House Judiciary Committee Moves Towards Impeachment Hearings on Clinton

Strategic Insights -

The House Judiciary Committee is on the brink of deciding whether to hold impeachment hearings against President Clinton, with a meeting on Monday to review Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr's report and determine the scope and timing of the proceedings. The 15-point list of allegations, prepared by the Republicans' chief investigator, focuses on possible impeachment offenses, excluding Starr's charge of abuse of power. Democrats argue that the charges are "overstated," unsupported by evidence, and the product of zeal to make a case rather than state the law.

Key Takeaways:

  • The House Judiciary Committee is contemplating charges against President Clinton for the third time in U.S. history, following the meetings on Monday to review Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr's report and determine the scope and timing of the proceedings.
  • The 15-point list of allegations, prepared by the Republicans' chief investigator, focuses on possible impeachment offenses, excluding Starr's charge of abuse of power.
  • Democrats argue that the charges are "overstated," unsupported by evidence, and the product of zeal to make a case rather than state the law.
  • House Judiciary Chairman Henry Hyde stated that the committee's purpose is not to decide whether to impeach President Clinton but to ask whether they have a duty to look further or look away based on the information presented.
  • A Democratic proposal to limit an impeachment inquiry was defeated 21-16 along party lines, indicating a more limited inquiry is unlikely.
  • Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr's report was not the only basis for the impeachment charges, as the Republicans' chief investigator, David Schippers, presented additional charges, including obstruction of justice and witness tampering.
  • The impeachment inquiry would be only the third time in U.S. history that a president has undergone an impeachment investigation, following President Nixon in 1973-74 and President Andrew Johnson in 1868.
  • A number of Democratic lawmakers argue that impeachment is not about adultery, but rather about subversion of government, a view shared by Rep. John Conyers, Rep. Robert Wexler, and Rep. Charles Schumer.
  • Rep. Lindsey Graham echoed the public's ambivalence, saying he did not know whether censure was appropriate or if the president should just drop it or be thrown out of office.

Statistics:

  • The House Judiciary Committee has reviewed 15-point list of allegations prepared by the Republicans' chief investigator.
  • The list of allegations excluded Starr's charge of abuse of power, which many legal observers believed was the hardest to support.
  • 21 Democratic representatives voted in favor of a proposal to limit an impeachment inquiry, while 16 Republican representatives opposed it.
  • The impeachment inquiry would be only the third time in U.S. history that a president has undergone an impeachment investigation.
  • The committee has not spent a minute discussing what conduct rises to an impeachable offense, as stated by the Democrats' top investigator, Abbe Lowell.

Sources:

  • "The Washington Post"
  • Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr's report
  • David Schippers' presentation
  • Knight Ridder/Tribune Information Services
  • U.S. Congress, House Judiciary Committee, "Meeting Transcript," October 1998.