SellOut: The Inside Story of President Clinton's Impeachment

Rating:
Summary: The Defiant Honesty Of David Schippers
Review: A lifelong Democrat, David Schippers led the Justice Department's Organized Crime and Racketeering Unit under Robert Kennedy during the Johnson Administration before returning to his native Chicago to work as a trial attorney. During the impeachment proceedings against Bill Clinton Schippers was appointed by Henry Hyde as chief investigative counsel.

It is as such that Schippers witnessed the spectacle of the investigation of Clinton and of the ruthless conspiracy - there is really no better descriptive term - by the White House to obstruct the investigation and hide the truth. He was also witness to the dishonesty of Congressional Democrats and the appalling timidity of Republicans, who basically fumbled the ball away and thus allowed Clinton et al to escape punishment.

Schippers details the real reason for the impeachment of Clinton - his wholesale abuse of power, violations of the Constitution, obstruction of justice, witness tampering, serial perjury and subornation of perjury, and so forth. Though the basic truth of Clinton's megalomania has been well known for a long time, it is still a stunning revelation when one pores through the record to see just what kind of people Clinton and his acolytes truly are.

Schippers notes the wholesale dishonesty of Democrats - he notes how they, often led by the always-obstreperous Barney Frank, not only didn't review the evidence, they didn't even try - Schippers and his staff set up an evidence room stocked with videos, transcripts, etc, and while 65 Republicans entered the room and examined the evidence, not one Democrat did. They had basically made up their mind to back Clinton regardless of truth.

Schippers also details how the Republican leadership sabotaged their own trial by forbidding the calling of live witnesses and by severely limiting how much evidence could be presented - all because of polls showing, thanks to the White House's designated liars, that Ken Starr and company were felt to have somehow defiled the Constitution.

Schippers notes acidly how even when the Senate was deliberating on whether to convict Clinton, the evidence room was still open, yet none of them, of either party, took the time to look. It says a lot about just how little integrity there is in modern government.

Schippers' book is a necessary corrective to the lies and distortions of those who still want to portray the impeachment as some kind of partisan witch hunt over a "private" sexual misstep, for what is really going on is what Schippers courageously makes clear - the machinations of a President who is nothing but a serial lawbreaker.

Rating:
Summary: When you lose, cry foul
Review: I came to this book with an open mind. Too bad that more of the tunnel vision that characterized Ken Starr appears here in Schippers' book. Schippers can't see the forest for the trees - if he had a broader vision of his role and the political considerations surrounding impeachment, he might have succeeded! Unfortunately, he sees all events as a morality play in which he is the hero, valiantly protecting the American people against their elected representatives (from both parties - neither can meet his high standard.) Particularly laughable is his fawning examination of Kenneth Starr during a hearing - he thinks this is a high point of the whole process - instead he gives new meaning to the term "sucking up".

Read this book and you will understand why, in hands like these, the impeachment attempt failed.

Rating:
Summary: Great book, though a little disjointed
Review: I gave this four stars rather than five, simply because, while I found the information on the INS situation revealing (and fitting in with the Clinton administration's other misdeeds), I don't really see how it fit with the rest of the focus, that of the impeachment saga.

It was interesting to get the perspective of Schippers and the House Managers that he provided. As an interested onlooker, I don't think I realized just how badly they were shafted when they were not permitted to conduct a real trial. I got the idea that Monica was "all they had." It wasn't, not by a long shot. And had they had time to properly present it, history may have had different results.

I am sure that Schippers would say that his research into the INS situation applied directly to the abuse of power charge, and while I would agree that had it been completed and determined to be as it appeared, that would be true, the fact is, that research wasn't completed. Were a full 20% of the naturalized citizens prior to the election in 1996 felons? Perhaps. But I don't suppose we'll ever know, and since we don't, perhaps it shouldn't have been hinted at in the first place in this book.

As an insider's view on the trial of President Clinton, it is a worthwhile read. But since the allegations regarding the hastened naturalization of new citizens in time for the 1996 Presidential elections was unproven, I guess I question whether it should have been brought up.

