High Crimes and Misdemeanors: The Case Against Bill Clinton (28 page)
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Authors: Ann Coulter
BOOK: High Crimes and Misdemeanors: The Case Against Bill Clinton
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THE PRESIDENT EXPLAINS EVERYTHING
As late as April 1997
President Clinton was maintaining that any help administration officials were providing Hubbell was entirely innocent because “no one had any idea” of the seriousness of the criminal allegations against him: “Everybody thought there was some sort of billing dispute with his law firm.” In a dogged attempt to get the truth out, Lanny Davis recited the White House line almost verbatim, also in April 1997, saying, “[L]ots of people believed that Webb Hubbell had done nothing wrong… that he was involved in some type of billing dispute with his former law partners.”
President Clinton was maintaining that any help administration officials were providing Hubbell was entirely innocent because “no one had any idea” of the seriousness of the criminal allegations against him: “Everybody thought there was some sort of billing dispute with his law firm.” In a dogged attempt to get the truth out, Lanny Davis recited the White House line almost verbatim, also in April 1997, saying, “[L]ots of people believed that Webb Hubbell had done nothing wrong… that he was involved in some type of billing dispute with his former law partners.”
That still wouldn’t have explained why Hubbell was being paid enormous amounts of money for so little work
17
; but the explanation wasn’t true, anyway. On May 4, 1997, the
New York Times
reported that two of Clinton’s closest advisers had, after all, explained unequivocally to President Clinton back in March 1994 that Hubbell was in serious trouble. Oops.
17
; but the explanation wasn’t true, anyway. On May 4, 1997, the
New York Times
reported that two of Clinton’s closest advisers had, after all, explained unequivocally to President Clinton back in March 1994 that Hubbell was in serious trouble. Oops.
The trouble was so serious, in fact, that both advisers told Clinton that Hubbell was going to have to resign. Arkansas lawyer James B. Blair told the Clintons that the law firm had “pretty strong proof of wrongdoing,” and that Hubbell would have to resign immediately. President Clinton’s personal lawyer, David Kendall, had flown to Little Rock to investigate the allegations. He seconded Blair’s conclusion and facilitated Hubbell’s resignation.
18
18
So really, everybody didn’t think it “was some sort of billing dispute,” as the president had claimed before the evidence indicated otherwise.
HELP ON THE WAYWhen the Monica Lewinsky story broke,
it did not pass unnoticed that one of the same Clinton friends who had arranged “consulting fees” for Hubbell had arranged a job in New York for young Monica. Indeed, Vernon Jordan had set up a $40,000-a-year job for Lewinsky with Revlon—whose parent company had seen fit to hire Hubbell as a consultant for $60,000. Familiarity with the president’s private parts apparently had a considerably weaker market value than familiarity with Mrs. Clinton’s law practice.
it did not pass unnoticed that one of the same Clinton friends who had arranged “consulting fees” for Hubbell had arranged a job in New York for young Monica. Indeed, Vernon Jordan had set up a $40,000-a-year job for Lewinsky with Revlon—whose parent company had seen fit to hire Hubbell as a consultant for $60,000. Familiarity with the president’s private parts apparently had a considerably weaker market value than familiarity with Mrs. Clinton’s law practice.
Remarking on the similar pattern of career assistance bestowed on both Hubbell and Lewinsky, one former White House official admitted, “These are people Bill Clinton is worried about, and he’s trying to keep them happy.”
19
19
In fact, the president’s concern about the former intern’s job search grew to a fever pitch just about the time it became evident that Paula Jones’s lawyers were going to seek Lewinsky’s testimony. Suddenly the twenty-four-year-old Lewinsky found herself being chaperoned around Washington by Jordan, one of the capital’s most powerful lawyers; being interviewed directly by the ambassador to the U.N.—conveniently, in her very own apartment complex; and being offered a series of jobs in the private sector. But Lanny Davis soon clarified things: “This does not sound to me like a pattern of people being paid off. You could find numerous instances of Bill Clinton helping his friends get jobs.”
