enabler who encouraged Clintons worst instincts and caused more damage than he contained. They had blamed him for spreading stories early in the scandal suggesting the president suffered from sexual addiction, and just in recent days they were certain despite his denials that he had been the one who had leaked news of Clintons impending confession to the New York Times. Fuck you, someone exclaimed as soon as the door closed behind Kantor. Who the hell are you? others piped in.
A more serious fight, though, was beginning to rage over the presidents draft. The speech was supposed to be a straightforward admission and apology, but Clinton had written tough attacks on Starr into the text. That would undermine the message of contrition and merely set up a new confrontation. Throughout the rest of the afternoon, the presidents advisers maneuvered over the language of the speech, with the political staff united against Kantor, who wandered in and out and professed to represent what Clinton really wanted.
After getting nowhere, Begala, Emanuel, and the others decided to go over Kantors head. They rushed down the narrow staircase to the first floor of the West Wing and burst into the office of White House Chief of Staff Erskine Bowles, who had tried for seven months to keep out of the scandal-defense business. They were about to screw this up, the other aides told Bowles. He had to come upstairs and help. For once, Bowles agreed to get involved and immediately raced up to Ruffs office to find Kantor.
How dare you? Bowles demanded. Were not going to use this crap! Bowles was as fired up as few had ever seen the mild-mannered investment banker from North Carolina. But he made no more headway than anyone else had.
When the grand jury session finally ended at 6:25 P.M., Clinton gathered with his lawyers and a few other advisers in the medical unit. Carville was among those waiting for him, positioned there in an effort to have a friendly face greet him upon his emergence from the legal lions den. The president seemed all right, tired but composed. Given all he had gone through, he did not appear especially worked up. If anything, the adrenaline was still pumping and he seemed relieved. The lawyers reviewed his testimony and tried to figure out if there was anything to clean up. Kendall was particularly aggravated that the Starr team had tried to extend the four-hour time limit while on camera, essentially playing to the grand jury. The president was frustrated that he had not been able to see the grand jurors because of the one-way closed-circuit hookup. He had wanted to take the measure of his audience for perhaps the most important performance of his life and yet could not.
At the moment, though, there was no time for postgame analysis. Sorry to interrupt you guys, Doug Sosnik interjected, but we need to make a decision about whether you should go on.
With only five minutes until the evening news began, they had to determine whether Clinton should address the nation that night. If he was going to, Mike McCurry wanted to alert the networks in time to get the announcement on their broadcasts. The expectations for a speech had grown all day in the media, and the White House aides felt they had little choice. Waiting until the next day, they feared, would be seen as a sign that the grand jury testimony went badly. Besides, Clinton was anxious to get on with his vacation to Marthas Vineyard and escape from Washington as soon as possible.
Well, I feel fine, he said. What do you guys think?
If you feel okay, then wed probably prefer you go on, said Sosnik.
It was a go. But first, the lawyers said they wanted a chance to debrief their client in private and ushered him off to the Solarium, while Begala, Sosnik, and the other political aides returned to the West Wing to prepare. About a half hour later, Begala headed up to the Solarium to see where things stood. Eventually 7:30 P.M. rolled around and the rest of the political aides still had not been called to come join the president and his legal team. For seven months, the lawyers had shut out the political advisers from the defense efforts, and now it looked as if it was happening again. They must be working on the speech by themselves, the political aides concluded.
They fucked us, Sosnik exclaimed.
Podesta, Sosnik, Emanuel, and Carville rushed upstairs to the Solarium to discover the president and the first lady surrounded by his lawyers, prepared to go on national television with both barrels blasting at Starr. It was exactly what they were afraid of when Kantor had first told them there was another draft. Any attack on Starr would detract from the central message they thought the president should deliverthat he had misled the country, that he was wrong to do it, and that he was sorry.
I was wrong. I have to apologize to the American people, the president agreed. But this is outrageous what Starr has done. If I dont say that, no one else will. I cant just let this go.
