Links to Legal Proceedings
Against Bill Clinton
Copyright 2004 Ronald B. Standler
Table of Contents
Introduction
Whitewater Investigation
Jones v. Clinton civil case
Impeachment
Links to News Media (includes copies of documents)
Other Collections of Links
Introduction
There was a lengthy investigation by an Independent Counsel into the involvement of
William ("Bill") Jefferson Clinton and Hillary Rodham Clinton
into the failed investment in a land project known as
Whitewater, which failed investment ultimately contributed to the collapse of the federally
insured Madison Guaranty Savings & Loan.
Concurrently, Paula Jones sued Bill Clinton in Federal Court in
Arkansas for alleged sexual harassment. During 1995-97, while he was President, Bill Clinton had a
relationship with Monica Lewinsky. Clinton gave testimony about Lewinsky in the Jones case
that he later admitted was false and misleading. Around the same time, the Independent Counsel
broadened his inquiry to also include the Lewinsky affair. Bill Clinton gave testimony
before a federal grand jury in August 1998 about the Lewinsky affair, and the Independent
Counsel believed that some of Clinton's testimony there was also false.
The Independent Counsel made a report to the U.S. House of Representatives,
which began an impeachment inquiry in their Judiciary Committee. Clinton was subsequently
impeached by the U.S. House of Representative, but not convicted by the U.S. Senate.
Finally, the judge in the Jones case found Bill Clinton in contempt of court, for which
he subsequently was suspended from the practice of law in Arkansas.
Because most of investigation and impeachment proceedings occurred in the late 1990s, when the
Internet was fully operational, this was one of the first major events to be fully recorded on
the Internet. Unlike previous political scandals, all of the publicly available reports
of the Independent Counsel and legislative documents are available on the Internet.
This means that students and citizens can read the original source materials for themselves,
instead of relying on accounts by journalists and commentators in newspapers and magazines.
As I assembled this collection of links on 2-4 October 2004, I noticed that many webpages
that were written in 1999 on Whitewater, Jones v. Clinton, and Clinton's impeachment
had links to resources that had already disappeared from the Internet.
Because hard disk space is cheap, I hope that
webmasters will not remove these important historical documents from their websites.
Whitewater Investigation
Government Printing Office
The Starr Report 9 Sep 1998 (on the Lewinsky affair)
Library of Congress, alternate URL
Government Printing Office, alternate URL
Court TV also has Volumes 2 through 7 in Adobe PDF.
Washington Post
CNN
New York Times
Public Broadcasting System
San Francisco Chronicle
Time magazine
Posting copies of the Starr Report at multiple websites decreased the traffic at each website,
nonetheless many websites were overloaded on 11-12 Sep 1998 when the Report became
publicly available on the Internet.
The popularity of the Starr Report is at least partly attributable to its explicit descriptions
of sexual activities. Ironically, at the time this Report was issued there was a controversy
over the need to protect children from obscenity on the Internet.
Appendices Vols. 2 to 7 of Starr Report (House Document 105-311)
Clinton's Preliminary Memorandum of 11 Sep 1998, in response to Starr Report
White House (also has PDF version)
alternate URL
Independent Counsel
House of Representatives Document 105-317
Clinton's Initial Response of 12 Sep 1998
Jones v. Clinton
The WestLaw
database includes full-text of 15 judicial opinions in this case:
- Jones v. Clinton, 858 F.Supp. 902 (E.D.Ark. 21 July 1994)
(Granted Clinton's motion to defer case until presidential immunity issue was decided.)
- 869 F.Supp. 690 (E.D.Ark. 28 Dec 1994) (Granted Clinton's motion to defer trial until
after his term(s) as president. Denied Clinton's motion for presidential immunity.)
- 879 F.Supp. 86 (E.D.Ark. 24 Feb 1995) (Granting Clinton's motion for a stay during his appeal.)
