Former U.S. President Bill Clinton was impeached by Congress over his extramarital affair with intern Monica Lewinsky. However, the then House Speaker Newt Gingrich, who led the impeachment effort, recently stated that the affair itself wasn't worth impeachment—what truly warranted impeachment was Clinton's perjury in an earlier sexual harassment case.
Gingrich said in an interview that pursuing impeachment over the Lewinsky scandal was a mistake. He emphasized that the real issue wasn’t Lewinsky, but rather Clinton’s false testimony during a sexual harassment case while he was governor of Arkansas. After leaving office, Clinton had his law license revoked for five years as a result.
The alleged harassment case involved Paula Jones, a state employee, who accused Clinton of exposing himself to her in 1991 when he was governor. In 1999, a federal judge ruled that Clinton lied in this civil case, constituting perjury. Although he was not criminally convicted, he was found in contempt of court and had his law license suspended.
Gingrich believes that focusing the impeachment on Clinton’s private life, while overlooking his “high crime”—perjury—actually oversimplified the matter.
Ultimately, Clinton completed two full presidential terms. Gingrich himself resigned after the 1998 midterm elections, when the Republican Party lost seats. Later, he admitted that during the impeachment proceedings, he had an inappropriate relationship with a congressional aide.
Interestingly, earlier this year, The New York Times investigation revealed that sexual harassment remains a serious problem on Capitol Hill, affecting both parties. Two prominent lawmakers have already resigned this year due to improper relationships with subordinates.
Original source: toutiao.com/article/1866396694146052/
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