Reprinted from The Washington Times , 5am -- May 1, 1998
Clinton takes aim at Starr, maintains silence on Lewinsky
By Warren P. Strobel
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
A combative President Clinton lashed out at his accusers Thursday, charging that independent counsel Kenneth W. Starr heads a "hard, well-financed, vigorous effort" to undercut his moral authority but declaring it has failed.
Mr. Clinton, at his first solo news conference since the Monica Lewinsky sex-and-lies scandal broke, repeatedly declined to elaborate on his relationship with the former White House intern.
"I have answered it repeatedly and have nothing to add to my former answer. I have repeatedly said what the answer to that question is," he said.
But Mr. Clinton showed no such reticence in characterizing the motives of adversaries ranging from Mr. Starr and his deputy, W. Hickman Ewing Jr., to House Speaker Newt Gingrich. He frequently named his tormentors by name, a departure from his normal practice.
"All these people that have been working hard on this for seven years now, they can affect my reputation; they can do nothing for good or ill to affect my character," he said.
"Unfortunately, they can't make it any better either," he added.
Mr. Clinton said the independent counsel's investigation and Republican criticism are driven by those who could never accept his election or his policies and have decided instead that "personal attack seems legitimate."
The president was questioned repeatedly about whether he thinks inquiries into his personal life are legitimate, about polls showing doubts regarding his character and about a president's role in setting an example of moral authority for the nation.
Questions about officials' personal conduct, he said, "are distracting, and we live in a time where they are more prominent than they have been at most times in our country's history."
But he argued that "this administration has a good record" on standing up for American values.
Mr. Clinton's news conference concluded just hours before the announcement that Mr. Starr had won a grand jury indictment of former Justice Department official Webster L. Hubbell, his wife and two tax advisers.
Asked why he does not fire Mr. Starr if he believes the independent counsel is pursuing a personal vendetta against him, the president replied curtly, "That would not be an appropriate thing for me to do."
While questions ranged from the burgeoning stock market to the tobacco-legislation wars, 14 of the 29 reporters Mr. Clinton called on asked in some fashion about the various scandals hanging over his administration. Some White House aides had predicted even more of a slant toward scandal.
The president, who three months ago promised to answer what he called "very legitimate" questions about his relationship with Miss Lewinsky, Thursday said he now is willing to have such questions hang over the rest of his term in office.
"Absolutely," he said.
While he showed little but contempt for Mr. Starr, the president was slightly more charitable to House Speaker Newt Gingrich. The Georgia Republican over the past week has stepped up attacks on the president's moral authority and accused him and other Democrats of undermining the Constitution by refusing to cooperate with various investigations.
"Nothing he says about me personally -- nothing -- will keep me from working with him and with other Republicans in the Congress to do everything I possibly can on every issue before us," Mr. Clinton said. "So it's not going to get in my way. It is simply not."
That statement is in line with the belief by Mr. Clinton and his advisers that the president would have sustained worse political damage since the Lewinsky scandal broke if he had not striven to be seen doing his job, rather than worrying about his own predicament.
Asked about the president's comments, Mr. Gingrich said only, "The president should tell the truth to the American people. It's that simple."
The president suggested the speaker's sudden campaign against him stemmed from internal GOP politics, adding, "I don't pretend to understand it all -- I don't think that should make us believe the era of bipartisan government is over."
But Thursday, Mr. Clinton seemed far more caustic than usual, striking back verbally at questions, and freely interrupting his interrogators.
When CNN's Wolf Blitzer prefaced a scandal-related question by saying, "I hate to beat a dead horse," the president shot back, "No you don't," prompting laughter in the East Room.
Moments before, he sparred with Sam Donaldson of ABC News, over the standards for presidential conduct.
"I'm, in some ways, the last person who needs to be having a national conversation about this," Mr. Clinton demurred.
"But you're the leader," the reporter interjected.
"I may be the leader, but my job as leader is to lead the country and to deal with the great public issues facing the country," the president said.
Mr. Clinton also defended his wife, who has been criticized for failing to answer some questions from Mr. Starr's prosecutors.
A statement by their attorney this week that Mrs. Clinton invoked the sacrosanct right not to testify about conversations with a spouse "blows what they said out of the water better than anything I could say, and amounts to a 'shame on them' for saying that," he said.
On other topics at the 57-minute news conference, the president:Said he still hopes for and believes there can be tobacco legislation this year, despite House Republicans' reported rejection of a bipartisan proposal.
"I do not want this to be an issue in the November election," he said, repeating the sentence for emphasis. "If it is ... it will only be because those people who have a political or financial interest in seeing that this matter is not resolved between now and November prevent it from being resolved."Acknowledged publicly for the first time what his aides have been saying for weeks, that he will not be able to make a renewed push for "fast-track" trade legislation this year because of the midterm elections.
"For reasons that I disagree with, a lot of members of Congress, and most of them in my own party, think that it's not a good thing to do politically," he said. "I don't think this is a good time right now."
Sided with his embattled drug policy director, retired Gen. Barry McCaffrey, and said he won't push to lift a prohibition on federal funds for needle-exchange programs. The House voted Wednesday for a permanent ban on federal funding.
"It should remain a local decision. ... I'd like to see this controversy put behind us," Mr. Clinton said.Said that Iraq has largely complied with inspections of its nuclear activities but that he will wait for a recommendation from the Pentagon and other agencies before reducing the U.S. military presence in the Persian Gulf.
- Staff writers Mary Ann Akers and Paul Bedard contributed to this report.
Copyright 1998 News World Communications, Inc.
Reprinted with permission of
The Washington Times.
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