Posted by Ron in ND on February 12, 1999 at 14:19:41:
In Reply to: it's dragged on long enough...it's time to move on! posted by One Hole on February 12, 1999 at 14:05:19:
See the entire text at the link below.
Despite denials, Clinton is planning a full campaign of
retribution
By Daniel J. Harris
Capitol Hill Blue
Despite official denials, the Clinton White House has collected new
dossiers, complete with financial records, FBI investigative information and IRS
reports on House impeachment managers and other perceived enemies of the
administration, Capitol Hill Blue has learned.
"It's payback time and payback will be a bitch," one White House aide
said Thursday. "This won't be a gloat-free zone. It will be a 'get
even' zone."
Some White House aides worry privately that the President's lust
for revenge will be so great it will create a new scandal and
charges of abuse of power.
"I've seen FBI and IRS files on members of Congress, complete
dossiers on reporters and more," one worried aide admitted. "This is
really scary."
As the Senate prepared to acquit Clinton on charges of perjury and
obstruction of justice and end four weeks of impeachment trial, the
White House is prepared to launch a campaign of terror against
those who tried to remove the President from office.
At the center of this campaign will be White House smearmeister
Sidney J. Blumenthal, who recently got caught lying about his
efforts to smear former White House intern Monica Lewinsky.
"There are new files from the investigators, files from the FBI and
IRS financial information on Hyde, Barr, Hutchinston and others," one
source confirmed Thursday night. "We will get even."
Another source said Blumenthal has been working on the campaign
"at the expense of everything else. This is Sid's bailiwick and he is
ready to serve his President."
According to White House sources, the revenge list includes not only
the 13 House managers, but Senators, journalists and others that
Clinton feels need to taste revenge at the hands of the White House.
Those on the list include:
Rep. Henry Hyde and the other 12 House impeachment
managers;
Rep. Dan Burton of Indiana, a frequent Clinton critic;
Senator Tim Hutchinson of Arkansas, brother of House
impeachment manager Asa Huthinson;
Newsweek reporter Mike Isikoff, who developed the original
story on Monica Lewinsky and the Linda Tripp tapes;
Larry Klayman, founder of Judicial Watch, which has filed
both legal cases and investigative material against Clinton;
"The list is long and growing," one aide said. "There will be blood on
the floor before this affair is over."
A Thursday New York Times article said Clinton was prepared to
put all his efforts into defeating as many of the House impeachment
managers as possible in the 2000 elections and restore control of
Congress to the Democrats.
The Times article infuriated Republicans, who accused the
president of arrogantly seeking revenge against the 13 House
``managers'' who pressed allegations of perjury and obstruction of
justice on the floor of the Senate.
The flap demonstrated that even as Clinton's impeachment trial
draws toward an expected acquittal in the Senate, it is becoming a
powerful theme for both parties ahead of the 2000 elections.
White House spokesman Joe Lockhart told reporters Clinton would
work hard to help Democrats recapture control of the U.S. House.
Democrats, the minority party in the House since January 1995, need
to capture seven seats to win an outright majority.
But Lockhart said there was no strategy of targeting the House
Republican managers. Lockhart noted that many of them hold safe
seats, adding that the prospect of Democratic control of the House
was motivation enough for the president.
``I can't think of a worse, more dumb strategy than going after
people based on whether they were a House manager or not,''
Lockhart said. ``We're going to go out, do the best we can at
articulating a message, and do it based on where we think we can
win seats.''
However, other White House aides told Capitol Hill Blue that
Lockhart was lying.
"The payback has been in the planning stages for weeks," one said.
"The President is not a man to take this without fighting back. There
will be retribution against those who tried to take him down."
The Times cited unidentified Clinton advisers as saying the
president was determined to work for a Democratic victory in the
House as an affirmation of his legacy. The Times quoted the advisers
as saying Clinton was particularly angry at the 13 managers,
believing they needlessly prolonged the impeachment trial, which is
expected to end with his acquittal Friday.
The White House has been trying hard publicly to keep expressions of
vindication to a minimum and has said there would be no gloating
over an acquittal.
But privately, aides say Clinton is unrepentant and angry and wants
revenge for the attempts to remove him from office.
"The President doesn't feel any remorse over what has happened,"
one aide said, "but he is angry...very, very angry."