Our Jonah’s on Larry King Live tonight (10/2).
MONICA STILL LYING
Monica Lewinsky, nonsensically says she knew Linda Tripp was wearing a wire and therefore she ratted out the President and Vernon Jordan even though they were innocent. Now we learn that the Ritz wire shows that Lewinsky was willing to cut Tripp a check for cash right then and there for her silence about the affair. Of course, Monica knew, Linda was wearing a wire. It makes so much sense!
We also learn from this morning’s Washington Times that Vernon Jordan and Bill Clinton offered dramatically different accounts before the Grand Jury. Jordan’s version lends credibility to the job-for-silence personally-orchestrated-by-the-President thesis. The President pleads ignorance. As the document dump proceeds, the Democrats will claim that Linda Tripp’s motivations are the big story of the day, not more evidence of a presidential cover-up.
STERLING GRANT
The only full-blown impeachment we’ve ever had of a President was for Andrew Johnson’s violation of the Tenure Office Act of March 2, 1867. Essentially, Johnson shuffled Cabinet secretaries without the Senate’s approval. Specifically, Johnson replaced Secretary of War Edwin Stanton with General U.S. Grant just to piss off the Radical Republicans. And, as irresponsible political payback, they impeached him for it. In 1868 the Senate came one vote shy of removing him from office. Long before that though, Grant resigned from the interim position as Secretary of War and returned to the army.
Johnson was furious with Grant for supposedly breaking his word. Grant’s reply was that he considered Congress the final authority. Then, Grant wrote the President a letter: “And now Mr. President, when my honor as a soldier and integrity as a man have been violently assailed, pardon me for saying that I can but regard this whole matter from beginning to end as an attempt to involve me in a resistance of law for which you hesitated to assume the responsibility, and thus destroy my character before the country.”
How far we’ve come.
QUESTION
Since it seems assured that Bill Clinton will be put on trial in the Senate, do his money-raising speeches for Democratic senatorial candidates qualify as jury-tampering or judge-bribing? Either way, another impeachable offense!