This Day in History: 7 January 2020
7 January 1999
21 years ago, today, the impeachment trial of President Bill Clinton began in the Senate, after being charged with lying under oath and obstructing justice. The scandal that started this begun as well-regarded lawyer, Kenneth Starr, began to plague Clinton's presidency with attacks, and his investigation into Clinton was initially centred upon his pre-presidency financial dealings. This looked at potential wrongdoings by him and his wife, Hillary Clinton, in real estate developments, but found no evidence of this. However, accusations of sexual harassment began against Clinton by Paula Jones in Arkansas, and during the case, both former White House intern, Monica Lewinsky, and the president testified that they had not had a sexual relationship together. Despite this, Lewinsky and Clinton both admitted to Starr and his investigators that they had had an affair.
Afterwards, Starr submitted his report to the House Judiciary Committee, claiming the evidence of 11 impeachable offenses, among of which were perjury, obstruction of justice, witness-tampering, and abuse of power. The formal vote from the House was held on December 19, making Clinton the second president in history to be impeached. The Senate trial began on this day but was voted for five weeks later. The prosecution required a two-thirds majority to convict Clinton but failed to achieve any strong majority, and the charge of perjury was rejected, however, the Senate was split 50-50 on the charge of obstruction of justice.
Want to read more about President Clinton's impeachment? Clickhere for more details.
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