Monica S Lewinsky

The statement released Friday by President Clinton on the Monica S. Lewinsky case, as transcribed by EMediaMillWorks Inc.: Today, I signed a consent order in the lawsuit brought by the Arkansas Committee on Professional Conduct, which brings to an end that proceeding.

They may have failed two years ago in their drive to oust President Clinton from office, but Republicans in Congress claimed some measure of vindication Friday in the agreement he reached to avoid possible indictment for his conduct in the Monica S. Lewinsky scandal. "The action taken today vindicates the House impeachment proceeding and reaffirms that our actions were in defense of the rule of law, rather than merely a political initiative," said Rep. Henry J. Hyde (R-Ill.

In a dramatic punctuation to his tumultuous presidency, President Clinton struck a deal Friday ensuring that he will not be criminally prosecuted for making false statements about his affair with Monica S. Lewinsky. Clinton, in a surprise deal reached with independent counsel Robert W.

Americans like to say that the United States is more than just "a nation of laws, not men," as John Adams put it. Yet Friday's decision by independent counsel Robert W. Ray not to prosecute President Clinton after he leaves office is a reaffirmation that this is a nation, above all else, that has a way of keeping one eye on its own best interest. For the third time in a generation, prosecutors have considered indicting a president or former president of the United States on criminal charges.

Signaling what may be further legal trouble for President Clinton, independent counsel Robert W. Ray is planning to interview former White House intern Monica S. Lewinsky in connection with a federal grand jury he impaneled last summer. Some lawyers familiar with the independent counsel's office said that the action suggests Ray may be seeking to indict Clinton on charges of perjury and obstruction of justice after he leaves office next month.

Independent counsel Robert W. Ray, acknowledging the public's wish that he finish work, said a decision on prosecuting President Clinton for his conduct in the Monica S. Lewinsky scandal will come "very shortly" after Clinton leaves the White House in January. "I think the public would like me to wrap up this investigation, but that doesn't mean walk away from the responsibilities I have," Ray said on CNN's "Late Edition."

Dick Cheney, the Republican vice presidential nominee, was on familiar ground Tuesday when he called character "the very essence of our great country." In the five weeks since George W. Bush named him as his running mate, Cheney has sounded the character theme in Pennsylvania, Michigan, Ohio, California and nearly every other place he has campaigned. Looming like a ghost at every stop has been the memory of Monica S. Lewinsky. He never utters her name.

A federal appeals court judge who is a Democratic appointee apologized Friday for what he said was his inadvertent disclosure that a new grand jury had been impaneled to investigate President Clinton. The jurist, Richard D. Cudahy of Chicago, said he mentioned the existence of the new panel Thursday when responding to a media inquiry about why he had voted that the investigation of Whitewater independent counsel Robert W. Ray could continue for another year.

The independent counsel in the Whitewater investigation has impaneled a new grand jury to explore allegations surrounding the Monica S. Lewinsky affair, raising new speculation about whether President Clinton could be indicted after he leaves office, those familiar with the investigation said Thursday.

President Clinton sought Thursday to distance Al Gore from the most personally difficult and politically dangerous moment of his presidency--his affair with Monica S. Lewinsky--while helping the vice president share in his administration's successes. "Surely no fair-minded person would blame him for any mistake that I made," the president said, after recalling that at the height of attacks on his conduct he had said of Gore: "He doesn't get enough credit for what we did together that is good."