- 72 F.3d 1354 (8th Cir. 9 Jan 1996) (appeal of 869 F.Supp. 690, affirms no presidential immunity,
reverses delay of trial)
- 81 F.3d 78 (8th Cir. 28 Mar 1996) (denies rehearing of 72 F.3d 1354, denies en banc hearing)
- 518 U.S. 1016, 116 S.Ct. 2545 (24 June 1996) (grants certiorari in appeal of 869 F.Supp. 690 and
72 F.3d 1354)
- 519 U.S. 925, 117 S.Ct. 291 (15 Oct 1996) (Motion of the Acting Solicitor General for leave to
participate in oral argument as amicus curiae and for divided argument granted.)
- 520 U.S. 681, 117 S.Ct. 1636 (27 May 1997) (affirms 72 F.3d 1354)
- 974 F.Supp. 712 (E.D.Ark. 22 Aug 1997) (Clinton moved to dismiss claims.
West headnote: "... held that:
(1) employee stated [42 U.S.C.] § 1983 quid pro quo and hostile work environment sexual harassment claims
based on gender; (2) employee failed to state claim for deprivation of substantive due process
right to bodily integrity claim; (3) employee failed to show that she was deprived of property
interest in her state job for purposes of due process claim; (4) employee's claims were
insufficient to show violation of protected liberty interest for purposes of her due process claim;
(5) employee sufficiently alleged civil rights conspiracy claim against state trooper and President;
(6) employee stated intentional infliction of emotional distress claim under Arkansas law;
and (7) statements by White House aide's and President's attorneys to press denying claims were
absolutely privileged from employee's defamation claim under Arkansas law.")
- 993 F.Supp. 1217 (E.D.Ark. 9 Mar 1998) (Granted Independent Counsel's motion for
stay of discovery about Monica Lewinsky.)
- 990 F.Supp. 657 (E.D.Ark. 1 Apr 1998) (Granted Defendants' motion for summary judgment. West headnote:
"held that: (1) the former employee failed to establish a basis for quid pro quo or hostile work
environment sexual harassment; (2) absent an underlying civil rights violation,
there was no basis for a conspiracy claim; and (3) the conduct at issue was not sufficiently
outrageous to amount to the Arkansas law tort of outrage or intentional infliction of emotional
distress.")
- 138 F.3d 758 (8th Cir. 15 April 1998) (Before 990 F.Supp. 657 was issued, journalists sought to
unseal discovery that was taken under a protective order. Court of Appeals remands without
ruling on the merits.)
- 12 F.Supp.2d 931 (E.D.Ark. 30 June 1998) (Removed most of confidentiality order, but
identities of third-parties would remain confidential and videotapes of depositions
remained under seal.)
- 16 F.Supp.2d 1054 (E.D.Ark. 8 Oct 1998) (West headnote: "... held that documents previously
subject to confidentiality order would be unsealed and released to the extent they did not
impact upon parties' rights to a fair trial or interests of the Jane Does in maintaining privacy.")
- 161 F.3d 528 (8th Cir. 2 Dec 1998) (dismissal of Jones' appeal of 990 F.Supp. 657,
after Clinton paid her to settle this case).
After the conclusion of the impeachment proceedings, there were several more judicial opinions
related to Clinton's contempt of court in this case:
- Jones v. Clinton, 36 F.Supp.2d. 1118 (E.D.Ark. 12 April 1999) (Clinton found in
civil contempt of court for violation of discovery orders.)
- Jones v. Clinton, 57 F.Supp.2d 719 (E.D.Ark. 29 Jul 1999) (Clinton ordered to reimburse Jones' attorneys for
$89,484 for legal fees and expenses.)
- Neal v. Clinton, 2001 WL 34355768 (Ark.Cir. 19 Jan 2001) (Clinton suspended from practice
of law in Arkansas until Jan 2006, Clinton ordered to pay $25,000 fine, for his misconduct
during discovery in Jones v. Clinton, 36 F.Supp.2d. 1118.)
- Jones v. Clinton, 206 F.3d 811 (8th Cir. 22 Mar 2000) (District court denied motion of Dolly Kyle Browning,
a non-party witness in Jones v. Clinton, to hold Clinton in criminal contempt.
