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发帖数: 8600 | 1 In spring of 1978, McDougal proposed that the Clintons join him and his wife
, Susan, in buying 230 acres (93 ha) of undeveloped land with a goal to
subdivide the site into lots for vacation homes. The four borrowed $203,000
to buy land, and subsequently transferred ownership of the land to the newly
created Whitewater Development Corporation, in which all four participants
had equal shares. The venture failed because of skyrocketing interest rate.
The Clintons lost between $37,000 and $69,000 on their Whitewater investment
; this was less than the McDougals lost. The reasons for the unequal capital
contributions by the Clintons and McDougals are unknown but the Clinton's
critics cited the discrepancy as evidence that then-Governor Clinton was to
contribute to the project in other ways.
03/08/1992: The New York Times and The Times's reporter Jeff Gerth broke the
story during the 1992 U.S. presidential campaign that the Clintons, then
governor and first lady of Arkansas, had invested and lost money in the
Whitewater Development Corporation. The article stimulated the interest of L
. Jean Lewis, a Resolution Trust Corporation investigator who was looking
into the failure of Madison Guaranty Savings and Loan, also owned by Jim and
Susan McDougal.
09/02/1992: Jean Lewis submitted a criminal referral to the FBI naming Bill
and Hillary Clinton as witnesses in the Madison Guaranty case.
07/20/1993: Vince Foster death
Vince Foster, deputy counsel to the President, is found dead in a Northern
Virginia park. Within hours of the death of Vince Foster in July 1993, chief
White House counsel Bernard Nussbaum removed documents, some of them
concerning the Whitewater Development Corporation, from Foster's office and
gave them to Maggie Williams, Chief of Staff to the First Lady. Authorities
rule Foster's death a suicide, but subsequent federal investigators will re-
open the case in the future.
01/21/1994: Robert B. Fiske was appointed by Attorney General Janet Reno as
a special prosecutor to investigate the Whitewater matter. In May 1994,
Fiske issued a grand jury subpoena to the President and his wife for all
documents relating to Madison Guaranty, with a deadline of 30 days. They
were reported as missing by the Clintons.
07/01/1994: At Clinton's request, Attorney General Janet Reno asked a
federal court to appoint an independent counsel, Robert B. Fiske, to
continue his investigation of the legality of the Whitewater transactions
and the death of White House Counsel Vincent Foster in January 1994.
08/05/1994: Ken Starr was appointed as an independent counsel to continue
the Whitewater investigation after the oust of Robert B. Fiske by a 3-judge
panel of a Federal Court.
05/28/1996: Whitewater fraud trail
In the first trial to result from the Whitewater investigation, Jim and
Susan McDougal, and Arkansas Governor Jim Guy Tucker--Clinton's friends and
former business partners in the Whitewater affair--are convicted of fraud.
11/05/1996: Clinton reelected
President Clinton, with 49 percent of the vote, defeats Senator Bob Dole (R-
KS), with 41 percent of the vote, for the presidency. Clinton becomes the
first Democratic President since Franklin Roosevelt to win reelection to a
second term.
05/27/1997: Paula Jones lawsuit
In a decision affecting both the scope of presidential power and the
immediate future of the Clinton presidency, the Supreme Court rules that
Paula Jones can pursue her sexual harassment lawsuit against President
Clinton, even while he is in office.
10/03/1997: No major campaign finance violations
Attorney General Janet Reno, in a letter to Congress, announces that the
Justice Department's investigation into allegations that the Clinton
administration violated campaign finance laws, especially in its efforts to
finance the 1996 presidential campaign, has uncovered no major violations.
01/20/1998: Clinton denies Lewinsky allegations
News breaks that President Clinton may have had a sexual relationship with a
former White House intern named Monica Lewinsky. Clinton, adamantly denying
the allegations, states, “I did not have sexual relations with that woman,
Miss Lewinsky.”
04/02/1998: Jones lawsuit dismissed
A judge dismisses Paula Jones's sexual harassment lawsuit against President
Clinton.
09/11/1998: Report released on Lewinsky affair
The Office of the Independent Counsel releases its report on the Clinton-
Lewinsky affair, commonly known as the Starr Report. Two days earlier,
Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr tells the House that he has uncovered
information that may be grounds for impeachment.
12/19/1998: House votes to impeach Clinton
The House of Representatives votes to impeach President Clinton on charges
of perjury and obstruction of justice.
House Impeaches Clinton
On December 19, 1998, the House of Representatives voted to impeach
President Bill Clinton on charges of perjury and obstruction of justice.
The House of Representatives, which is responsible for instigating
impeachment proceedings, originally considered four articles of impeachment,
but declined to charge the President with one count of perjury and abuse of
power. That impeachment proceeded on two grounds rather than four did not
testify to a bastion of GOP support in the House, for Republican
Representatives had staunchly refused a Democratic plea simply to censure
the President for reprehensible behavior. Clinton had wait through two
agonizing months as the Senate received the case from the House, took
testimony, and debated whether or not he could continue as President.