20
20
Bill Clinton has, in fact, tried to help many friends get jobs, frequently jobs with the government. Friends such as Gennifer Flowers, the Arkansas troopers, and Kathleen Willey. But they’re not friends, really—they’re witnesses.
Flowers, with whom Clinton has finally admitted to an affair, leap-frogged over more qualified applicants for a job with the state of Arkansas, despite scoring ninth out of the eleven applicants on a merit test. According to Flowers, she told Clinton, “Get me a job,” and he did.
21
Clinton sent a state employee to coach her for the job interview, and changed the job description to better suit Flowers’s skills. Charlette Perry, a longtime state employee who had applied for the position, filed a grievance when she lost out to Flowers. Though the grievance committee ruled in Perry’s favor, the Governor’s Board of Review overturned the decision.
22
And, of course, on the tapes she secretly recorded, Flowers can be heard telling then-Governor Clinton, “The only thing that concerns me, where I’m, where I’m concerned at this point, is the state job.” Clinton responds, “Yeah, I never thought about that…. If they ever ask if you’ve talked to me about it, you can say no.”
21
Clinton sent a state employee to coach her for the job interview, and changed the job description to better suit Flowers’s skills. Charlette Perry, a longtime state employee who had applied for the position, filed a grievance when she lost out to Flowers. Though the grievance committee ruled in Perry’s favor, the Governor’s Board of Review overturned the decision.
22
And, of course, on the tapes she secretly recorded, Flowers can be heard telling then-Governor Clinton, “The only thing that concerns me, where I’m, where I’m concerned at this point, is the state job.” Clinton responds, “Yeah, I never thought about that…. If they ever ask if you’ve talked to me about it, you can say no.”
Independently corroborating Flowers’s story, Arkansas Trooper Larry Patterson said, “I was in the governor’s car when he made the call on the cellular phone…. I remember Clinton was insistent. He finally said something like, ‘Do whatever it takes… get her a job.’” The state official Patterson says Clinton was haranguing admitted that he recommended Flowers for the job, but has denied that he did so because of a call from Clinton. Must have been her score on the merit test.
23
23
Patterson himself, along with another state trooper, became the sort of “friends” Clinton likes to help when they started blabbing to reporters in late 1993. While the troopers were still waffling on whether to allow their off-the-record recollections to go on record, Clinton called Trooper Danny Ferguson to offer them federal jobs, either in Washington or in Arkansas. According to Ferguson, Clinton specifically mentioned openings with the Federal Emergency Management Administration or the U.S. Marshals Office. One of Clinton’s White House aides called Ferguson’s wife the next day to offer her a job in the White House.
24
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To their financial detriment, the troopers opted against the jobs, and for the truth—not only about Clinton’s use of the troopers as his sexual escort service but also about Clinton’s offers to trade government jobs for silence. Betsey Wright, who had been Governor Clinton’s chief of staff and had supervised Clinton’s “bimbo eruption” response team during the 1992 campaign, promptly flew to Little Rock to have a chat with Trooper Ferguson. According to witnesses, Wright said to Ferguson, “This infidelity stuff we can handle—don’t worry. But… this jobs for silence allegation could get the man impeached.”
25
Back in 1993, that kind of thing could get you impeached.
25
Back in 1993, that kind of thing could get you impeached.
On December 22, 1993, Clinton said, “The allegations on abuse of the state or the federal positions I have—it’s not true. That
absolutely
did not happen.” The word “absolutely” seems to be the president’s secret little code word meaning he or his men are lying. During the 1992 campaign, when he denied having an affair with Gennifer Flowers, Clinton said, “I have
absolutely
leveled with the American people.”
26
Clinton lawyer Bob Bennett said Kathleen Willey had “
absolutely
no knowledge or information of any relevance” to the Paula Jones case, and that Monica Lewinsky swore that “there is
absolutely
no sex of any kind in any manner, shape, or form, with President Clinton.” And Mrs. Clinton said of the Lewinsky allegations, “I believe they are false—
absolutely
.”
absolutely
did not happen.” The word “absolutely” seems to be the president’s secret little code word meaning he or his men are lying. During the 1992 campaign, when he denied having an affair with Gennifer Flowers, Clinton said, “I have
absolutely
leveled with the American people.”
