Editing Clinton–Lewinsky scandal (section)

==Denial and subsequent admission==

{{listen
|title=Remarks including response to Monica Lewinsky scandal (January 26, 1998)
|filename=Response to the Lewinsky Allegations (January 26, 1998) Bill Clinton.ogv
|description =[[Bill Clinton]] making a presentation that ends with a short commentary on the [[Monica Lewinsky]] scandal. The presentation is known for the quote "I did not have sexual relations with that woman, Miss Lewinsky." (6:20)
|title2=Remarks including response to Monica Lewinsky scandal (January 26, 1998)
|filename2=Response to the Lewinsky Allegations (1-26-98, WJC).ogg
|description2=audio only version
|type=speech
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News of the scandal first broke on January 17, 1998, on the ''[[Drudge Report]]'',<ref>[http://www.drudgereportarchives.com/data/2002/01/17/20020117_175502_ml.htm "Newsweek Kills Story On White House Intern"], DrudgeReportArchives, 1998.</ref> which reported that ''[[Newsweek]]'' editors were sitting on a story by investigative reporter [[Michael Isikoff]] exposing the affair. The story broke in the mainstream press on January 21 in ''[[The Washington Post]]''.<ref name="WP-21jan1998">{{cite news |last1=Schmidt |first1=Susan |last2=Baker |first2=Peter |last3=Locy |first3=Toni |date=January 21, 1998 |title=Special Report: Clinton Accused |newspaper=The Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/special/clinton/stories/clinton012198.htm |url-status=dead |access-date=November 19, 2021 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20191207172320/https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/special/clinton/stories/clinton012198.htm |archivedate=December 7, 2019}}</ref> The story swirled for several days and, despite swift denials from Clinton, the clamor for answers from the White House grew louder. On January 26, President Clinton, standing with his wife, spoke at a White House press conference, and issued a denial in which he said:<ref>[http://www.apoliticus.com/2008/10/top-5-political-quotes-that-defined-presidencies/ Top 5: Political Quotes That Defined Presidencies], APOLITICUS.COM {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081207092012/http://www.apoliticus.com/2008/10/top-5-political-quotes-that-defined-presidencies/ |date=December 7, 2008 }}</ref>

{{blockquote|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.<ref>Clinton, Bill. [http://millercenter.org/scripps/archive/speeches/detail/3930 Response to the Lewinsky Allegations] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090223181444/http://millercenter.org/scripps/archive/speeches/detail/3930 |date=February 23, 2009 }}, Miller Center of Public Affairs, January 26, 1998.</ref>}}

Pundits debated whether Clinton would address the allegations in his [[State of the Union Address]]. Ultimately, he chose not to mention them. Hillary Clinton remained supportive of her husband throughout the scandal.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/clinton-impeachment/public-dramas-private-toll-first-lady/|title=Public Dramas, Private Toll for First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton|last=Woodward|first=Bob|date=June 14, 1999|newspaper=The Washington Post|language=en|access-date=March 19, 2020}}</ref> On January 27, in an appearance on [[NBC]]'s ''[[Today (NBC program)|Today]]'' she said, "The great story here for anybody willing to find it and write about it and explain it is this [[vast right-wing conspiracy]] that has been conspiring against my husband since the day he announced for president."<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/return-hillary-clintons-vast-right-wing-conspiracy-excuse/|title=The Return of the 'Vast Right-Wing Conspiracy' Excuse|date=February 4, 2016|website=National Review|language=en-US|access-date=March 19, 2020}}</ref>

For the next several months and through the summer, the media debated whether or not an affair had occurred and whether or not Clinton had lied or obstructed justice, but nothing could be definitively established beyond the taped recordings because Lewinsky was unwilling to discuss the affair or testify about it. On July 28, 1998, a substantial delay after the public break of the scandal, Lewinsky received [[Witness immunity|transactional immunity]] in exchange for [[grand jury]] testimony concerning her relationship with Clinton.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/1998/07/28/lewinsky/|title=Lewinsky Strikes Far-Reaching Immunity Deal|last1= Blitzer| first1= Wolf|last2= Franken |first2= Bob|date=July 28, 1998|publisher=[[CNN]]| access-date=March 9, 2013}}</ref> She also turned over a [[semen]]-stained blue dress (which Tripp had encouraged her to save without [[dry cleaning]]) to the Starr investigators. The FBI tested the dress and matched the semen stains to a blood sample from Clinton, thereby providing unambiguous [[circumstantial evidence]] that proved the relationship despite Clinton's official denials.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/special/clinton/icreport/6narrit.htm#L28 | title=Starr Report | newspaper= The Washington Post| access-date=May 9, 2013 | date=September 15, 1998}}</ref>