People arent going to hang with you because youre opposed to Starr, Emanuel told the president. Theyre going to hang with you because of what youre doing for them.
Reaching back to the first crucible many of those in the room had gone through together, Emanuel reminded Clinton of his famous speech the night of the New Hampshire primary in 1992 when he came back to place a strong second despite the Gennifer Flowers and Vietnam draft scandals. Clinton had told his audience that night, The hits that I took in this election are nothing compared to the hits that the people of this state and this country are taking every day of their lives under this administration. That was the emphasis Clinton should remember now, Emanuel saidthe people wanted to know their issues were more important to him than his own.
Everyone in the room felt the same way about Starr, Emanuel added. The speech was not wrong, but it was the wrong time and the wrong messenger. You shouldnt do it. Well do it.
Sosnik made the same point. Thats why God invented James Carville, he said, as Carville himself, the presidents favorite attack dog, looked on.
But Clinton would not be moved. He raged that Starr and his henchmen were unfair to him, and he felt strongly that if it was left unsaid it would legitimize their actions. The front end of the speech, where he would express his regret, would give him room at the back end to lay out his grievances.
I did wrong and so did he, Clinton huffed. Damn it, somebody has to say these things. I dont care if Im impeached, its the right thing to do.
The debate raged on for some time. Kendall, still steaming from the way Starr had handled the grand jury session, justified an attack on the independent counsels conduct because Clinton had to offer some reason why he did not tell the truth to the public for seven months. Harry Thomason, the presidents Hollywood producer friend who had urged Clinton back in January to give a fateful finger-wagging denial (I did not have sexual relations with that woman, Miss Lewinsky), agreed that the president had every right to declare a zone of privacy in his speech. Kantor felt the president should be allowed to say what he truly felt and tried to fend off those who believed otherwise.
And then there was the first lady, who had by now covered up her hurt again to take on the role of field marshal for the defense. Hillary Clinton despised the prosecutor for once forcing her to testify before the Whitewater grand jury herselfin person at the courthouse, where it would be more publicly humiliating. At some point, the discussion boiled down to a one-on-one match between the first lady and Erskine Bowles. Never before could anyone remember Clinton ignoring Bowless advice on a significant matter, but on this one the chief of staff was not getting through.
This is crazy, Bowles said. This is stupid and wrong. In his experience, Bowles said, he had found that the best thing to do after screwing up was just admit it and say youre sorry. Dont blame it on anybody else.
The room was crowded with so many would-be speechwriters that Kantor finally erupted in exasperation, This is getting out of control! he cried, pushing himself back from the table. Well never get this done!
Podesta, Sosnik, and Emanuel decided to leave, hoping if they removed themselves, so would the lawyers. But the lawyers stayed and Begala was left on his own to keep fighting without help. By that time, the die was probably cast. Hillary Clinton had weighed in.
Well, its your speech, she told her husband sharply. You should say what you want to say. Then she turned on her heel and walked out.
The debate was over. Clinton went upstairs to shower and change into a fresh dark suit with a sharp blue tie that he had worn at his first inauguration in 1993. He returned to the Map Room and sat down soberly, placing his palms on his knees, steeling himself. A technician complained the microphone needed to be higher on his lapel, so Begala walked over to move it. Harry Thomason and his wife, Linda Bloodworth-Thomason, positioned themselves in the room outside of camera range so they could cheer Clinton on during the broadcast. In a few moments, the cameras were turned on and the president addressed the nation:
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. It constituted a critical lapse in judgment and a personal failure on my part for which I am solely and completely responsible. But I told the grand jury today and I say to you now that at no time did I ask anyone to lie, to hide or destroy evidence, or to take any other unlawful action.
I know that my public comments and my silence about this matter gave a false impression. I misled people, including even my wife. I deeply regret that.
