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Authors: Jeffrey Toobin

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OTHER ATTORNEYS

Kirby Behre
, attorney for Linda Tripp
James Moody
, attorney for Linda Tripp
William Bristow
, attorney for Danny Ferguson
Billy Martin
, attorney for Marcia Lewis

JUDGES

Susan Webber Wright
, U.S. district judge presiding over
Jones v. Clinton
Norma Holloway Johnson
, chief judge, U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia
William H. Rehnquist
, chief justice of the United States

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY (selected members)

Republicans (in order of seniority)
Henry J. Hyde
, chairman
Bill McCollum
George W. Gekas
Bob Inglis
Ed Bryant
Bob Barr
James E. Rogan
Lindsey O. Graham
Democrats
John Conyers, Jr.
, ranking member
Barney Frank
Charles E. Schumer
Howard L. Berman
Rick Boucher
Jerrold Nadler
Maxine Waters
Republican Staff
Thomas E. Mooney, Sr.
, general counsel and chief of staff
David P. Schippers
, chief investigative counsel
Democratic Staff
Julian Epstein
, minority chief counsel and staff director
Abbe D. Lowell
, minority chief investigative counsel
Jim Jordan
, spokesman for minority staff

UNITED STATES SENATE

Trent Lott
, majority leader
Tom Daschle
, minority leader

Chronology

 

 

 

 

MAY 8, 1991
 
Paula Corbin and Governor Bill Clinton meet at a conference at the Excelsior Hotel in Little Rock.
NOVEMBER 3, 1992
 
Bill Clinton wins the presidential election.
NOVEMBER 29, 1993
 
President Clinton meets with Kathleen Willey, an acquaintance and White House job seeker, and allegedly makes sexual advances toward her.
DECEMBER 18, 1993
 
The American Spectator
magazine publishes David Brock’s “His Cheatin’ Heart,” which recounts a version of Clinton’s meeting with a woman identified as “Paula.”
JANUARY 20, 1994
 
Attorney General Janet Reno names Robert Fiske to head the investigation into the Whitewater affair.
FEBRUARY 11, 1994
 
At a press conference in Washington, D.C., Paula Corbin Jones accuses President Clinton of sexual harassment. Anti-Clinton activist Cliff Jackson introduces Jones to Michael Isikoff of
The Washington Post
.
MAY 3, 1994
 
The White House announces that President Clinton has hired Robert Bennett to represent him in the Jones matter.
MAY 4, 1994
 
The Washington Post
publishes an article by Michael Isikoff (and others) about Paula Jones’s accusations.
MAY 6, 1994
 
Paula Jones’s lawyers file a lawsuit against President Clinton.
JUNE 30, 1994
 
President Clinton signs a reauthorization of the expired independent counsel statute.
AUGUST 5, 1994
 
The Special Division of U.S. Court of Appeals replaces Fiske with Kenneth Starr as independent counsel investigating Whitewater.
JULY 1995
 
Monica Lewinsky begins to work as an intern at the White House.
NOVEMBER 15, 1995
 
Monica Lewinsky and President Clinton have their first sexual encounter in his White House study.
JANUARY 4, 1996
 
White House aide Carolyn Huber finds copies of Hillary Rodham Clinton’s billing records from the Rose Law Firm, which had been subpoenaed more than a year earlier.
JANUARY 18, 1996
 
Hillary Clinton subpoenaed to Kenneth Starr’s grand jury.
JANUARY 26, 1996
 
Hillary Clinton testifies before grand jury.
APRIL 5, 1996
 
Monica Lewinsky is informed that she will be transferred from her job at the White House to one at the Pentagon. There she becomes friends with Linda Tripp.
MAY 28, 1996
 
Jim and Susan McDougal and Governor Jim Guy Tucker are convicted in the Whitewater case.
JUNE 24, 1996
 
Supreme Court accepts a writ of certiorari in
Jones v. Clinton
and agrees to decide whether President Clinton can be sued while in office.
AUGUST 1, 1996
 
An Arkansas jury fails to convict two bankers charged by Starr with felonies in connection with Bill Clinton’s 1990 gubernatorial campaign.
NOVEMBER 5, 1996
 
Bill Clinton is elected to a second term as president.
FEBRUARY 17, 1997
 
Kenneth Starr announces plans to resign as independent counsel and accept a deanship at Pepperdine University. Later the same week, Starr agrees to continue his work as prosecutor.
FEBRUARY 28, 1997
 
During an assignation with President Clinton, Monica Lewinsky’s dress is stained with his semen.
MARCH 24, 1997
 
Michael Isikoff meets Linda Tripp.
MARCH 29, 1997
 
Monica Lewinsky and President Clinton have their final assignation.
MAY 24, 1997
 
President Clinton tells Monica Lewinsky that they can no longer continue their relationship. Lewinsky refers to this event as “D-Day” or “Dump Day.”
MAY 27, 1997
 
Supreme Court rejects President Clinton’s bid for immunity from civil suits while in office.
Jones v. Clinton
is ordered to proceed.
AUGUST 3, 1997
 
In
Newsweek
, Isikoff publishes a story revealing Kathleen Willey’s allegations.
NOVEMBER 3, 1997
 
Monica Lewinsky receives a job offer from the office of the United States ambassador to the United Nations.
NOVEMBER 5, 1997
 
Monica Lewinsky meets with Vernon Jordan for the first time.
DECEMBER 5, 1997
 
Jones’s lawyers fax the witness list in the Jones case to President Clinton’s lawyers. Monica Lewinsky’s name is included.
DECEMBER 6, 1997
 
In a meeting with his lawyers, President Clinton denies having a sexual relationship with Monica Lewinsky.
DECEMBER 11, 1997
 
