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HILLARY CLINTON HAS said her husband Bill’s affair with former White House intern Monica Lewinsky was not an abuse of power and he was right to not resign from the US presidency in the wake of the scandal.
The two-decades old episode has come under renewed scrutiny in the #MeToo era, with critics questioning whether the power imbalance between a sitting president and an intern made it impossible for the relationship to be considered consensual.
Some, like New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, have said that Clinton should have stepped down after he was impeached by a Republican-controlled House in late 1998 for lying about the affair.
But speaking on CBS News on Sunday, former presidential candidate and secretary of state Hillary Clinton said she disagreed.
“Absolutely not,” she replied when asked whether her husband should have resigned.
Pressed on whether the relationship was an abuse of power, Clinton said: “No, no” and noted that Lewinsky, who was 22-years-old at the time, “was an adult.”
“There was an investigation and it, as I believe, came out in the right place,” she added.
Bill Clinton has also been asked about his conduct in relation to Monica Lewinksy in recent months, saying he has apologised to her in public and that a private apology was not necessary.
In 1999, the Senate held a month-long trial of president Clinton that ultimately fell well short of the two-thirds majority required to convict and remove him from office.
Lewinsky, for her part, long maintained the affair was consensual, but in an essay published in Vanity Fair earlier this year wrote she had begun to re-evaluate that view.
Bill Clinton has also been accused by several other women of sexual misconduct in cases going back to the 1970s, prompting a reckoning of his place in history by Democrats in light of the #MeToo and Time’s Up movements.
Last week, it was announced that the Clintons are embarking on a 13-city tour this year and next in which they will appear in a series on conversations dubbed: “An Evening with President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton.”
© – AFP 2018 with reporting by Rónán Duffy
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Well she’s not wrong but christ, get some self respect woman. Defending your husband’s blower while at work.
@DaisyMay: I don’t think it is right to be questioning Hillary Clinton on that for the hundred thousandth time 20 years later. The question has been answered before. They were both adults, it happened and was dealt with. Lewinski had always insisted it was consensual and Lewinski knew he was married as did he obviously. I don’t think there is any good way for her to answer any question relating to her husbands sexual indiscretion.
@John Mullin: well both her and Chelsea Clinton have been quite vocal on Kavanaugh and other cases. That invites questions on your own personal standing.
@DaisyMay: Ah for Monica you’d have to. I reckon even my missus would turn a blind eye to that
@DaisyMay: She’s only forced to defend him because she gets asked these stupid questions decades later
@DaisyMay: she’s just saying “me too”
@DaisyMay: The allegations against Kavanaugh were not even slightly consensual. They are not the same thing.
@Dave O Keeffe: allegations that have NOT stood up to investigations, but Hillary Clinton still feels she has the right to attack Kavanaugh’s character and the Republicans for supporting him. She is some hypocrite. They should ask her a lot of questions about the Clinton Foundation and its millions and Haiti and Benghazi and the missing e mails and the destroyed phones and a lot more questionable activity around her and her husband.
@Dave O Keeffe: A nine year old black boy was just accused of sexual assault, he was going out of a shop in Brooklyn with his mother and sister (the video is viral). Luckily for him when the police came the CCTV was checked he just walked past her, it appears his backpack might have touched her in passing.
@John Campbell: speaking of allegations that have not stood up to investigation: BENGHAZIIIIIIIIIII!!!!!! CLINTON FOUNDATION!! E-MAILS!!!!!! By the way, even Kavanaugh said his testimony was unbecoming of a judge. So questioning his character because of that is perfectly fair.
@John Mullin: Hillary destroyed Monica, while later Bill was lauded as a great man, they made out that Monica had mental issues, was akin to stalking Bill and had an ‘crazy’ obsession with Bill and Hillary led a fed these stories.
She defended Bill’s character while destroying Monicas.
@DaisyMay: So you don’t think that a POTUS has more power than an 22 year old intern? Off course it is an abuse of power.
@John Campbell: I think that MAGA hat is screwed down a little too tight on you.
@Niamh Breslin: I don’t see what your point is. A woman called the cops and was proven to be mistaken. Also, luckily for him he didn’t do anything wrong and also, without CCTV there would have been no case. I bet the police spoke to her, the boy and any witnesses at the scene before concluding their investigation though ;)
@Dave O Keeffe: There would be a case that’s the point as has happened before. The point is it is dangerous not to have due process and respect the outcome even if you are politically opposed.
@Niamh Breslin: due process would involve interviewing the accused, the accuser and the alleged witnesses wouldn’t it?
They already made sworn statements, ‘the witnesses’ never witnessed. The Senate were the ones with the power to subpoena during the whole process but the Democrats chose not to bring it up.
