10 Alarming Details Surrounding Bill Clinton’s Impeachment And Sex Scandal

6 /10 Breaking The Gate

The scandal erupted in January of 1998 through the Drudge Report and later through The Washington Post. Days later, Bill Clinton denied, famously, having “sexual relations with that woman” in a clip that, for its time, became viral.

His wife Hillary spoke up for him, denouncing it as a “right-wing conspiracy” to discredit Bill as a Democrat and President. The next few months were covered by investigations and hearings, leading to the first trials.

5 /10 Indicting Indecency

Bill Clinton was deposed and put before a senate jury to address the claims. Monica also turned over her dress with his semen stains, which became irrefutable evidence in the case against him.

Clinton did admit to having an affair, which then led to charges of perjury for lying about it in the first place, as well as obstruction of justice.

These all led to letters of impeachment being put forward to remove him from office following a trial where he would have to prove his innocence against all the proof in the world.

4 /10 Operation Wag The Dog

In August of 1998, just three days after Clinton testified in his famous “what the definition of is is” standing, his previously launched military effort “Infinite Reach” led to bombings in Afghanistan and Iraq in retaliation for al-Qaeda bombings earlier that year.

This was seen as a distraction attempt to get the public eye away from his sex scandal – and mirrored the events of a movie released the previous year about a President in a sex scandal starting a fake war to distract from it before re-election.

The coincidence was written off, but the bombings were not forgotten.

3 /10 A History Of Corruption

This wasn’t Lewinsky’s first time running an affair. She was alleged to have had experiences with her high school drama teacher after she graduated, and then once again, she went to college in Portland, Oregon.

She revealed on Larry King Live in 2000 that she had an affair after the Clinton scandal as well, shortly before vanishing from the public after her image as a “presidential homebreaker” was put forward.

2 /10 Crime And Punishment

Clinton was acquitted and effectively released from any legal wrongdoings in the end after a majority vote failed to impeach him or maintain his guilt within the Senate.

His collective punishment was a $90,000 fine and a suspension of his ability to practice law in the state of Arkansas for five years, which later led to a disbarring of his legal credentials.

His further punishment has come many, many years later where the scandal has overtaken his entire persona and legacy, in the same way that Watergate did to Nixon.

All of his accomplishments have been shadowed by the presence of his relationship with his office intern. His reputation has never recovered – not that he seems to care.

1 /10 The Other Story

As for Monica, she did confirm – more than once – that the relationship happened but was mutual and consensual, albeit slightly unprofessional.

She even took the blame for herself later on, outright insisting that some fault did lie with her.

She left the public eye until around 2014, when she re-emerged to discuss the scandal, its fallout, how public perception can affect trials.

She spoke out about cyberbullying and has remained a positive public figure in various activist circles, including the #MeToo movement – though she was not specific on who had sexually harassed her. Perhaps it was an understatement.