Editing Clinton–Lewinsky scandal (section)

==Perjury charges==

In his deposition for the Jones lawsuit, Clinton denied having sexual relations with Lewinsky. Based on the evidence—a blue dress with Clinton's semen that Lewinsky provided—Starr concluded that the president's [[Oath|sworn]] testimony was [[Perjury|perjurious]].

During the deposition, Clinton was asked "Have you ever had sexual relations with Monica Lewinsky, as that term is defined in Deposition Exhibit{{nbsp}}1?" The judge ordered that Clinton be given an opportunity to review the agreed definition. Afterwards, based on the definition created by the Independent Counsel's Office, Clinton answered, "I have never had sexual relations with Monica Lewinsky." Clinton later said, "I thought the definition included any activity by [me], where [I] [[Human sexual activity|was the actor and came in contact with those parts of the bodies]]" which had been explicitly listed (and "with an intent to gratify or arouse the sexual desire of any person"). In other words, Clinton denied that ''he'' had ever contacted ''Lewinsky's'' "genitalia, anus, groin, breast, inner thigh, or buttocks", and effectively claimed that the agreed-upon definition of "sexual relations" included ''giving'' [[fellatio|oral sex]] but excluded ''receiving'' oral sex.<ref>Tiersma, Peter. [http://www.languageandlaw.org/PERJURY.HTM "The Language of Perjury"], languageandlaw.org, November 20, 2007.</ref>

Two months after the Senate failed to convict him, President Clinton was held in civil [[contempt of court]] by Judge [[Susan Webber Wright]] for <!--allegedly--><!--Plaintiffs, defendants, and witnesses "allege", but a court ruling is a decision, a finding, and is considered proof; the matter is no longer merely "alleged".-->giving [[Perjury|misleading testimony]] regarding his sexual relationship with Lewinsky, and was also fined $90,000 by Wright.<ref name=ppppava/><ref name="auto1"/> Clinton declined to appeal the civil contempt of court ruling, citing financial problems,<ref name=ppppava/> but still maintained that his testimony complied with Wright's earlier definition of sexual relations.<ref name=ppppava/> In 2001, his [[license to practice law]] was suspended in Arkansas for five years and later by the [[United States Supreme Court]].<ref name="auto"/>