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Jewish World Review/ Jan. 12, 1999/ 23 Teves, 5759
Linda Chavez
Leave Monica out of it
(JWR) --- (http://www.jewishworldreview.com) ALTHOUGH SENATORS HAVE PUT OFF for the moment a decision on whether to call
witnesses in the impeachment trial of President Clinton, it is by no means
clear which side has more to lose if the country hears directly from some of
the principals in this affair.
The Republican House managers, who act as prosecutors for the trial, claim
they need to be able to call some witnesses -- such as Monica Lewinsky and
Betty Currie -- to make the case that the president not only perjured
himself but obstructed justice by encouraging others to lie or withhold
evidence. The Senate Democratic leadership has strenuously opposed calling
witnesses, as have the president's lawyers.
On Friday, the Senate agreed to postpone a vote on which witnesses to call,
if any, until the two sides have had the opportunity to present their cases
and senators have been able to question both the House managers and White
House lawyers.
Democrats have only one argument to make in President Clinton's defense:
that the president's behavior, no matter how deplorable, involved a private,
consensual sexual relationship, which he understandably tried to keep
secret. So far, at least, a majority of the public seems to agree. And
Monica Lewinsky's testimony would likely reinforce that message, even if the
House managers avoid all prurient questions.
There are a number of reasons Monica would make a good defense witness.
First, Monica Lewinsky has never behaved like the classic woman scorned.
Hell's fury is simply not part of her repertoire. Chances are good that she
is still very much infatuated with Bill Clinton and has no interest in
hurting him, much less seeing him removed from office.
After all, her status
derives from having been the president's paramour. But if the Senate votes
to remove Bill Clinton on the strength of her testimony, she is transformed
from a soap-opera figure to the villain in a political intrigue.
Remember, too, that in Monica's world, Bill Clinton is still considered a
good guy. Even those closest to Monica who might be expected to harbor some
animosity toward the man -- her parents, for example -- have shown nothing
of the sort. Monica's mom has from the beginning seemed more titillated than
shocked at the president's relationship with her daughter. And Monica's
father -- unlike most men whose young daughters have been ill-used by
middle-aged cads -- has uttered nary a peep about the president's treatment
of his little girl. In fact, the object of Dr. Lewinsky's public
denouncements has been Ken Starr, not Bill Clinton.
But most importantly, if Monica were to testify, she would no doubt repeat
her claim that the president didn't ask her to lie and didn't promise her a
job in return for concealing their affair. The Republicans will present
substantial evidence to the contrary, but it is largely circumstantial,
based on an amazing coincidence between the president's efforts on Monica's
behalf and the filing of her false deposition in the Paula Jones case.
Nonetheless, if Monica sticks to her story, she could bolster the theory
that the case against the president is really all about sex.
So why won't the Democrats let the House prosecutors call Monica? Many
Democrats admit privately that the situation is too volatile and the stakes
too high to take unnecessary chances, even if it means not calling a witness
who might help the president's case.
Ironically, by keeping Monica Lewinsky off the witness stand, however, the
Democrats will allow the Republicans to build a far stronger documentary
record for posterity that the president was guilty as charged. But Democrats
aren't worried about history right now. They've got their hands full
cleaning up the messes their self-destructive standard bearer has created
and trying to keep the muck from rubbing off on
But Democrats may be premature in opposing testimony,
especially from Monica Lewinsky. Monica just could be their ace in the hole.
Monica
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