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The new FX limited seriesImpeachment: American Crime Storythe third in atrue-crime anthologythat started withThe People v. O.J.
The Big Stuff
The major plot and character beats that shapeImpeachments narrative.
And he said, I know everyones thinking about this and concerned about this.
Which is very similar to the way they end up responding when the Gennifer Flowers story breaks.
And this was the line they had already prepared for this kind of situation.
Otherwise, it feels like a crucial piece of his defense is missing.
Thats why they attacked it in such a big way, with this postSuper Bowl, massive interview.
She was worried about what that kind of exposure could do to their family.
It is true that Hillary got more negative feedback.
By all accounts, Hillary was blindsided when he told her the truth about his relationship with Lewinsky.
It has also definitely endured as a way of describing everything that happened in 1998 and beyond.
Clinton being caught off guard by the DNA testI think a little bit.
Obviously, there was all this back-and-forth about the dress.
So thats not that surprising.
And so by his interpretation,shehad sexual relations with him, buthedid not have sexual relations with her.
But this also turns out not to be true.
Clinton waiting until the morning of the deposition to confess to HillaryNo, it was two days before.
His testimony was on a Monday and he woke her up Saturday morning to tell her.
Shes one of their friends who co-createdDesigning Women.
And so he apparently did ask her, before he told Hillary, Can you go soften her up?
And she said no.
How Clintons speech after his grand jury testimony was receivedThat speech was absolutely panned by everyone.
He got terrible reviews, saying that he seemed nonapologetic, that he did not apologize to the country.
Lewinsky said that she watched this speech live and was very upset by it.
She was extremely angry.
And thats when they started talking a little bit more.
So she would have been there.
But I dont think that much is really known about this dinner.
And that she was in shock and not totally present, I think.
The joke about the limo running out of gas in Hillarys hometownThis is a weird thing.
Im pretty sure this is just a joke or an apocryphal anecdote about them.
This joke was commonly told in the 92 campaign.
I dont think this really happened.
But they do seem to present it in the episode as a real event.
That effort took several months.
It was after that request was denied by the judge that he was replaced, like two weeks later.
The story of them trying to replace him is more complex and interesting than what they show here.
Monica snuck to D.C. without Ginsburgs knowledge to interview new attorneys.
But then once they did make arrangements with the new attorneys, he did basically go along with it.
That original immunity deal involved her writing out a statement that they would then accept.
I really disagree that we should give him a break of any kind.
So many critics have asked, What possible relevance could that have to whether he perjured himself?
Thats not even an interaction between him and Lewinsky, really.
It set them up for a lot of criticism down the line.
There was not a judge present here to ensure that that happened.
That depends on what the meaning of the word is isPeople instantly thought that that was funny.
More of just an enduring quote.
Starr asking questions in the final minutesHe did, but not the way that its depicted here.
He was not trying to nail him on specifics about their sexual relationship.
She thought that it was very condescending to her music and to all country-and-Western fans.
And that she was a country-and-Western fan as well, so shed never intend to do that.
On Clinton as a dog guyThis was their dog Buddy, whos a chocolate Lab.
As a side note on Buddy Buddys not as famous as their most famous pet, Socks the cat.
And Socks was a foe of Buddys.
She was competing in this Funniest Celebrity in Washington competition.
One of her competitors that night was Bill Ginsburg, who came in second in the contest.
He told lots of jokes about Ken Starr, apparently.
Youcan watch the whole thing on C-Span.
Under the assumption that this was intended to become public and embarrass him in some way.
And it did become public about a month later.
And it seems to have worked very well.
They got a lot of press in a lot of major publications.
