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The recently concluded FX limited seriesImpeachment: American Crime Storythe third in atrue-crime anthologythat started withThe People v. O.J.
5, Juanita Broaddrick, raises new concerns from politicians who are on the fence.
The Big Stuff
The major plot and character beats that shapeImpeachments narrative.
Lewinskys money issues and book dealThe Lewinskys had extensive legal fees.
Ive seen the figure estimated at around $1 million that they owed to lawyers around this time.
It was reported when she got the book deal that most of that money would probably go to lawyers.
It wasnt just like she had a lawyer on retainer.
So it was a motivation too.
How the Lewinsky book was receivedIt was not well received.
The book was written in just a couple of months and published in early 1999.
And pretty much all the reviews referenced how quickly it came together in criticizing the writing style.
It was heavily based on interviews with Monica and some of her family and friends.
Feminists rallying in support of ClintonI think thats generally true.
Obviously, the episode doesnt show the many different fault lines that emerged within the feminist movement about this.
But there was definitely a lot of disagreement.
She was very clear at the time that she felt that this was completely consensual.
But there were also feminists who thought it was dangerous just to let it slide.
He was literally the most powerful person on the planet, and she was a 22-year-old intern.
So its not accurate to say that there was this monolithic block of feminist support.
This was really looming over her because shed gotten to hear them and go through them.
So she was scared for those excerpts to become public.
Its honestly pretty hard to watch.
And, of course, she was criticized for that too.
They ended up pulling from a lot of the same evidence.
There wasnt a ton of editorial oversight, which I do think they kind of show.
They were focused on making a really detailed case, and it ended up being almost 450 pages long.
There wasnt time for a lot of editing and paring down when the whole thing was done.
It all felt like one really detailed account of [the Clinton-Lewinsky] relationship.
They werent sure whether to include that but decided to do so.
But there were more people on both sides and definitely more gradations of disagreement.
He knew he wanted to get it out by early September-ish, but it was definitely a shock.
It arrived at 4 p.m. on a Wednesday, and it was not expected.
There were a lot of reporters that gathered to watch it get delivered.
People knew that this was going to come in the next few days or weeks.
Still, it was a shock.
And the House Judiciary Committee hadnt totally figured out what to do with it yet.
Government websites might crash.
And so it was considered a huge milestone for the internet overall.
It was a big success for the internet as a whole.
The search for Juanita Broaddrick, Jane Doe No.
It was very well secured.
And so you had to have clearance.
The Broaddrick case costing Clinton votes on the House floorIts hard to say.
Clinton mentions Shays a couple of times in this episode.
He actually asked for a meeting with Clinton to ask him about it.
He said Clinton looked very angry and very fearful.
He ended up actually not voting to impeach, though.
So that really showed that this was a political loser of an issue for the Republicans.
The Starr report, specifically, was not well received by the public.
So he was going to be elevated to that position.
And apparently one of his aides said, No, you have to think about this Jane Doe No.
And apparently that was part of his decision to go forward with it after all.
So it mattered a lot in that sense.
How much Ann Coulter dined out on the scandalA lot.
This was what she wrote her very first book about.
It was calledHigh Crimes and Misdemeanors: The Case Against Bill Clinton.
It became a big best seller.
I think that was definitely accurate.
Matt Drudges struggles as a television hostThis is a really weird show.
I have neverseen anything like it.
He had this show for a year and a half.
And so after that, they actually ended up parting ways.
I dont know about that exact phone call.
And so that did end up being her.
The Clintons bought a house in New York.
She obviously had to push back against some carpetbagging allegations.
And he was also seen with another woman around then too.
So they announced that he and his wife were separated.
It was this whole mess.
He ended up having to drop out.
And then she got to face a much less well-known opponent [Rick Lazio] in the fall.
It seems like the Starr team also believed that.
Maryland dropping the charges against TrippThis was ongoing for a really long time.
Maryland prosecutors first announced that they had convened a grand jury in July 1998.
And then she was charged in July of 99.
There were all these disagreements first about the immunity deal and then about Monicas testimony.
The charges ended up being dropped in 2000.
And that had to do with all this complicated stuff with immunity and Monicas testimony.
And so the charges ended up being dropped.
But she had to fight them for a long time, and it cost a lot of money.
She had this major plastic surgery in 1999, before the wiretapping trial that was looming the next year.
She said she very much wanted not to look like herself anymore.
Takeaways from Tripps interview withGeorgemagazineShe appeared on the cover of one of the very last issues ofGeorgebefore it folded.
So it was her telling her side of the story.
Saying that she wouldve done it all over again was the big thing.
That, Kaplan explains, is incorrect.
Clinton signed this settlement just after the midterms in November of 98.
It was $850,000.
Most of that money went to legal fees.
Then Jones was separated from her husband around that time too.
She moved home and was struggling to support herself and her family.
Joness time on the Psychic Friends NetworkThis was in 99.
The timing of NBCs Broaddrick interviewThis was a huge media story.
And so Broaddrick was convinced by that.
The NBC execs were very stressed.
This was happening during the impeachment trial.
There were all these Free Lisa Myers buttons that Republican congresspeople would wear.
Certain Fox News anchors wore them on-air.
It was a big, big thing.
After the impeachment vote, several dozen Democratic congresspeople were bussed to the White House for this meeting.
They were all sort of mingling in this room.
And then, during that event, he told this joke.
So slightly different context, but apparently he did tell this joke on that day.
So there are these two huge news events happening at the same time.
And Mark McGwire ended up breaking the home-run record the day before they sent the Starr report to Congress.
And four women came forward about Bob Livingston.
And he said he was hoping Clinton would take responsibility for his actions by doing the same thing.
But obviously that didnt end up happening.
