The chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee said Sunday that President Clinton would find a forgiving Congress if he “really throws himself on the American people and apologizes” publicly for an alleged sexual relationship with then-White House intern Monica Lewinsky.
Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) agreed that if Clinton “comes forth and tells it and does it in the right way and there aren’t a lot of other factors to cause the Congress to say this man is unfit for the presidency and should be impeached, then I think the president would have a reasonable chance of getting through this.”
Hatch’s comment on NBC’s “Meet the Press” came as the increasingly serious capital soap opera continued with politicians debating the utility of confession and joining lawyers to vividly discuss marital infidelity, Lewinsky’s now-famous blue dress and DNA analysis of a supposed stain.
As the president returned from a celebrity-filled weekend of fundraising in New York’s posh Hamptons, the subjects of late-night talk show humor had clearly become the topics of serious Sunday breakfast chat. And like any soap opera, there was a dose of conspiracy with a report suggesting there had been a plot to steal Lewinsky’s dress, which she has since turned over to Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr.
Starr is investigating, among other things, whether Clinton lied under oath in denying he had a sexual relationship with Lewinsky or had encouraged others to lie about the alleged affair. The dress is considered to be possible evidence in establishing whether there had been such a relationship.
Starr must present a report to the Congress concerning the Lewinsky matter and the Whitewater land deal in Arkansas. The House must then decide whether to send articles of impeachment to the Senate, which would then hold a trial and vote on removing Clinton from office.
Hatch said that if the president had a sexual affair with Lewinsky, did not commit more serious crimes such as obstruction of justice or suborning perjury, and tells the truth about the relationship, “it could certainly result in a non-impeachment.”
That sentiment also was expressed by the Senate Judiciary Committee’s top Democrat, Joseph Biden of Delaware. “I would make peace with my wife and I’d stand up and say, `Here’s the deal.’ Even though it might make Starr’s case, no Congress would ever impeach him,” Biden told Time magazine.
A senior Clinton adviser offered a response that did not appear suggestive of any change in the White House policy of not commenting public on the matter. “We’re cognizant of a number of outside voices, both Republican and Democrat, urging some sort of public statement,” the adviser said.
While Clinton made a brief statement Friday, indicating that he hoped his Aug. 17 grand jury testimony would help put the Lewinsky controversy behind the nation, it would appear unlikely that he will be more expansive before testifying.
Political advisers, sensing such sentiment in Congress and nationwide, have long urged some public disclosure. They have been spurned by the president’s legal advisers, who cautiously counsel that such declarations could complicate his legal position. Further, the political aides concede that they do not know most of the facts in dispute.
What seemed unassailable was a growing attention to a matter most Americans have consistently told pollsters they are largely unconcerned with. Not surprisingly, it comes in the wake of Lewinsky’s decision to cooperate with Starr, in exchange for full immunity, and Clinton’s decision to testify at a White House proceeding.
“There’s a higher level of interest than ever before,” said Colorado Gov. Roy Romer, co-chairman of the Democratic National Committee who was attending a governors gathering in Milwaukee.
“It’s a sideshow, but a serious sideshow,” Romer said.
His assessment was underscored on a variety of television forums in which the vagaries of DNA testing were discussed along with such curiosities as whether onetime Lewinsky colleague and former friend Linda Tripp might have tried to steal the blue cocktail dress.
Tripp’s attorney, Anthony Zaccagnini, indicated on ABC’s “This Week” that Lewinsky had shown Tripp the dress on “three separate occasions,” but he denied a Newsweek report that his client briefly plotted to swipe it with Lucianne Goldberg, a New York literary agent who had been advising Tripp.
Zaccagnini said Tripp “did see something that appeared to be a stain” on the dress, but she remains unclear of its nature or origin. Newsweek reported that Lewinsky indicated to Tripp that it was a semen stain and that she would neither wear the dress nor have it cleaned.
Lewinsky, 25, has denied having sex with the president but last week received immunity from prosecution and reportedly will acknowledge a sexual relationship when she appears before Starr’s grand jury.
If Clinton has not been truthful, Hatch said, “just a mere apology is not enough here–he’d have to really pour his heart out to the American people.” By way of offering a plausible explanation for the president, Hatch suggested that Clinton may have lied to protect his wife and daughter. The apology, Hatch said, would “go a long way” toward derailing any move to impeach the president.
“I think he’d be more respected for having done so,” Hatch added, “and I think he could walk away with his head held high.”