26
Clinton lawyer Bob Bennett said Kathleen Willey had “
absolutely
no knowledge or information of any relevance” to the Paula Jones case, and that Monica Lewinsky swore that “there is
absolutely
no sex of any kind in any manner, shape, or form, with President Clinton.” And Mrs. Clinton said of the Lewinsky allegations, “I believe they are false—
absolutely
.”
In any event, the troopers didn’t sell their silence and, consequently, didn’t get jobs with the federal government—or half a million dollars in “consulting” fees. They didn’t even get a book deal with a $400,000 advance, as Webb Hubbell did. (Hubbell’s book was fittingly titled
Friends in High Places
.) The troopers’ only financial “gains” were (1) not being fired from their state jobs, though they were forced to give up their moonlighting jobs, and (2) patching together a few thousand dollars from conservative groups.
PRISONER BLUESFriends in High Places
.) The troopers’ only financial “gains” were (1) not being fired from their state jobs, though they were forced to give up their moonlighting jobs, and (2) patching together a few thousand dollars from conservative groups.
We aren’t waiting for any new facts to come out.
It is a known fact that Webb Hubbell could not possibly have done anything on his own to earn half a million dollars in consulting fees after a disgraceful resignation and impending criminal indictment, just as it is a known fact that Mrs. Clinton could not have parlayed a $1,000 investment into a $100,000 return in cattle futures simply by reading the
Wall Street Journal.
It is a known fact that Webb Hubbell could not possibly have done anything on his own to earn half a million dollars in consulting fees after a disgraceful resignation and impending criminal indictment, just as it is a known fact that Mrs. Clinton could not have parlayed a $1,000 investment into a $100,000 return in cattle futures simply by reading the
Wall Street Journal.
No one thinks this could be true. These preposterous things should be laughed away. But it’s considered unseemly to laugh out loud when the president and the president’s men lie to us.
The first article of impeachment against President Nixon charged him with obstruction of justice. Most seriously, the article accused Nixon of “approving, condoning, and acquiescing in, the surreptitious payment of substantial sums of money for the purpose of obtaining the silence or influencing the testimony of witnesses, [or] potential witnesses.”
Even with the release of the Nixon tapes, and his complete perfidy laid bare, the worst that can be said about Nixon is the least that Clinton is willing to admit. Nixon can be heard on the tapes discussing the possibility of raising money for the Watergate defendants. The Clinton administration had a full-court briefing in the White House on the subject of paying Hubbell.
After Nixon discussed the idea of paying the Watergate burglars, however,
that money was never paid.
Hubbell actually got paid—more money, in fact, than he had ever earned in a single year of his life before being indicted. Both Nixon and Clinton maintained that they never thought of the payments—conceptual in Nixon’s case and actual in Clinton’s case—as “hush money.”
27
Both said they only wanted to help defray the living expenses of the defendants and their families. Both said they expected nothing in return.
that money was never paid.
Hubbell actually got paid—more money, in fact, than he had ever earned in a single year of his life before being indicted. Both Nixon and Clinton maintained that they never thought of the payments—conceptual in Nixon’s case and actual in Clinton’s case—as “hush money.”
27
Both said they only wanted to help defray the living expenses of the defendants and their families. Both said they expected nothing in return.
What might either president have sought in return?
The Watergate defendants could not have implicated Nixon in the break-in, for the simple reason that Nixon had nothing to do with that. What they could have done is ratted out the president for trying to prevent national security leaks. After secret security codes in the Pentagon Papers had been leaked to the
New York Times
, Nixon had hired his private band of “Plumbers” to plug the leaks. He paid the Plumbers through donations funneled through his campaign committee. That’s what Nixon wanted to hide. (Nixon used campaign donations to protect national security from the communists; Clinton, as we will see, took campaign donations to sell out national security to the communists.)
