"Starr.Remarks" - читать интересную книгу автора (impeachment)

I will next turn to some of the essentials of the referral. That will
include the specifics of Ms. Lewinsky's involvement in the Jones case
and the president's actions in response to that involvement.

The key point about the president's conduct is this. On at least six
different occasions – from Dec. 17, 1997, through Aug. 17, 1998
– the president had to make a decision. He could choose truth, or
he could choose deception. On all six occasions, the president chose
deception – a pattern of calculated behavior over a span of
months.

On Dec. 5, 1997, Ms. Jones's attorneys identified Ms. Lewinsky as a
potential witness. Within a day, the president learned that Ms.
Lewinsky's name was on the witness list.

After learning this, the president faced his first critical decision.
Would he and Monica Lewinsky tell the truth about their relationship?
Or would they provide false information – not just to a spouse or
to loved ones – but under oath in a court of law?

Eleven months ago, the president made his decision. At approximately 2
a.m. on Dec. 17, 1997, he called Ms. Lewinsky at her Watergate
apartment and told her that she was on the witness list. This was news
to Ms. Lewinsky. And it bears noting that the president – not his
lawyer – made this call to the witness.

During this 2 a.m. conversation, which lasted approximately half an
hour, the president could have told Ms. Lewinsky that they must tell
the truth under oath. The president could have explained that they
might face embarrassment but that, as a citizen and as president, he
could not lie under oath and he could not sit by while Monica did so.
The president did not say anything like that.

On the contrary, according to Ms. Lewinsky, the president suggested
that she could sign an affidavit and use – under oath –
deceptive cover stories that they had devised long ago to explain why
Ms. Lewinsky had visited the Oval Office area. The president did not
explicitly instruct Ms. Lewinsky to lie. He did not have to. Ms.
Lewinsky testified that the president's suggestion that they use the
pre-existing cover stories amounted to a continuation of their pattern
of concealing their intimate relationship. Starting with this
conversation, the president and Ms. Lewinsky understood, according to
Ms. Lewinsky, that they were both going to make false statements under
oath.

The conversation between the president and Ms. Lewinsky on Dec. 17 was
a critical turning point. The evidence suggests that the president
chose to engage in a criminal act – to reach an understanding
with Ms. Lewinsky that they would both make false statements under