A L S O+T O D A Y What they're saying By Lori Leibovich and Dawn MacKeen Susan Faludi, Arianna Huffington and other commentators react to Clinton's day of reckoning Clinton takes the offensive By Murray Waas The first lady urged an aggressive strategy after the president finally revealed details of the Lewinsky affair to her. Clinton's admission comes after years of lying to his wife about extramarital affairs Part One By Murray Waas Key Kenneth Starr witness David Hale's strategy for getting out of legal trouble: Blame President Clinton (08/12/98) Part Two By Murray Waas David Hale lied under oath during his testimony in the Whitewater case to conceal his secret ties to conservative activists (08/13/98) Part Three By Murray Waas How David Hale falsely invoked Bill Clinton's name to win a $50,000 payoff (08/14/98) Part Four By Murray Waas The story Starr did not want to hear: A key witness charges Starr investigators ignored information beneficial to Clinton (08/17/98) T A B L E+T A L K Today's headlines: Semen, oral sex and the presidency! How do you think the media are handling the Clinton Crisis? Sound off in the Politics area of Table Talk D A I L Y+Q U O T E Bob Packwood on extramarital sex R E C E N T L Y Walk like a man By Ned Stafford A fed-up American offers common-sense advice for our nation's beleagured leader (08/14/98) Democrats running scared By Jonathan Broder Capitol Hill Democrats fear the future (08/10/98) Click here for Viagra (or other drugs) By Greg Critser Your Viagra is only a click away (08/07/98) Just do it, Bill By Fred Branfman The president should tell the truth (08/06/98) Clinton's sexual scorched-earth plan By Jonathan Broder and Harry Jaffe The White House may be ready to declare a "total war" on Congress over the Lewinsky case (08/05/98) - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Browse the Newsreal Archives - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
		Transcript of President Clinton's statement Good evening. This afternoon in this room, from this chair, I testified before the Office of Independent Counsel and the grand jury. I answered their questions truthfully, including questions about my private life, questions no American citizen would ever want to answer. Still, I must take complete responsibility for all my actions, both public and private. And that is why I am speaking to you tonight. As you know, in a deposition in January, I was asked questions about my relationship with Monica Lewinsky. While my answers were legally accurate, I did not volunteer information. Indeed, I did have a relationship with Ms. Lewinsky that was not appropriate. In fact, it was wrong. It constituted a critical lapse in judgment and a personal failure on my part for which I am solely and completely responsible. But I told the grand jury today and I say to you now that at no time did I ask anyone to lie, to hide or destroy evidence or to take any other unlawful action. I know that my public comments and my silence about this matter gave a false impression. I misled people, including even my wife. I deeply regret that. I can only tell you I was motivated by many factors. First, by a desire to protect myself from the embarrassment of my own conduct. I was also very concerned about protecting my family. The fact that these questions were being asked in a politically inspired lawsuit, which has since been dismissed, was a consideration, too. In addition, I had real and serious concerns about an independent counsel investigation that began with private business dealings 20 years ago; dealings, I might add, about which an independent federal agency found no evidence of any wrongdoing by me or my wife over two years ago. The independent counsel investigation moved on to my staff and friends, then into my private life. And now the investigation itself is under investigation. This has gone on too long, cost too much and hurt too many innocent people. Now, this matter is between me, the two people I love most -- my wife and our daughter -- and our God. I must put it right, and I am prepared to do whatever it takes to do so. Nothing is more important to me personally. But it is private, and I intend to reclaim my family life for my family. It's nobody's business but ours. Even presidents have private lives. It is time to stop the pursuit of personal destruction and the prying into private lives and get on with our national life. Our country has been distracted by this matter for too long, and I take my responsibility for my part in all of this. That is all I can do. Now it is time -- in fact, it is past time -- to move on. We have important work to do -- real opportunities to seize, real problems to solve, real security matters to face. And so tonight, I ask you to turn away from the spectacle of the past seven months, to repair the fabric of our national discourse, and to return our attention to all the challenges and all the promise of the next American century. Thank you for watching. And good night. SALON | Aug. 18, 1998