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Lewinsky, Monica

The Clinton-Lewinsky Scandal: A Year of Cover-Up and Consequences

Strategic Insights

— 2 min read

In August 1998, President Bill Clinton confessed to having an affair with White House intern Monica Lewinsky, following a year of controversy and scandal that had begun with a lawsuit filed by Paula Corbin Jones in May 1994, alleging Clinton had sexually harassed her while governor of Arkansas. The scandal led to Clinton's impeachment by the House of Representatives in December 1998 and his acquittal in the Senate in February 1999.

Key Takeaways:

  • January 1994: President Clinton asks for a special prosecutor to investigate his Whitewater land dealings, setting the stage for the scandal that would follow.
  • May 6, 1994: Paula Corbin Jones files a lawsuit alleging Clinton had sexually harassed her in 1991.
  • June 1995: Monica Lewinsky becomes an unpaid intern at the White House, where she begins a relationship with Clinton that would last for over a year.
  • November 1995: Clinton ends the relationship with Lewinsky, but it resumes in March 1996.
  • April 1996: Lewinsky is transferred to the Pentagon, citing "inappropriate and immature behavior" and inattention to work.
  • Summer 1996: Lewinsky begins to confide in Linda Tripp, a government worker, about her relationship with Clinton.
  • November 1996: Clinton is re-elected, but the scandal continues to grow.
  • 1997: Tripp begins secretly taping conversations with Lewinsky, who details her affair with Clinton.
  • December 1997: Lewinsky is subpoenaed in the Jones lawsuit and is asked to produce gifts from Clinton.
  • January 1998: Lewinsky signs an affidavit denying any sexual relationship with Clinton, but Tripp contacts Starr's office to report her suspicions.
  • August 1998: Lewinsky's attorneys agree to full immunity.
  • September 1998: Clinton undergoes extensive questioning by Starr.
  • October 1998: The House of Representatives votes to hold an impeachment inquiry.
  • December 1998: The House Judiciary Committee approves four articles of impeachment, including charges of perjury, obstruction of justice, and abuse of power.
  • January 1999: The Senate begins an impeachment trial, but Clinton is ultimately acquitted.

Statistics:

  • 3 years: The length of time between Clinton's alleged harassment of Paula Corbin Jones and the filing of her lawsuit in 1994.
  • 21: Lewinsky's age when she began her internship at the White House in June 1995.
  • 850,000: The settlement reached between Clinton and Paula Corbin Jones in November 1998.
  • 81: The number of questions posed to Clinton by the House Judiciary Committee regarding his responses to Starr's investigation.
  • 4: The number of articles of impeachment approved by the House Judiciary Committee in December 1998.

Sources:

  • "Jan. 12, 1994 - Under pressure, President Clinton asks that a special prosecutor investigate his Whitewater land dealings."
  • "May 6, 1994 - Paula Corbin Jones files a lawsuit alleging Clinton sexually harassed her in a Little Rock, Ark., hotel room three years earlier while she was a state clerk and he was governor."
  • "The Washington Post, January 23, 1999: 'Clinton Acquitted'."

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