@Niamh Breslin: no witness said they never witnessed. You’d be done for perjury fairly fast for that one. They responded with the neutral “I have no recollection”. Funny, the senate had subpoena power, follow up question, if all the democrats in the senate want to do something and all the republicans don’t want it to happen which side gets their way? Kavanaugh lied during this process, that is an undeniable fact, maybe not about Dr Ford but he did lie. Interesting that he wasn’t questioned by the FBI during their investigation. Lying to them tends to have higher consequences than lying to a group controlled by your “fans”
@DaisyMay: I didn’t realize that herself and Chelsea were vocal on Kavanaugh incident/non-incident. In that case you are right, she is fair game and she invited the hunters.
@Hans Vos: no it’s not, she was an adult who states that it was consensual.
@Dave O Keeffe: The Democrats had months to bring it up, even in private hearings, there is a process there.
@Niamh Breslin: so you are going to avoid the question again. Fair enough. I’ll ask once more, would due process in the investigation include questioning all of those present at the alleged incident? The whole point of a senate confirmation is for an open transparent process. You now want that to happen behind closed doors? Also, again you fail to understand that even if Dems wanted private hearings it was up to republicans whether to do that or not.
@Dave O Keeffe: You are blinded by your own bias, like those banging and screaming at the doors. Can you not see it has been a massive own goal, this has been shown in polls.
@Niamh Breslin: what polls ?
And she would say the same if trump had an affair with an intern now I bet!
@Liam Fahey: unlikely as the intern would probably said it wasn’t consensual unlike Bill’s case
@David Linehan: boom!
Hilary that’s not the point, he was married to you and you should be the last person to make excuses for him. Monica was a young girl , was infatuated with him but he knew exactly what he was doing and he did not care for her or you.
@Aine O Connor: She (ML) also knew what she was doing.
@Aine O Connor: oh give over ,she 2as a 22 year woman not some naive, vulnerable teenager .I don’t get this’ poor Monica ‘lark . She wanted the affair jyst as much as he did .the only victim in this was Hillary.
@Aine O Connor: three adults in a situation, the one you’re attempting to lecture is the one that did not wrong at all. Odd that.
@Siobhán Ni Mhurchú:
Stop making excuses for a man who if he had any decency could have easily rejected her ,he was a married man , he knew he taking advantage of her, she admits herself she made a big mistake and she paid dearly for it.
@Dave O Keeffe: If he was my husband I would not be making excuses for him , that’s my point. I be kicking him out.
@Aine O Connor: It’s her right to forgive him or to throw him out. Nobody else’s and she made her decision.
@Aine O Connor: she’s been making excuses for his philandering since they were young. It’s hypocritical of her to condense others since she’s paid off and ruined countless other women’s lives to protect the ‘family’ interests. She’s a horrible horrible woman who has no morality in the slightest. I imagine them as a real life Frank and Claire Underwood style couple.
@Aine O Connor: But he’s not your husband. He is Hilary Clinton’s husband. And you don’t know the foggiest about their relationship. So mind your own business.
@Ben Jamen:
Considering the amount of times he was allegedly unfaithful to her she must be very forgiving.
@Philip Kavanagh:
Maybe the Journal should not have run the article at all as it is definitely old news and nobody cares now especially me.
@Hardly Normal: *condone
@Aine O Connor: two grown adults decide to have an affair..No taking advantage at all .consent is the key here .
@Aine O Connor: but he’s not your husband and you’re not Hillary. You do you.
@Aine O Connor: Be careful about calling a grown woman a girl. From what ive read on comments on previous articles some of the feminists on here love to take offence at that kind of talk.
@Aine O Connor: again, you seem to hold the most scorn in the situation for the person that was faithful. Quite bizarre. It’s her choice.
Not sure Hillary campaigning is exactly what the Democrats need now coming up to mid term elections
Lewinsky, for her part, long maintained the affair was consensual, but in an essay published in Vanity Fair earlier this year wrote she had begun to re-evaluate that view.
There is a huge part of the problem^^^^^
An experience she happily entered into completely compos mentis is now being revisited through a different lens and all of a sudden she is being convinced she is a victim.
Goalposts and definitions are shifting so fast today it’s hard to keep up with this new Puritanism which will create a new generation of convinced survivors of minor events and destroyed lives of people still confused about what they did wrong.
@David McShite: Agree, but it’s moral goalposts that are moving. Bill (or Tiger) didn’t do anything illegal. Bill Cosby did, Harvey Wine stain….. time will tell…. and different outcomes await and rightly so.
@David McShite: Maybe they’ll create a law in the future where any kind of imbalance (political, financial, work position, age difference, gender imbalance etc etc) in a relationship will be automatically regarded as non consensual, and thus imprison the perpetrator who dared to use the imbalance in their favour.