Clinton admitted in a taped [[Grand juries in the United States|grand jury]] testimony on August 17, 1998, that he had engaged in an "improper physical relationship" with Lewinsky. That evening he gave a nationally televised statement admitting that his relationship with Lewinsky was "not appropriate".<ref>Clinton, Bill. [https://www.pbs.org/newshour/lewinsky_address/address.html Address to the nation], PBS.org, August 17, 1998. {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110516134940/http://www.pbs.org/newshour/lewinsky_address/address.html |date=May 16, 2011 }}</ref><ref>AP Archive (July 21, 2015). {{YouTube|ajJMQG4Bmxo|President Bill Clinton address the nation after his grand jury testimony and apologizes for lying ab}}</ref>

On August 20, 1998, three days after Clinton testified on the Monica Lewinsky scandal, [[Operation Infinite Reach]] launched missile attacks against [[Afghan training camp|al-Qaeda bases]] in [[Khost]], [[Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (1996–2001)|Afghanistan]], and the [[Al-Shifa pharmaceutical factory]] in [[Khartoum]], [[Sudan]], in retaliation for the [[1998 United States embassy bombings]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Baum |first1=Matthew |title=Soft News Goes to War: Public Opinion and American Foreign Policy in the New Media Age |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/softnewsgoestowa0000baum |chapter-url-access=registration |date=2003 |publisher=Princeton University Press |location=Princeton, New Jersey |isbn=978-0-691-12377-6 |jstor=j.ctt7sfmh |chapter=Public Opinion and American Foreign Policy in the New Media Age |page=1}}</ref> Some countries, media outlets, protesters, and [[Republican Party (United States)|Republicans]] accused Clinton of ordering the attacks as a diversion.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Coll |first1=Steve |author-link=Steve Coll |title=Ghost Wars: The Secret History of the CIA, Afghanistan, and Bin Laden, from the Soviet Invasion to September 10, 2001 |date=2005 |publisher=Penguin Books |location=New York |isbn=978-0-14-303466-7 |edition=Updated |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=N8Qxf-33dxMC&q=ghost+wars |page=412}}</ref><ref name="vick">{{cite news|last1=Vick|first1=Karl|title=U.S., Sudan Trade Claims on Factory|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1998/08/25/us-sudan-trade-claims-on-factory/b85afb93-83fb-4186-a49d-e5cb080a0187/|access-date=August 17, 2016|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|date=August 24, 1998}}</ref> The attacks also drew parallels to the then-recently released movie ''[[Wag the Dog]]'', which features a fictional president faking a war in [[Albania]] to distract attention from a sex scandal.{{sfn|Coll|2005|p=412}}<ref name="Dirty">{{cite news|last1=Loeb|first1=Vernon|title=A Dirty Business|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1999/07/25/a-dirty-business/1af5189d-8973-41a3-8b6f-0e9e4ef4c691/|access-date=August 17, 2016|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|date=July 25, 1999}}</ref> Administration officials denied any connection between the missile strikes and the ongoing scandal,<ref>{{cite news|last1=Harris|first1=John|title=In the Midst of Scandal, Clinton Plotted Action|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|date=August 21, 1998}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last1=Pine|first1=Art|title=Missiles Strike Bases Linked to African Blasts|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1998-aug-21-mn-15247-story.html|access-date=August 17, 2016|work=[[Los Angeles Times]]|date=August 21, 1998}}</ref> and [[9/11 Commission]] investigators found no reason to dispute those statements.<ref>[http://govinfo.library.unt.edu/911/report/911Report.pdf 9/11 Commission Report], p. 118.</ref> The missile strikes also caused [[Antisemitic canard|Antisemitic canards]] to spread in the Middle East that Lewinsky was a [[Zionist Occupation Government conspiracy theory|Jewish agent]] sent to influence Clinton against supporting the [[Palestinians]]. This [[conspiracy theory]] would influence [[Mohamed Atta]], the ringleader of [[al-Qaeda]]'s [[Hamburg cell]] and the [[September 11 attacks]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Wright|first=Lawrence|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/64592193|title=The looming tower : Al-Qaeda and the road to 9/11|date=2006|isbn=978-0-375-41486-2|edition=1|location=New York|oclc=64592193}}</ref>