New York Times
, Nixon had hired his private band of “Plumbers” to plug the leaks. He paid the Plumbers through donations funneled through his campaign committee. That’s what Nixon wanted to hide. (Nixon used campaign donations to protect national security from the communists; Clinton, as we will see, took campaign donations to sell out national security to the communists.)
This time, not only were payments actually made, but they were made to a defendant who, according to Clinton’s Whitewater partner, James McDougal, “knows where the bodies are buried.”
28
28
If Nixon’s talking about paying living expenses—or “hush money”—amounted to “a violation of his constitutional oath faithfully to execute the office of President of the United States,… and [a] violation of his constitutional duty to take care that the laws be faithfully executed,”
29
what is more than half a million dollars in “consulting fees” that was actually paid to a witness against the president?
30
29
what is more than half a million dollars in “consulting fees” that was actually paid to a witness against the president?
30
PART FOUR
Corruption
Chapter Seventeen
White House Coffees
Back in 1992
Clinton promised America “the most ethical administration in the history of the Republic.” Of course, he also promised a middle-class tax cut.
Clinton promised America “the most ethical administration in the history of the Republic.” Of course, he also promised a middle-class tax cut.
In any event, having warmed to the theme that he, Clinton personally, was virtue and goodness personified, his 1996 campaign ran a commercial that oozed, “As Americans, there are some things we do simply and solely because they’re moral, right, and good.” His campaign could afford slapstick commercials like this one because of the extensive White House coffees and Lincoln bedroom sleep-overs for major campaign donors during his first term in office.
THE PLANThe impetus to put
the president’s time on the auction block came from an understandably panicked reaction to the 1994 election by leading Democratic Party officials. On February 28, 1997, Bob Woodward of the
Washington Post
, speaking on
Larry King Live
, noted, “There was such a money frenzy…. Clinton began this process in ’95 when it looked like he was dead, that the Republicans were going to elect a president. The Republicans had taken over Congress, and there was a kind of panic that overtook the White House.”
the president’s time on the auction block came from an understandably panicked reaction to the 1994 election by leading Democratic Party officials. On February 28, 1997, Bob Woodward of the
Washington Post
, speaking on
Larry King Live
, noted, “There was such a money frenzy…. Clinton began this process in ’95 when it looked like he was dead, that the Republicans were going to elect a president. The Republicans had taken over Congress, and there was a kind of panic that overtook the White House.”
In fact, the plan was hatched on Christmas Day 1994, and apparently Clinton himself was the ringleader. “It was Christmas 1994. Hillary and Chelsea were in New York on a holiday jaunt. The president was home alone, feeling blue. The Democrats had lost badly, and were blaming him.”
1
So to “cheer up” the commander in chief, his deputy chief of staff, Harold Ickes, presented Clinton with Democratic National Committee (DNC) finance chief Terry McAuliffe.
1
So to “cheer up” the commander in chief, his deputy chief of staff, Harold Ickes, presented Clinton with Democratic National Committee (DNC) finance chief Terry McAuliffe.
McAuliffe proposed that Clinton start selling access. He was the president, the leader of the free world, commander in chief—a money magnet. By making himself available to deep-pocket supporters he could raise enough money to ward off primary challengers and bury the Republicans. “It was the first positive news he’d had,” McAuliffe told
Newsweek
. McAuliffe concluded the breakfast meeting with the famous words, “Mr. President, this is the last discussion you’ll ever have to have about money.”
2
Newsweek
. McAuliffe concluded the breakfast meeting with the famous words, “Mr. President, this is the last discussion you’ll ever have to have about money.”
2
Just eleven days later, on January 5, 1995, McAuliffe sent Clinton’s secretary, Nancy Hernreich, a memo slotting three days that month for Clinton to meet twenty “major supporters for breakfast, lunch, or coffee.” Another ten people, wrote McAuliffe, could be invited on golf outings or morning jogs with the president. The purpose of these meetings would be to “offer these people an opportunity to discuss issues and exchange ideas with the president,” wrote McAuliffe. “This will be an excellent way to energize our key people for the upcoming year.” Not a bad way to pull in the dough either. Hernreich passed the memo on to Clinton with the query, “Do you want me to pursue?”
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