Devil in a Blue Dress
On January 26, 1998 (13 years ago today), President Bill Clinton uttered what is probably the most famous sound-byte of his presidency. Clinton had been accused of having a sexual relationship with Monica Lewinsky, a 22 year old White House intern. Although he later admitted to the affair, on that January 26th, the President, standing with his wife, spoke at a White House press conference, and issued a vociferous denial of the affair. In his statement, Clinton said:
"Now, I have to go back to work on my State of the Union speech. And I worked on it until pretty late last night. But I want to say one thing to the American people. I want you to listen to me. I'm going to say this again: I did not have sexual relations with that woman, Miss Lewinsky.I never told anybody to lie, not a single time; never. These allegations are false. And I need to go back to work for the American people. Thank you."
Miss Lewinsky was hired to work as an intern at the White House during Clinton's first term. She began a personal relationship with Clinton and later confided the details of the affair to her friend Linda Tripp. Tripp secretly recorded their telephone conversations.When Tripp learned in January 1998 that Lewinsky had signed an affidavit in the Paula Jones case denying a relationship with Clinton, she delivered the tapes to Kenneth Starr, the Independent Counsel who was investigating Clinton on other matters, including the Whitewater scandal.
According to the testimony of Miss Lewinsky, she and Clinton were sexually intimate on nine occasions:
1. November 15, 1995, in the private study of the Oval Office
2. November 17, 1995, while Clinton was on the phone with Congress member Sonny Callahan
3. December 31, 1995, in a White House study
4. January 7, 1996, in the Oval Office
5. January 21, 1996, in the hallway by the private study next to the Oval Office
6. February 4, 1996, while Clinton was meeting in the Oval Office
7. March 31, 1996, in the hallway near the study of the Oval Office
8. February 28, 1997, near the Oval Office (when the stains on the infamous "blue dress" were created)
9. March 29, 1997 (an encounter which Clinton denied)
Clinton later admitted in taped grand jury testimony on August 17, 1998, that he had had an "improper physical relationship" with Miss Lewinsky. That evening he gave a nationally televised statement admitting his relationship with Lewinsky which was "not appropriate" and wrong, though he stopped short of describing it as a sexual relationship.
Following is a you tube video of Clinton's statement of January 26, 1998:
and of his subsequent "admission" on August 17th:
"Now, I have to go back to work on my State of the Union speech. And I worked on it until pretty late last night. But I want to say one thing to the American people. I want you to listen to me. I'm going to say this again: I did not have sexual relations with that woman, Miss Lewinsky.I never told anybody to lie, not a single time; never. These allegations are false. And I need to go back to work for the American people. Thank you."
Miss Lewinsky was hired to work as an intern at the White House during Clinton's first term. She began a personal relationship with Clinton and later confided the details of the affair to her friend Linda Tripp. Tripp secretly recorded their telephone conversations.When Tripp learned in January 1998 that Lewinsky had signed an affidavit in the Paula Jones case denying a relationship with Clinton, she delivered the tapes to Kenneth Starr, the Independent Counsel who was investigating Clinton on other matters, including the Whitewater scandal.
According to the testimony of Miss Lewinsky, she and Clinton were sexually intimate on nine occasions:
1. November 15, 1995, in the private study of the Oval Office
2. November 17, 1995, while Clinton was on the phone with Congress member Sonny Callahan
3. December 31, 1995, in a White House study
4. January 7, 1996, in the Oval Office
5. January 21, 1996, in the hallway by the private study next to the Oval Office
6. February 4, 1996, while Clinton was meeting in the Oval Office
7. March 31, 1996, in the hallway near the study of the Oval Office
8. February 28, 1997, near the Oval Office (when the stains on the infamous "blue dress" were created)
9. March 29, 1997 (an encounter which Clinton denied)
Clinton later admitted in taped grand jury testimony on August 17, 1998, that he had had an "improper physical relationship" with Miss Lewinsky. That evening he gave a nationally televised statement admitting his relationship with Lewinsky which was "not appropriate" and wrong, though he stopped short of describing it as a sexual relationship.
Following is a you tube video of Clinton's statement of January 26, 1998:
and of his subsequent "admission" on August 17th: