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Clinton Reaches Deal to Avoid Indictment
On his final day in office, US President Bill Clinton admitted Friday for the first time that he made false statements in the Monica Lewinsky case and entered into a deal with independent counsel Robert Ray to avert an indictment after leaving office.
"I tried to walk a fine line between acting lawfully and testifying falsely, but I now recognize that I did not fully accomplish that goal and that certain of my responses to questions about Ms. Lewinsky were false," Clinton said in a statement read by White House spokesman Jake Siewert.
"I hope my actions today will help bring closure and finality to these matters," Clinton said.
In return, independent counsel Robert Ray has concluded the Lewinsky case and dropped any plans to indict Clinton on criminal perjury charges after Clinton leaves office, Siewert said.
As part of the deal, Clinton accepted a 5-year suspension of his license to practice law in Arkansas and paid a 25,000-U.S.- dollar fine.
The deal addressed the remaining legal issues from Clinton's affair with Lewinsky, a former White House intern, which prompted his impeachment by the House in December 1998 and acquittal in a Senate trial in February 1999.
"It represents the conclusion of the Lewinsky investigation by the office of the independent counsel without the filing of any criminal charges," Siewert said.
"Clinton wants to put this behind him, enter life as a public citizen ... get a fresh start," he added.
Siewert said Clinton's statement brings "complete closure" to both the independent counsel's investigation and the Arkansas Bar committee case without indictment or disbarment. He said, however, that neither the president's statement nor the consent order relates to the president's grand jury testimony.
"The president believes that testimony" to the grand jury "was in no way evasive, misleading or false," Siewert said.
However, Clinton testified in the Paula Jones case in January 1998 that he didn't recall being alone with Lewinsky and denied having sexual relations with her.
Ray, who took over the investigation more than a year ago, had been using a grand jury to decide whether Clinton should be indicted for perjury and obstruction of justice after he leaves office Saturday.
Ray reached the deal with Clinton's attorney, David Kendall.
At a news conference minutes after Siewert spoke, Ray said, " Fifteen months ago I promised the American people I would complete this investigation fully and promptly. Today, I fulfill that promise. ... This matter is now concluded. May history and the American people judge that it has been concluded justly."
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