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 Because hard disk space is cheap, I hope that webmasters will not remove these important historical documents from their websites.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:
  1. 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.)

  2. 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.)

  3. 879 F.Supp. 86 (E.D.Ark. 24 Feb 1995) (Granting Clinton's motion for a stay during his appeal.)

  4. 72 F.3d 1354 (8th Cir. 9 Jan 1996) (appeal of 869 F.Supp. 690, affirms no presidential immunity, reverses delay of trial)

  5. 81 F.3d 78 (8th Cir. 28 Mar 1996) (denies rehearing of 72 F.3d 1354, denies en banc hearing)

  6. 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)

  7. 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.)

  8. 520 U.S. 681, 117 S.Ct. 1636 (27 May 1997) (affirms 72 F.3d 1354)

  9. 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.")

  10. 993 F.Supp. 1217 (E.D.Ark. 9 Mar 1998) (Granted Independent Counsel's motion for stay of discovery about Monica Lewinsky.)

  11. 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.")

  12. 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.)

  13. 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.)

  14. 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.")

  15. 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:
  1. 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.)

  2. 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.)

  3. 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.)

  4. 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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