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Brief impeachment process to commence as Gingrich quits Congress
Updated November 8, 1998
9:35 a.m. ET
WASHINGTON (Court TV) — House Speaker Newt Gingrich confirmed Saturday that he was stepping down from his post and would be leaving Congress as members of the House Judiciary Committee will begin Monday to consider the scope of impeachment and plan hearings about the Monica Lewinsky matter.
The confirmation over the weekend solidified what was all but accepted as fact by Friday night, when Gingrich acknowledged he would not remain as Speaker.
"I think as a practical matter for me to stay in the House would make it impossible
for a new leader to learn, to grow, to do what they have to do,'' Gingrich said Saturday outside his home in Marietta, Ga.
President Clinton reacted Friday to Gingrich stepping down by calling the Speaker "a worthy adversary." Clinton said he appreciated "those times we were able to work together in the national interest, especially Speaker Gingrich's strong support for America's continuing leadership for freedom, peace and prosperity in the world."
Gingrich's decision came after what was perceived to be a devastating rout for the Republican Party in this week's elections, especially after the Speaker predicted significant victories for his party. And it will further weaken momentum for what had increasingly proved to be a highly partisan impeachment process, pushed along by the GOP's most vocal members of Congress.
"We have to get the bitterness out," Gingrich told fellow
Republicans in a conference call as he explained his decision Friday. "It is clear that as long as I'm around that won't happen."
But with the weekend, GOP leaders responded to the news by immediately jockeying for Gingrich's post. One major task facing the new Speaker will be to decide how to play the endgame of the Lewinsky investigation and forthcoming impeachment hearings. At this point, it is unlikely the process will have much additional impact, but the Republican leadership will also have to appease the many vocal critics of the president who believe the charges against Clinton are still salient.
Some names are already in heavy play as a replacement: Rep. Bob Livingston of Louisiana, a longtime Gingrich friend who had made a bid even before Gingrich stepped down; Rep. Christopher Cox, the Californian whose profile in the GOP has steadily risen in the past few years who announced his own bid Friday night; and Missouri Rep. James Talent.
As for the now-diminished impeachment inquiry, the next step will come Monday, when 19 scholars and historians are expected to testify for members of the Judiciary Committee's subcommittee on the Constitution about the scope and limits of impeachable offenses.
(Court TV will carry portions of the debate live.)
There is expected to be a balance of opinion between those who see Clinton's alleged wrongdoing in the Lewinsky matter as impeachable and those who believe it fails to meet the definition of "high Crimes and Misdemeanors" set out in the Constitution. But several high-profile academics, including historian Arthur Schlesinger, Jr. and law professor Laurence Tribe, will come out in defense of the president.
A letter circulated on the Internet and signed by 431 legal
scholars, a few of whom will testify before a House subcommittee on
Monday, argues that Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr hasn't
unearthed any conduct by Clinton that rises to the threshold of
impeachment.
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Text of Gingrich's statement:
Today I have reached a difficult personal decision. I will not
be a candidate for speaker of the 106th Congress. The Republican
conference needs to be unified and it is time for me to move
forward, where I believe I still have a significant role to play
for our country and our party. My party will have my full support
and I will do all I can to help us win in 2000.
I urge my colleagues to pick leaders who can both reconcile and
discipline, who can work together and communicate effectively. They
have my prayers and my thoughts as they undertake this task.
I want to thank everyone whose friendship and support has made
these years enjoyable. Marianne and I are grateful to the citizens
of Georgia, who gave us the wonderful opportunity to represent
them, and to my Republican colleagues, who became our extended
family.
Thank you and God bless you.
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"There's nothing official about his misconduct," University of
Texas law professor Douglas Laycock said Friday at a news
conference releasing the four-page legal analysis. Some of the
signers are the same as those who signed another letter from about
400 historians opposing impeachment.
Moreover, the academicians said, Republicans in Congress are
weakening the presidency by even opening an inquiry. Congress must
not have the power to remove any president for behavior it simply
disapproves of, they argue.
"Dangerous precedents are being set," said Georgetown
University law professor Susan Low Bloch, who will testify for the
Democrats at the hearing of the House Judiciary subcommittee on the
Constitution.
But several law professors invited to testify by Republicans
argue that fitness for office should be the standard for Congress'
decision and the House is duty-bound to consider impeachment.
If the allegations are proven true, says Northwestern University legal historian Stephen Presser, "what you have is a case of a president, who instead of enforcing the laws and constitution of this country, set out to undermine them."
Attorney Charles Cooper, who was appointed by former President George Bush to serve on the National Committee on Judicial Discipline and Removal, will testify about the relevance of three impeachments of federal judges to the current investigation. Harry Claiborne, Alcee Hastings, and Walter Nixon, Jr. were impeached and removed from office in the 1980s.
Those judges, says Cooper, lied under oath, which is what Clinton is accused of doing. "He's been charged with offenses that are impeachable," says Cooper.
As for the White House, lawyers were still handling the dozens of questions about the Lewinsky matter sent by House Judiciary Committee Chairman Henry Hyde for the president to answer.
Gregory Craig, a White House attorney and coordinator of
impeachment responses, said Friday the questions that committee Chairman
Henry Hyde, R-Ill., sent to President Clinton on Thursday were
doubtless part of "a political process."
Nonetheless, he said, "We're working our way through the
various requests and trying to respond to each one in a good faith
manner. And we're trying to do this as rapidly as possible, because
we share the chairman's view this process should be expeditious."
Craig would not estimate when the White House would finish its
response to Hyde's letter, which asked Clinton to stipulate
assertions in prosecutor Kenneth Starr's report to Congress,
including that some statements Clinton made under oath were false
or misleading.
"It's important that we get it right," Craig said.
—Jon Bonné
The Associated Press contributed to this report. Additional reporting by Court TV's Aldina Vazao.
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