The nation, too, was engaged in a furious debate over impeachment.
Republicans and their conservative supporters felt that they were taking a
stand for morality and integrity. The President's predicament flowed from an
affair with the former White House intern, Monica Lewinsky, and his efforts
to conceal the moral lapse from lawyers in the Paula Jones case, the public
, and apparently even his family. The presidency was not only a position of
legal and military leadership, Clinton's adversaries argued, it was a
uniquely visible symbol of America, and as such carried weighty
responsibilities of moral leadership. Democrats and their liberal supporters
argued that impeachment was intended to remove Presidents who clearly
abused their power as Presidents, for misdeeds like treason or using office
to harm opponents. They alleged that Republicans were bent on a destructive
and hypocritical “sexual McCarthyism,” policing what people did in private
intimate relations, although some prominent Republican and conservative
leaders had themselves committed affairs.
The Senate acquitted President Clinton on February 12, 1999. Afterwards,
Clinton apologized to the nation for the ordeal and hoped that the country
could return to the business at hand. Answering a reporter, who asked
whether Clinton could in his heart forgive and forget the actions of those
who had tried to remove him from office, the President offered a
conciliatory response: “I believe any person who asks for forgiveness has
to be prepared to give it.”
02/12/1999: Clinton acquitted
The Senate acquits President Clinton on both articles of impeachment,
rejecting one article and splitting evenly on the second.
09/20/2000: Independent Counsel concludes
Independent Counsel Robert Ray announces that his investigation has not
discovered enough evidence to indict the Clintons for their Whitewater
dealings.
克林顿的白水门调查历时8年，从任命特别检察官开始到Impeachment也有4年半，先后
两位（三任？）特别检察官。当时的情形非常复杂，包括Vince Foster的死。克林顿的
策略就是不合作不合作不合作，然后拖延拖延再拖延。Clintons deliberately
stonewalled because they believed that no matter how much information they
provided, more would always be demanded. They also complained that
Republican conservatives were out to get them. 然后就是对特别检察官无情的无
休止的攻击。The Clinton White House and its allies relentlessly attacked the
independent counsel Ken Starr for what they thought were both illegal and
unprincipled tactics, like intimidating witnesses and leaking to the press.
Mr. Starr has been vindicated in the courts in nearly every instance, and he
and his allies were maligned to a degree that will someday be seen as
grossly unfair.虽然从GOP角度来看很不地道，但是，他坚持过了第一任期而且连任成
功。虽然最后被Impeach了，但是众议院民主党极力保护他，其罪名也从4项减为两项。
后来参议院没能convict而得以留任总统。
川普目前的情形比但是克林顿的要好很多。在策略上，川普绝对可以借鉴克林顿的。No
matter how much information you provided, more would always be demanded。虽
然现在特别检察官调查相关法律有所改变，但是如果能拖还是得拖。Mueller调查不到
一年，再拖延两三年完全有可能。同时，要更猛烈的攻击Mueller，并等待机会。如果
能够利用uranium one案件将Mueller扳倒，生存下去的机会绝对很大。Sessions的职位
也要等机会，不能免职，调职行不行？今后有机会调他去State Department然后将他自
己人弄进DOJ？
川普的根本就是他那35-40%的基本盘，一定得稳住。建议尽快举行拉力，3-5场，打悲
情牌，告诉他们实情（当然不是给Mueller提供有用的证据），强调他目前的困局，直
接问他的基本盘他现在应该怎么办？MAGA怎么办？发动100万支持者包围DOJ和国会三天
如何？让那里的每个人GOP建制牌掂量掂量？这样做可能有一定的风险，但是应该可控。
另外一种办法就是用重大外交事件来转移注意力，比如五月川金会谈六月Bolton访问台
湾后做些重大有实质意义的外交改变？支持台湾独立？和中国打局部战争？这些风险太
大，时效短，与MAGA的目标相悖，而且不能阻止Mueller。
当然，还有一种方法就是直接摊牌，摊的越大越乱可能扭转局势的机会越大，或鱼死网
破的几率越大，这样总比自己坐而待毙deep state毫发无损要强。把Rosenstein和
Mueller都开了如何？？？因为没有敌友两方足够的信息，外人包括川普阵营都很难有
全面的观察和判断，只能看天吃饭了。如果失败，将会把Impeach的可能性大大提高，
时间表大大加快。
不过，感觉形式严峻，但是是困局，不是危局。失望但是不悲观，悲观也不放弃。即使
被Impeach,去职的可能性也不大。我是川黑，不尿粉轮。但是我更疼恨Mueller和Deep
State。 |
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