A refresher course on the Ellen Rometsch strategy from Richard Poe:
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... on February 8, 1998, with pressure mounting to impeach Bill Clinton, George Stephanopoulos appeared on ABC’s This Week with Sam Donaldson and Cokie Roberts. Stephanopoulos had resigned as White House communications chief in 1996 and became an ABC news analyst. But he was still carrying the Clintons’ water, as his next words made clear.
Stephanopoulos announced that the Clinton White House was planning what he called an “Ellen Rometsch” strategy. He explained that Rometsch was an East German spy who had managed to become John F. Kennedy’s lover. According to Stephanopoulos, the Kennedy White House threatened
to open up the FBI files and divulge embarrassing or incriminating information on anyone who attempted to blow the whistle on JFK’s affair with Rometsch. If pressed to the wall, the Clinton White House would do likewise, said Stephanopoulos.
Sam Donaldson asked, “Are you suggesting for a moment that what they’re beginning to say is that if you investigate this too much, we’ll put all your dirty linen right on the table? Every member of the Senate? Every member of the press corps?”
To which Stephanopoulos replied, “Absolutely. The president said he would never resign, and I think some around him are willing to take everyone down with him.”
This was a clear threat, delivered openly, on national television. Through Stephanopoulos, the Clintons were warning Congress and the media to back off. The threat worked.
David P. Schippers, who was Chief Investigative Counsel for the Clinton impeachment, reveals in his book “Sell-Out” that Republican leaders, from the get-go, had no intention of holding a proper impeachment trial or of convicting Bill Clinton. It was all a charade.
Take it easy on Stephanopoulos. It cannot be easy being the gay son of an Archbishop.