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Summary: Ridiculous nonsense
Review: I loved this book. It has got to be one of the most engrossing works of research ever put into fine print ... NOT! A total kaleidoscope of a multicolored lucidity, it is glassy; oh, so glassy. You can practically see the President drink his morning coffee as your eyes glide over the words of treasured knowledge. The writer spent a dog's age putting this cherished pile of nonsense together, I bet. Imagine, just a year or so later, our world is shattered as terrorists fly huge jet airplanes into two giant twin structures and a U.S. government building, killing thousands. Isn't it foolish that our country's influential heads wasted so much time and money keeping tabs on, and chastising its leader for the nonsense written in this book, without even realizing the possibility of impending disaster and other serious matters that were actually looming just around the corner. Read this, and be reminded of an easier, more pleasant time in our lives ... and then laugh; laugh at how ridiculous it is.

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Summary: Part of the story
Review: It would have been difficult to give this book a more appropriate name. David Schippers shows that there was truly a sellout in the so called senate trial on the impeachment of President Clinton. One can see the frustration of the author after participating in the collection of a vast amount of information and the House Managers not being allowed to present the bulk of this information to the senate along with appropriate witnesses.

It is his contention that the sellout was made by the senate leadership. There was no interest in even looking at the gathered evidence, and it was obvious that senatorial minds were made up even before they were sworn in before the Chief Justice for the trial. This can be compared to a jury in a criminal case having their minds made up prior to being sworn in and hearing the evidence.

The reason for the senators not wanting the President convicted in the senate was largely due to the polls showing support of the American people for the President. It can be argued that this support held fast because the Administration was able to keep all Democratic senators loyal and thus maintain the argument of this being just a partisan Republican effort to overthrow the results of the previous presidential election.

Again this can be compared to jurors in a criminal trial voting not to convict the defendant because the majority of people did not want the person convicted.

Rating:
Summary: SellOut: The Inside Story of President Clinton's Impeachment
Review: Schippers, the former Chief Investigative Counsel of the House Judiciary Committee and a loyal Democrat, went against his party, the press, and public opinion to build a case against President Clinton and bring him to justice. He shows how the entire impeachment process was rigged, and gives insider information on why Democrats and Republicans conspired to conceal evidence of criminal offenses, how Clinton tried to keep his women quiet, and how Republicans cooperated with Janet Reno's Justice Department to keep secret the report on possibly impeachable Clinton-Gore fundraising offenses. Schippers has been a practicing trial attorney for some 40 years.

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Summary: Knowledge is Power?
Review: The fragments of stories that arise from the Clinton impeachment period grow further and wider with each retelling of the story from the perspective of many who claim to know what everyone else doesn't. The analysis of each of these books reminds us that like today in the case of the Iraq War and the Bush first term, the American people actually know very little of the behind the scenes events, or their accuracy. What is clear, however, is that the White House environment has for some time now become one of the most hostile territories of America's political structure. It certainly seemed to be from the earliest time that Clinton took office until the time he left. Who knows how much is true, or false, and how it may, or may not, have been handled, and by whom? Though we may get some inkling of how the White House is designed to work from the West Wing series, it may well be the ideal, and not the reality. If everything that has been told about Clinton was true, the American people would have seen the greatest Jeckyll and Hyde act of all time, it seems, and that would be doubtful and improbable. If it is true, it would be unusual that Hillary would want to run for President, and the people of America may need to give far more scrutiny to the Presidents it chooses than they have in the past. Either way, the impact has been felt in all quarters of the nation, and will not likely be easily forgotten. Questioning how much knowledge the people have, and how much power over the office people have are critical issues at this time in America because of the accumulated knowledge we have of all past Presidents, that grows with each new review of what America thought she knew, but found later she didn't.

Rating:
Summary: Great Book!
Review: This book tells of the political shenanigans of the Washington Insiders. The title tells it all. Republicans and Democrats alike torpedoed the Impeachment proceedings. The real charges of bribery and treason were replaced by the sexual antics of an immoral Predident. Great reading. If you want to find out what really happened during the impeachment of Bill Clinton, this is a must read.

Rating:
Summary: My God-- I Can Do It Again!
Review: Upon accepting the offer to become Chief Investigative Counsel of the House Judiciary Committee, David Schippers assembled a professional, hard-working, and highly ethical team to prepare impeachment proceedings against Clinton. A lifelong Chicago Democrat who worked for Robert Kennedy and voted for Clinton in both presidential elections, he nonetheless became thoroughly disenchanted with the "lies, cowardice, hypocrisy, cynicism, amorality, butt-covering" among House Democrats and the Senate.

