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Impeachment Of Bill ClintonBill Clinton was impeached as President of the United States on December 19, 1998 by the House of Representatives. The charges were perjury and obstruction of justice. The Senate voted not to remove Clinton on February 12, 1999. The charges arose from an investigation by independent counsel Kenneth Starr. Originally dealing with the failed land deal years earlier known as Whitewater, Starr expanded his investigation into Clinton's conduct during the sexual harassment lawsuit filed by a former Arkansas government employee, Paula Jones. In a sworn deposition taken for this case, Clinton denied having sexual relations with White House intern Monica Lewinsky. Based on information from Lewinsky's confidante, Linda Tripp, Starr reached the conclusion that Clinton's statement constituted perjury. Clinton was impeached on December 19, 1998 by the House of Representatives on grounds of perjury to a grand jury (by a 228-206 vote) and obstruction of justice (by a 221-212 vote), becoming only the second U.S. President to be impeached (the previous one being Andrew Johnson in 1868). Two other articles of impeachment (a second count of perjury in the Jones case (by a 229-205 vote) and one accusing Clinton of abuse of power (by a 285-148 vote)) were defeated. The articles of impeachment did not achieve bipartisan support, passing without a single Democratic supporter. Much of the House debate was held in private session, which has led to charges that the disclosure of confidential information may have played a part in the impeachment proceedings. The Senate impeachment trial lasted from January 7, 1999 until February 12. No witnesses were called during the trial. A two-thirds majority, 67 votes, is necessary to convict the President on impeachment charges. The perjury charge was defeated with 45 votes for conviction and 55 against. The obstruction of justice charge was defeated with 50 for conviction and 50 against. Again, the impeachment effort lacked bipartisan support, with no Democratic votes for conviction.
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