121619 B
Almost all of Parts I, II, and III are taken directly from Wikipedia.
President Clinton’s Senate trial after his impeachment began on January 7, 1999. Chief Justice William Rehnquist presided over a Senate composed of 55 Republicans and 45 Democrats. On the first day, charges were presented and Chief Justice Rehnquist swore in the attorneys..
Thirteen House Republicans from the Judiciary Committee served as “managers” or prosecutors Clinton was defended by eight attorneys. Rules were agreed on unanimously. Senators tabled the issue of calling witnesses. Briefs were filed while the trial was in recess.
The managers presented their case over three days, from January 14 to 16. The presentation addressed:
- The facts and background of the case
- Detailed cases for both articles of impeachment (including excerpts from videotaped grand jury testimony that Clinton had made the previous August)
- Matters of interpretation and application of the laws governing perjury and obstruction of justice
- Argument that the evidence and precedents justified removal of the President from office by virtue of “willful, premeditated, deliberate corruption of the nation’s system of justice through perjury and obstruction of justice.”
The defense presentation took place from January 19–21. Clinton’s defense counsel argued that
- Clinton’s grand jury testimony had too many inconsistencies to be a clear case of perjury
- That the investigation and impeachment had been tainted by partisan political bias
- That the President’s approval rating of more than 70 percent indicated that his ability to govern had not been impaired by the scandal
- That the managers had ultimately presented “an unsubstantiated, circumstantial case that does not meet the constitutional standard to remove the President from office”.