The attorney general's refutation of the legal argument made by the White House ... speaks volumes about the far-fetched nature of the White House's submission, |
The conversation between the president and Ms. Lewinsky on December 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 oath. At that moment, the president's intimate relationship with a subordinate employee was transformed. It was transformed into an unlawful effort to thwart the judicial process. This was no longer an issue of private conduct. |
The grand jury is trying to get facts, evaluate facts. I can't comment on whether a privilege has been invoked but a privilege is a legal right that may be subject of litigation if one is invoked, |
the imperative public need for expeditious resolution. |
The jury has spoken and we accept the jury's verdict, ... we are getting our assessments. |
The office where I serve has achieved a superb record in courts ... We go to court and not on the talk show circuit. And our records show that there is a bright line between law and politics, between courts and polls. It leaves the polls to the politicians and the spin doctors. We are officers of the court who live in the world of law. We have presented our cases in court and, with very rare exception, we have won. |
The statute tries to cram a fourth branch of government into our three-branch system. |
This law intrudes deeply into political life. It goes too far, |
Those allegations are possible obstruction of justice, intimidation of witnesses and subornation of perjury, ... That is an extraordinary set of circumstances. We're investigating those as promptly, as quickly as we can. |
To reduce the unfortunate personalization of the process in particular in the wake of the inherently divisive impeachment proceedings, the wiser course, I believe, is for another individual to head the investigation. |
Unfortunately, we have seen already that a duly appointed career prosecutor, a career prosecutor, has already come under criticism and I think that's very unfortunate, ... Let's depoliticize it. Let's say that is now in the hands of very distinguished career prosecutor, Bob Ray. |
We contacted Deputy Attorney General Eric Holder within 48 hours after Ms. Tripp provided us information ... About Ms. Tripp's tapes and the questions concerning their legality under state law. About the consensual FBI recording of Ms. Tripp and Ms. Lewinsky. About the indications that Vernon Jordan was providing employment assistance to a witness who had the potential to harm the president ... We discussed jurisdiction. We noted that it is in everyone's interest to avoid time-consuming jurisdictional challenges. |
We must know that the witness is telling the truth. Give us transparency. Give us the facts. |
We try to carry on this investigation in a most professional way, |
We were guided by Sam Dash, who had very strong views on that. |