The second American president to be impeached, Clinton claimed the vast right-wing conspiracy was circumventing the Constitution. In fact, the impeachment process was specifically designed by the Founding Fathers as part of our system of checks and balances, but the Senate leadership ensured its failure. Schippers wanted to follow the procedure used against President Nixon, but the likes of Senator Ted Stevens quickly clarified that this was no Watergate: "I don't care if you prove he raped a woman and shot her dead-- you are not going to get [the] votes." On whether the Senators would ignore their oath "to do equal and impartial justice," he replies: "You're damn right they are." One Democratic Congressman overheard as saying "My God, this is indefensible. The man is a perjurer, a liar, he's obstructing justice. How can we defend him?" nonetheless voted against impeachment. Among the rare voices of integrity was Democrat Joe Lieberman.

Schippers is a straight-talker and doesn't pull any punches. Countering noncooperation from Attorney-General Reno's Department of Justice, he promises an Obstruction of Congress charge. When Reno refused to supply reports from FBI Director Louis Freeh and DoJ prosecutor Charles LaBella, he plays severe hardball and eventually nearly succeeds. Tipped off that the White House is setting him up, and if he accepts the reports they will be immediately leaked, Schippers declines them-- Clinton wins.

Contrary to received propaganda, Clinton's transgressions were not about sex. Even with all the stonewalling and intimidation, the Judiciary Committee gathered evidence to support 15 separate felonies, among which perjury, witness tampering, and suborning perjury. Because of constraints imposed on the inquiry, much was not even investigated: illegal foreign campaign contributions (Chinagate), illegal possession of secret FBI personnel files (Filegate), the firing and slandering of the travel office staff (Travelgate), selling of Commerce Department junkets for campaign contributions (Commercegate), and perjury over his tawdry adulterous affairs with Kathleen Willey, Dolly Kyle Browning, and Gennifer Flowers.

Clinton's rape (as Arkansas Attorney-General) of Juanita Broaddrick is simply heinous. When he appeared to have finished, he told his victim "My God, I can do it again!" and did. She kept quiet, and at a later fundraiser Hillary approached her and said "I've heard so much about you [...]. We appreciate everything you do," though she hadn't worked for their campaign. When Clinton's conquests were subpoenaed in the Paula Jones case, they were pressured into providing false depositions or threatened (sometimes grotesquely).

The White House coerced the INS to grant citizenship to aliens likely to vote Democratic by waiving normal security checks. Accounting firm KPMG established that over 250,000 aliens with certain or unverified arrest records obtained citizenship, and in a sample of 100 aliens with serious prior criminal records 20% now had FBI arrest records for serious crimes committed after obtaining citizenship.

The day before the debate and vote on the articles of impeachment, Clinton bombs Iraq.

Schippers reproduces some of the support and hate mail he received, and one poignant letter is worth quoting: "I am writing to you because my friend Eddie saw you on TV and said you were moral and tough. My Dad is a lot like the President because he likes to have ladies sleep over when my Mom's away. I don't like that. I was wondering if you could help impeach my Dad?"

Rating:
Summary: Mediocre book by a politically naive author
Review: Where's the beef? This book is supposed to be "The Inside Story of President Clinton's Impeachment". But, it seemed to me to be mostly filled with information already widely known and published or televised. The "inside story" material that Schippers shares with us seemed mostly to involve insignificant anecdotes about the political maneuvering that he believes frustrated his and the House Managers' efforts to remove Clinton from office.

In my opinion, Schippers fails as badly as an author of this book as he did in support of the impeachment. Now before you ditch this review as being a biased view from a Clinton supporter, let me say that I believe Clinton should have been removed from office as a result of all he did to abuse and dishonor the presidency. And, I think he could have been removed if the impeachment had been handled better and presented to the public in such a way that they demanded he be removed. But, I think politically naive handling of the case by Starr, the House managers and Schippers kept that from happening. Poor handling of a good case can get an O.J. acquitted and can keep a Clinton in office. And, from what I can gather from this book, it wasn't that Schippers knew what to do and how to do it, he was truly naive enough to fail to see they just weren't doing an effective job of selling their story. Likewise, this book doesn't add much to the historical record unless you're interested in whining from an author who just didn't get it done in the impeachment and just didn't get it done in this book.