At this point, Clintons tone shifted and his eyes narrowed again in that unmistakable sign of barely contained rage easily recognized by his aides. Any sense of remorse was gone. Now there was only deep-seated resentment. The questions about Lewinsky were being asked in a politically inspired lawsuit, which has since been dismissed, he said. The independent counsels investigation began with private business dealings and then moved on to my staff and friends, then into my private life.
This has gone on too long, cost too much, and hurt too many innocent people. Now, this matter is between me, the two people I love mostmy wife and our daughterand our God. I must put it right, and I am prepared to do whatever it takes to do so. Nothing is more important to me personally. But it is private, and I intend to reclaim my family life for my family. Its nobodys business but ours. Even presidents have private lives. It is time to stop the pursuit of personal destruction and the prying into private lives and get on with our national life.
In just four minutes, it was over. The rest of Clintons staff watched from the Solarium, where chicken enchiladas were served. They looked around at each other with knowing expressions. The verdict was clear. It was a disaster.
What do they expect me to do? Clinton fumed when told about the negative television analysis. Roll over and let Starr do this and just take it?
An unfaithful president was hardly a new story. Grover Cleveland had faced charges of fathering an illegitimate child. Warren G. Harding engaged in regular sexual romps with Nan Britton in the same space just off the Oval Office that Bill Clinton would later find so convenient. Franklin D. Roosevelt had Lucy Mercer. Dwight D. Eisenhower was linked to Kay Summersby. John F. Kennedy fooled around with Marilyn Monroe, Judith Campbell Exner, and a host of others. Lyndon B. Johnson, ever insecure about the Kennedys, even boasted that he was far more of a philanderer than his predecessor, telling associates, Why, I had more women by accident than he ever had by design.
None, however, had his private indiscretions so thoroughly and publicly excavated as Clinton had. A product of an era when the news media no longer covered up politicians peccadilloes, Clinton had strayed so often and so flagrantly from his marriage vows while building his political career in Arkansas that he was talked out of his first run for the presidency in 1988 by aide Betsey Wright, who compiled a list of women and suggested he would suffer the same fate as Gary Hart had just months earlier. Four years later, Clinton launched his campaign for the 1992 presidential nomination by confessing to a roomful of reporters in Washington that he had caused problems in his marriage, only to discover that the tactic would not inoculate him once Gennifer Flowers had sold her story of a twelve-year a
ffair to a tabloid. The next six years would produce a regular smorgasbord of tales from Clintons past, each seemingly more sensational than the last, from the Arkansas state troopers who said they procured women for him to Paula Jones, who claimed he exposed himself to her and requested that she kiss it. If rumors were to be believed, he had slept with movie stars, a Miss America, the wife of one of his ambassadors, the daughter of a former vice president, a woman on his White House staff, a judge he had appointed to the bench, the stewardesses from his campaign plane, and even prostitutes. It became almost impossible to separate the credible from the ridiculous, although the evidence suggested there was a mix of both.
All of which most of the American public had absorbed largely with indifference until January 21, 1998, when Monica Lewinsky became a household name and the political implosion predicted a decade earlier by Betsey Wright finally came to pass. Starrs investigators, having reached a dry well in searching for provable financial wrongdoing by the first couple, had now turned their attention to Clintons attempts to cover up his extracurricular love life during legal proceedings spawned by Joness sexual harassment lawsuit. For days following disclosure of Starrs investigation, even Clinton privately wondered whether his presidency was over. His indignant denials, false though they were, bought him the time he needed for the shock of a president fooling around with an intern to wear off, so that when he finally came around to admitting his deceit, the public had already processed the situation and come to terms with it.
But within the White House, a pallor had set in for seven months and virtually never lifted. The energy of the place was sapped, and top aides squirmed when forced to answer questions about their bosss sexual adventures. It was always clear in the West Wing who had an upcoming date with Starrs grand jurythey would disappear for long stretches to consult with lawyers, and if that were not enough of a clue, their faces always gave it away. Many senior White House officials harbored doubts, but let themselves be convinced that perhaps the president was really telling the truth, that he had retired from womanizing, as he once put it.
