How effective were we?

RALLY FLYER

Why it's important:

Never before in history have we witnessed anything like the Ken Starr matter.  Presidents have had affairs before, presidents have lied before, and media has publicized scandal before.  Politics as usual.

What makes this different and of grave importance to all
citizens is that the justice system is involved.

Was the justice system, as attorneys for Bill Clinton posit, being used to persecute the President?  Or was Ken Starr bringing a man to justice for engaging in criminal conduct_  Was there a "right wing conspiracy" to bring down Bill Clinton?  Or was Bill Clinton bringing himself and the presidency down through immoral, illegal acts?

The answers have far reaching ramifications, as the legal precedents set in this case will
impact all citizens, not just the President.

It is therefore vital to consider all sides of this story.

Here are the rough elements of the Lewinsky / Starr matter;  click on underlined statements for more in-depth coverage.

Why were we talking perjury?     
          (or how did this land in court in the first place?)

    On January 17, 1988, President William Jefferson Clinton did what no other U.S. President has ever been compelled to do:  he gave a deposition in a civil suit which had been brought against both him and Danny Ferguson by plaintiff Paula Corbin Jones. 
    In that deposition, Clinton was asked numerous questions about his relationship with White House Intern Monica Lewinsky, including whether he had engaged in sexual relations with her, as specified by a narrow definition by the plaintiff's attorneys. (Judge Wright ruled that of the three parts of the definition, only part one would apply.)  The President reflected on the definition and said no.  In later statements to Starr's grand jury, the president admitted to inappropriate conduct with Lewinsky, which presumably included her performing oral sex upon him.  This activity, he believed, fell outside of the definition provided him by Jones' attorneys. 
      It is important to note that the judge in the case, Republican Susan Webber Wright, later ruled that this line of questioning was not material to the Jones lawsuit and stripped it from the case.  It is also important to note that the entire Paula Jones suit was later dismissed because it was found to have no merit.  It is under appeal at this time.
    So how did the immaterial questions about Monica Lewinsky make their way into this apparently frivolous lawsuit_  Jones' attorneys received anonymous telephone calls urging them to question the President about Lewinsky.  Who placed the calls_  Only Linda Tripp and her book agent, Lucianne Goldberg, were privy to the relationship;  Goldberg has denied making the calls.  Interestingly, Linda Tripp began the taping of Monica Lewinsky the same day the anonymous phone calls were placed.  Soon after, both Tripp and Lewinsky were subpeonaed in the Jone case.

The Plot Thickens...