He lied under oath
Should have been impeached
@Quentin Moriarty: he WAS impeached dumbass
@Quentin Moriarty: he WAS impeached dumba$$
@Pete Blake: he wasn’t impeached under the abuse of power- it failed- double dumbass
@Quentin Moriarty: Do ypu know what impeachment even means? He was impeached. He just wasn’t removed from power.
@Ciarān: nope, impeached by the house but the senate acquitted him, therefore not completing the impeachment process.
@Ciarān: two articles pertaining to his impeachment ,one being an abuse of power which failed
He was not impeached on the basis on the topic of this article .His lies and obstruction of justice led to the lead impeachment
He was dishonest throughout
Yeah, right. As if this happened to a Republican president the Democrats wouldn’t be agitating for further investigation of that and other new allegations.
Bill Clinton wormed his way out of it at the time be privately defining “sexual relations” as being having full sexual intercourse despite knowing what he did and did happen in the Oval Office. They run with the hare and hunt with the hounds.
@The Quare Fella:Just like the Democratic party leadership looked for investigations into the numerous amount of sexual assault ‘allegations’ that were made against Trump..oh wait..
@I’m From Cork,Boi: how’s trump getting on in the promised legal action against his accusers? Doesn’t seem to come up much.
@Dave O Keeffe: Fake News! Trump would never ever make a promise like that..Next thing, you’ll be saying that he’d promised to donate €1m if Elizabeth Warren proved that she had Native American blood in her..
@Dave O Keeffe:
Stormy Daniels just had her defamation case against Trump thrown out and ordered her broke a$$ to pay his legal fees, guess it’s back to work for Stormy.
@I’m From Cork,Boi:
It showed she’s 1/64 – 1/1000 Native American, so she’s basically white and just as Native American as every other white America. You need to go read the Cherokee Nations official response to Warren’s claim….very awkward for Warren.
*Pocahontas
@Otranto: so that ruling means the president calling it a con job may be untruthful and defamatory but is protected by the first amendment. How exactly does it have anything to do with sexual assault allegations? On Warren, the response from Cherokee Nation seemed to be more annoyed that DNA tests aren’t specific about whether the heritage is north or south American and that until it is Warren should stay quiet. I don’t see how it’s hurting anyone though. She was told it growing up and she has some DNA to back it up.
@Oevenmorepanto: Speaking of being disrespectful to the Native Americans,what are your thoughts on how they are being treated in Nt Dakota ? And aren’t Republicans such a nasty bunch of c***s.It’s no wonder that you are a fan of theirs..
@I’m From Cork,Boi:
Dry your eyes Francis.
@Opanto: I’m from Cork,boi..
I think they’re all adults! (Not a very strong argument to make)
Such double standards
Ah sure it was his entitlement—-goes with the job!
Given recent accusation by Christine Blassey Ford, should Juanita Broderick be afforded similar opportunity to have her case heard about her alleged incident with Bill?
wait, I thought he did not have sexual relations with that woman
Stand by your man#
more like the privilege of power. The Clinton’s have a messed up marriage though , their only child isn’t even his, Chelsea is the image of Hillary’s former boss.
Why is she responsible for her husband’s actions ? It’s a very unfair question given that she has addressed this before .
If Hilary wasn’t bothered and Monica was up for it then it would be rude not to !
2 adults. He overstepped his position, she was a willing participate in the affair, in her own words. His wife decided to stay with him. He apologised. This is done and dusted I thought?
@Ben Jamen: his wife stayed with him as she was going to run for presidency down the line and would probably have lost in every Bible Belt state had she separated .
Lewinsky treated appallingly post affair
Apt that this millstone remains around Bills neck .
What about her husband’s other victims, that SHE hounded and harassed, even having the dog owned by one of them, killed as a message. Check out people like Juanita Broadrick, read their stories, she backed him up to the hilt in his crimes!
What about the 12 yo girl, who’s credibility she atk’d in 1975, after being —ped by a 40 yo factory worker!
Wait till my wife hears this!!!
The issue in regards to abuse of power, had nothing to do with the affaire, but every thing to do with the question, did he use his office and the resources of his office to quel the story. The outcome was he did not abuse his power. End of story.
Wasn’t her security clearance revoked recently. The woman is a deviant liar, the US got lucky when she lost the election.
@Oevenmorepanto: at her request,pet…they were so lucky that they got the lying conman instead..and the rich in the US got even luckier when the conman became the POtuS..
A wife stands by her husband. Yes she’s a hypocrite but so what, she does the right thing and stands by her man.
@Martin: no, she’s only defending her own actions regarding the whole thing
I don’t understand why there is such fuss over a possible rape/abuse of power when he destroyed Yugoslavia. Are American women worth so much more than Slavs?
In fairness if you were married to this wan..
Delusional moron! Thank God that idiot never became president.
She is a disgrace!
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