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To: Kurt Evans
Why Senator Thompson believes President Clinton’s perjury before a grand jury didn’t constitute a high crime or misdemeanor.

Apparently you haven't read the statement, as you claimed. Your answer as to why Thompson believes that is right there:

"As noted above, not all impeachable offenses are crimes, and not all crimes are impeachable offenses. While I conclude that one of the three sets of facts at issue in item four of Article I does not constitute perjury, I conclude that the statements concerning Betty Currie, and the statements concerning what he told his aides do constitute perjury. I also find that the President committed perjury with respect to item one of Article I with respect to his statements that he and Ms. Lewinsky's relationship began as a friendship, that it started in 1996, and that he had `occasional' encounters with her. These are the only examples of grand jury perjury that I believe have been proved in the entirety of Article I. The question then is whether these examples of perjury warrant removal of the President for the commission of high crimes and misdemeanors.

"Make no mistake, perjury is a felony, and its commission by a President may sometimes constitute high crimes and misdemeanors. But is removal appropriate when the President lied about whether he was refreshing his recollection or coaching a witness about the nature of a sexual relationship? Is removal appropriate when the President lied to the grand jury that he denied to his aides that he had engaged in sex only as he had defined it, when in fact he had denied engaging in oral sex? Is removal warranted because the President stated that his relationship began as a friendship in the wrong year and actually encompassed more telephone encounters than could truthfully be described as `occasional'? To ask the question is to answer it. In my opinion, these statements, while wrong and perhaps indictable after the President leaves office, do not justify removal of the President from office.

"In no way does my conclusion ratify the White House lawyers' view that private conduct never rises to impeachable offenses, or that only acts that will jeopardize the future of the nation warrant removal of the President. It simply recognizes how the principles the Founding Fathers established apply to these facts.

"I therefore vote to acquit the President of the charges alleged against him in Article I."

You don't have to like his answer, but it's perfectly understandable, isn't it?

87 posted on 01/14/2008 2:29:50 AM PST by Darkwolf377 (Pro-Life atheist who will vote Fred in the primary, Republican in November)
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To: Darkwolf377

“Apparently you haven’t read the statement, as you claimed.”

I read it in November.

“You don’t have to like his answer, but it’s perfectly understandable, isn’t it?”

Actually it’s not.


96 posted on 01/14/2008 3:11:55 AM PST by Kurt Evans (This message not approved by any candidate or candidate's committee.)
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