Capitol Hill Blue
How Not to Save the Constitution
5/16/00
By Doug Bandow
WASHINGTON - Barely a week after President Bill Clinton declared that he
had saved the Constitution, investigations were proceeding on his 1996
campaign's fund-raising abuses, his administration's failure to turn over
e-mail messages to a grand jury and his personal disbarment in Arkansas.
If Bill Clinton has saved the Constitution, he has done so by reminding us
how vulnerable it is to abuse by lawless politicians.
Summing up the Clinton presidency is not easy. But the president
inadvertently described himself when attacking his critics: "They have no
guilt and no shame." If there is a better epithet for Bill Clinton, it has
not yet been written.
In mid-April he told the American Society of Newspaper Editors: "I am
proud of what we did there (on impeachment), because I think we saved the
Constitution of the United States."
Indeed, he said he felt no shame over his impeachment, believed he had won
the sexual harassment lawsuit by Paula Jones, and had been cleared of "the
whole Whitewater matter."
White House spokesman Joe Lockhart complained about the president even
being asked about such matters.
"These are purportedly reasonably intelligent people, but I think it
demonstrates just how isolated some newspaper editors are from the rest of
the country," he said.
Alas, the subsequent news for "the president is innocent" camp hasn't been
good. The newspaper and magazine headlines since Clinton spoke include:
"Prosecutor Quizzes Clinton in Campaign Finance Case"; "Clinton, Gore
Queried in Fund Probe"; "Springtime, and the Smell of Scandal"; "Clinton
Answers Disbarment Bid"; and "Starr Had Staff Prepare Sample Indictment of
Clinton, Book Says."
In fact, Clinton was impeached not for having sex with a White House
intern in the Oval Office, but for lying to the court in the Paula Jones
lawsuit (for which he was sanctioned by the presiding judge), lying in his
grand-jury testimony on the Monica Lewinsky affair and obstructing justice
while attempting to hide his activities and lies.
Nor did he defeat Paula Jones. The trial judge ruled that Clinton's
grotesque behavior did not constitute harassment, not that it did not
occur. The president's willingness to pay $850,000 to settle demonstrated
that he was not convinced he would prevail on the appeal and in a
subsequent trial.
As for Whitewater, we will never know the full story. But a few details
are clear.
First, James McDougal, the head of Madison Guaranty Savings & Loan,
subsidized the Clintons' investment, presumably in hopes of receiving
political favors.
Second, the Clintons took an improper interest deduction on their taxes
and eventually had to settle with the IRS.
Third, Hillary Clinton lied about the extent of her involvement on the
legal work for failed Madison Guaranty and hid subpoenaed evidence about
the case.
There's a lot more billowing smoke, though the Clintons were always
careful to disguise the fires, making their wrongdoing hard to prove.
For instance, the president faced additional, credible charges of sexual
harassment and rape and, opined a federal judge in late March, violated
the Privacy Act to discredit one of his accusers.
There was evidence that Clinton was involved in an illegal business deal
involving McDougal and former Municipal Judge David Hale. Hillary
Clinton's unnaturally profitable cattle trades were barely disguised
political payoffs. She also lied about her role in the firing of the White
House travel office staff.
The Clintons and their friends arranged work for soon-to-be-jailed friend
Webster Hubbell, which had the obvious smell of hush money. The president
and his officials brazenly sold access, foreign trade trips, Lincoln
Bedroom sleepovers and perhaps more for campaign contributions.
The White House managed to misplace e-mails under legal subpoena. The
Justice Department has seemed curiously lethargic in investigating charges
against the administration. A parade of presidential aides and political
contributors exhibited faulty memories when questioned or fled the country
when about to be questioned.
Nevertheless, Clinton would have us believe that, despite one little
mistake, he's been busy working to preserve the Constitution.
Oddly enough, much of what has occurred suggests that the president and
first lady are congenital liars rather than sophisticated conspirators and
petty cheats rather than grand thieves. But that offers little comfort to
the American people.
The Clinton presidency has been a tragic affair. Bill Clinton is bright,
capable and charming; he's helped yank the Democratic Party away from the
loony left.
But he is as dedicated to social engineering as were his partisan
predecessors. His objectives in expanding state power are more limited,
not more honorable.
Moreover, he's sullied both his office and legacy. The Constitution will
survive his presidency, but with no thanks to Bill Clinton.
Doug Bandow is a senior fellow at the Cato Institute.
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