White House Press Briefing (09/21/98)
The following brief statement was issued by the White House Press Secretary in reaction to the public airing of the video tapes of President Clinton's testimony before the Grand Jury investigating the Monica Lewisnky case. The text was released by the White House on 09/22/98.
THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
(New York, New York)
________________________________________________________________________
For Immediate Release September 21, 1998
STATEMENT BY THE PRESS SECRETARY
The process leading up to today's events has been deeply flawed.
The rank partisanship that led to the wholesale release of these
materials, most of which are irrelevant, is regrettable. The
unprecedented violation of grand jury secrecy that has resulted from
the release of these materials is similarly unfortunate. And the
gratuitous decision to make certain that the most salacious details
were included -- despite a bipartisan staff agreement to keep them
out -- raises questions as to the intent of the Republican majority.
The question of impeaching a President is one of the most solemn and
serious undertakings that any Congress can take upon itself. Sadly,
the Republican majority in Congress is off to a bad start.
What is clear from the President's testimony before the Grand Jury
is that the President, during his testimony, acknowledged an
inappropriate extramarital relationship. The President declined to
discuss the intimate details of that relationship despite repeated
efforts by Mr. Starr and his prosecutors to browbeat and badger him
into doing so.
Now that the President's testimony has been made available for all
to see and hear, the real question for the American people and for the
Congress of the United States is whether the President's conduct --
however it may be judged -- should result in the President's
impeachment. That the President's conduct does not rise to the level
of an impeachable offense should now be clear to everyone.
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