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Jewish World Review/Dec. 8, 1998/ 19 Kislev, 5759
Linda Chavez
Why the House must make sure Bubba gets his due punishment
A FEW YEARS AGO, a much anticipated rematch between the reigning
welterweight champion Roberto Duran and challenger Sugar Ray Leonard ended
abruptly in the eighth round when the champ threw up his arms, declaring,
"No mas." No more. Duran was simply tired of being outmaneuvered by the
skillful Leonard and decided to call it quits before the final bell.
According to the polls, most Americans would like members of Congress to
pull a Roberto Duran on impeachment.
Virtually everyone concedes that Bill Clinton has won the political battle
with the Republican-controlled Congress, and he will not be leaving office
before January 20, 2001. So why shouldn't Congress just take a walk on
impeachment? Certainly that would be the easy -- and politically
expedient -- thing to do. It would also be the worst abrogation of
congressional duty in the nation's history.
Bill Clinton has attacked the integrity and independence of the judicial
system, and if he gets away with it, the separation of powers with its
checks and balances ---- which is fundamental to American democracy -- will be
irreparably weakened. The president lied under oath in court proceedings,
not once but many times, not just in a civil deposition but before a grand
jury investigating possible criminal wrongdoing. He also induced others to
provide false testimony to the grand jury and to a federal court trying a
civil case.
The president's actions do not merely constitute perjury or obstruction of
justice as they would if anyone else had committed them. They are the
willful assault of the chief executive on the judiciary. If the president
can, with impunity, lie under oath in a judicial proceeding, the judiciary
becomes subordinate to his power. In effect, he places himself above the law
and not subject to it.
The Supreme Court in a 9-0 ruling determined that the president was not
immune from civil suit, even during his term of office -- which is how Paula
Jones' lawyers came to depose the president in January. By lying in his
civil deposition, the president, in essence, overturned the court's ruling.
Rather than announcing that he would not abide by the court's decision --
thus forcing an open constitutional crisis -- he surreptitiously denied the
plaintiff her right to a fair hearing by intentionally lying under oath in
his deposition.
But the president's sneak attack on the civil justice system pales in
significance to his defiance of the criminal system. In testifying before
the grand jury, the president enjoyed the same legal protection as all other
persons in a criminal proceeding; namely, the right against
self-incrimination. Knowing he had lied under oath in his civil deposition,
the president could have invoked his Fifth Amendment right not to answer
questions that would incriminate him. But he chose not to do so, preferring
instead to lie again.
Lying under oath -- especially by someone sworn to faithfully execute the
laws of the land -- is no ordinary crime. The courts administer oaths in the
first place because truth-telling is crucial to a fair judicial system. Even
lawbreakers are expected to tell the truth under oath, or say nothing at
all. Unless witnesses can be counted on to be truthful, the entire judicial
system collapses.
If the Congress does not impeach the president for having repeatedly lied
under oath, it will send the clear message that he is exempt from the
constraints of law. Ever since King John acceded to the demands of his
nobles and signed the Magna Carta in 1215, the rule of law has been
considered sacrosanct in Western government. No one -- not even the king
himself -- is above the law.
The House of Representatives does not have to determine what punishment
Bill Clinton deserves for having betrayed the American people and attempted
to subvert the judicial system. But the House must vote articles of
impeachment or else bear responsibility for allowing this president to usurp
the balance of power in our
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