On appeal, held that Browning lacked standing to appeal.)
Note that WestLaw charges for access to their proprietary online database.
One can read paper copies of these court opinions in any courthouse library that has the
Federal Supplement, the Federal Reporter, and either
U.S. Reports or West's Supreme Court Reporter.
All law school libraries in the USA have these volumes, but many private law schools
restrict access to their library.
For free items on the Internet, see the links in the section News below.
The Court TV website includes a copy of the Complaint and other items not found in WestLaw.
Excerpts from Judge Wright's finding Bill Clinton
in contempt of court. Jones v. Clinton, 36 F.Supp.2d. 1118 (E.D.Ark. 1999),
and Bill Clinton's subsequent suspension from the practice of law in Arkansas and his resignation
from the bar of the U.S. Supreme Court.
Impeachment & Trial
U.S. House of Representatives
House Judiciary Committee
Links to resources from August 1998 to January 1999.
Also has chronology of trial in U.S. Senate during January/February 1999.
Impeachment: An Overview of Constitutional
Provisions, Procedure, and Practice by Elizabeth B. Bazan
Government Printing Office
Impeachment Inquiry by Judiciary Committee of U.S. House of Representatives
Reports Nr. 18-19
Reports Nr. 66-68
House Resolution 105-611 Impeaching Clinton
Alternate URL
U.S. Senate
Senate publications,
including Congressional Record from 7 Jan to 12 Feb 1999.
Evidentiary Record
Links to News Media
Several major newspapers provide free access to their collections on this subject.
These collections include copies of documents and reports on this subject, in addition to articles
written by journalists.
Washington Post An excellent collection of materials!
Whitewater
Jones v. Clinton,
legal documents
Impeachment
Court TV
Whitewater
Jones v. Clinton
Impeachment
CNN
Whitewater
coverage from 1994 to 1997.
Links to CNN news articles
on Lewinsky and impeachment from 21 Jan 1998 to 9 Nov 2001, plus documents.
In addition, individual CNN news articles are posted on the Internet and are searchable with
Google.
New York Times
Whitewater
Jones v. Clinton (Nov 1998 to July 1999)
Impeachment (Feb 1999 to Feb 2001)
Impeachment Documents (6 Feb 1998 to 13 Feb 1999)
Linda Greenhouse, New York Times Supreme Court correspondent
Public Broadcasting System
Starr Investigation
news
articles from 5 Jan 1996 to 24 Feb 1999.
Impeachment
Guardian newspaper in Manchester, England
news items
timeline from 1992 to 8 Jan 1999
British Broadcasting Corp.
Other Collections of Links
There are many collections of links to resources on this subject, of which the following are
particularly noteworthy.
Univ. of Michigan Government Documents Center
Jurist,
a website by Prof. Bernard J. Hibbitts at the Univ. of Pittsburgh Law School
Rutgers Univ., Eagleton Institute of Politics
Library of Congress Bibliography of Internet Resources on Impeachment
Cornell Univ. Law School Legal Information Institute: Impeachment
West Texas A & M Univ. Library
Univ. of North Texas Library (no changes after Dec 2002)
Washington Univ. Law Library
Univ. at Buffalo Arts & Sciences Library
Constitutional Rights Foundation educational materials on impeachment
Australian Politics, an educational website created by Malcolm Farnsworth,
a teacher in Melbourne, Australia
Nixon & Watergate
Jones v. Clinton
Starr Report
Clinton Impeachment
Final Statements by each U.S. Senator
Feminist Organizations
Despite Bill Clinton's history of adulterous sexual relationships with women,
feminist organizations were strongly supportive of Clinton, perhaps because the alternative
was a Republican president who would support overturning Roe v. Wade.
National Organization for Women Statements on Jones v. Clinton
Washington Post article 14 Jan 1997
Editorial in Yale Univ. newspaper 13 Feb 1998
Editorial in Univ. Washington newspaper 30 Mar 1998
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created 2 Oct 2004, revised 7 Oct 2004
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