Monica Lewinsky and Vernon Jordan discuss her job hunt over lunch. Later in the day, Judge Wright rules that Jones’s lawyers can ask President Clinton about his consensual sexual partners.
DECEMBER 17, 1997
 
President Clinton telephones Monica Lewinsky to inform her that her name is on the witness list for the Jones case. They discuss a sanitized account of their relationship.
DECEMBER 19, 1997
 
Monica Lewinsky receives a subpoena from lawyers for Paula Jones.
DECEMBER 22, 1997
 
Monica Lewinsky meets with attorney Francis Carter.
DECEMBER 28, 1997
 
Betty Currie drives to Monica Lewinsky’s apartment to retrieve gifts given to Lewinsky by President Clinton. Currie takes them home and hides them under her bed.
JANUARY 5, 1998
 
Monica Lewinsky rejects the UN job offer.
JANUARY 7, 1998
 
Monica Lewinsky signs an affidavit, prepared by Francis Carter, denying a sexual relationship with President Clinton.
JANUARY 9, 1998
 
Monica Lewinsky receives an informal job offer, which she accepts, from Revlon. The offer is formalized four days later.
JANUARY 12, 1998
 
Linda Tripp contacts the Office of Independent Counsel and reveals her information about Monica Lewinsky’s relationship with President Clinton. Also, in a secret hearing in Arkansas, Judge Susan Webber Wright urges both sides to settle the Jones case.
JANUARY 13, 1998
 
Linda Tripp wears a recording device and produces a “sting tape” of her lunch with Monica Lewinsky at the Ritz-Carlton.
JANUARY 14, 1998
 
Monica Lewinsky gives Linda Tripp written suggestions (“talking points”) for how to prepare an affidavit in the Paula Jones case.
JANUARY 16, 1998
 
The Special Division grants Kenneth Starr authority to investigate whether Monica Lewinsky or others suborned perjury or obstructed justice. Linda Tripp arranges to meet Lewinsky at the Ritz-Carlton. There Lewinsky is taken to a hotel room and interviewed by prosecutors from the Office of Independent Counsel.
JANUARY 17, 1998
 
In a videotaped deposition in the Jones case, President Clinton denies a sexual relationship with Monica Lewinsky.
JANUARY 18, 1998
 
The
Drudge Report
publishes item alleging a sexual relationship between the president and an “intern.” President Clinton meets with Betty Currie to discuss his contacts with Lewinsky. Over the next day, Currie makes repeated attempts to contact Lewinsky.
JANUARY 21, 1998
 
In the early morning,
The Washington Post
and ABC News disclose Starr’s investigation of the alleged affair, including a denial from the White House. In midafternoon President Clinton denies allegations about Lewinsky in interviews with Jim Lehrer and others.
JANUARY 26, 1998
 
While speaking at the White House, President Clinton denies having “sexual relations with that woman, Miss Lewinsky.”
JANUARY 27, 1998
 
On NBC’s
Today
show, Hillary Clinton denounces a “vast right-wing conspiracy.” Later, President Clinton delivers his State of the Union address.
FEBRUARY 4, 1998
 
Kenneth Starr rejects a proposed agreement granting Monica Lewinsky immunity from prosecution in exchange for her cooperation.
APRIL 1, 1998
 
U.S. District Court judge Susan Webber Wright grants President Clinton’s motion for summary judgment in
Jones v. Clinton
, dismissing the case. Jones’s lawyers announce plans to appeal.
JULY 17, 1998
 
Independent counsel Kenneth Starr sends a subpoena to President Clinton to testify before the grand jury.
JULY 27, 1998
 
In exchange for a promise of immunity from prosecution, Monica Lewinsky meets with prosecutors in New York and discusses her relationship with President Clinton.
JULY 28, 1998
 
Monica Lewinsky gives the Office of Independent Counsel her semen-stained dress.
AUGUST 6, 1998
 
Monica Lewinsky testifies before the grand jury. President Clinton wears a blue-and-gold Zegna tie.
AUGUST 17, 1998
 
In testimony before the grand jury, President Clinton acknowledges intimate contact with Monica Lewinsky. Later, he admits the affair in a televised address.
SEPTEMBER 9, 1998
 
Kenneth Starr submits his report to Congress.
SEPTEMBER 11, 1998
 
The House votes, 363–63, to release the Starr report.
SEPTEMBER 21, 1998
 
The videotape of President Clinton’s grand jury testimony is released.
OCTOBER 8, 1998
 
The House votes, 258–176, for an impeachment investigation.
NOVEMBER 3, 1998
 
The Republicans lose five seats in the House in midterm congressional elections.
NOVEMBER 13, 1998
 
President Clinton agrees to pay $850,000 to settle
Jones v. Clinton
.
NOVEMBER 19, 1998
 
Kenneth Starr testifies before the House Judiciary Committee.
DECEMBER 11, 1998
 
The House Judiciary Committee approves four articles of impeachment against President Clinton.
DECEMBER 16, 1998
 
President Clinton orders air strikes on Iraq for its violation of weapons agreements.
DECEMBER 19, 1998
 
The House votes to impeach President Clinton, adopting two of the proposed four articles of impeachment. House speaker-designate Robert Livingston announces his resignation.
JANUARY 7, 1999
 
The Senate impeachment trial is formally opened by Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist.
JANUARY 14–16, 1999
 
The House managers present the case against President Clinton.
JANUARY 22, 1999
 
Senator Robert Byrd announces a plan to move to dismiss charges against President Clinton. Five days later his motion is rejected, 56–44.
FEBRUARY 12, 1999
 
The Senate votes to acquit President Clinton of both articles of impeachment.

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