The White House FBI files controversy of the
Clinton Administration
Bill Clinton's tenure as the 42nd president of the United States began with his first inauguration on January 20, 1993, and ended on January 20, 2001. Clinton, a Democrat from Arkansas, took office following a decisive election victory over Re ...
, often referred to as Filegate,
["'Filegate' Depositions Sought From White House Aides"](_blank)
CNN
CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by the M ...
, April 1, 1998. Accessed June 5, 2007. arose in June 1996 around improper access in 1993 and 1994 to
FBI
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and its principal Federal law enforcement in the United States, federal law enforcement age ...
security-clearance documents. Craig Livingstone, director of the
White House
The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in 1800. ...
's Office of Personnel Security, improperly requested, and received from the FBI, background reports concerning several hundred individuals without asking permission. The revelations provoked a strong political and press reaction because many of the files covered White House employees from previous
Republican
Republican can refer to:
Political ideology
* An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law.
** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...
administrations, including top presidential advisors. Under criticism, Livingstone resigned from his position. Allegations were made that senior White House figures, including First Lady
Hillary Rodham Clinton
Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, diplomat, and former lawyer who served as the 67th United States Secretary of State for President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, as a United States senat ...
, may have requested and read the files for political purposes, and that the First Lady had authorized the hiring of the underqualified Livingstone.
The matter was investigated by the
House Government Reform and Oversight Committee, the
Senate Judiciary Committee
The United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary, informally the Senate Judiciary Committee, is a standing committee of 22 U.S. senators whose role is to oversee the Department of Justice (DOJ), consider executive and judicial nominations, a ...
, and the
Whitewater
Whitewater forms in a rapid context, in particular, when a river's gradient changes enough to generate so much turbulence that air is trapped within the water. This forms an unstable current that froths, making the water appear opaque and ...
Independent Counsel
The Office of Special Counsel was an office of the United States Department of Justice established by provisions in the Ethics in Government Act that expired in 1999. The provisions were replaced by Department of Justice regulation 28 CFR Part ...
. In 1998, Independent Counsel
Kenneth Starr
Kenneth Winston Starr (July 21, 1946 – September 13, 2022) was an American lawyer and judge who authored the Starr Report, which led to the impeachment of Bill Clinton. He headed an investigation of members of the Clinton administration, kno ...
exonerated President
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...
as well as the First Lady of any involvement in the matter. In 2000, Independent Counsel
Robert Ray issued his final report on Filegate, stating that there was no credible evidence of any criminal activity by any individual in the matter and no credible evidence that senior White House figures or the First Lady had requested the files or had acted improperly or testified improperly regarding Livingstone's hiring. A separate lawsuit on the matter brought by
Judicial Watch
Judicial Watch (JW) is an American conservative activist group that files Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuits to investigate claimed misconduct by government officials. Founded in 1994, JW has primarily targeted Democrats, in particula ...
, a
conservative
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...
watchdog group, lingered on for years and was dismissed by a federal judge in 2010.
Improper use of files issue
![Seal of the Federal Bureau of Investigation](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/da/Seal_of_the_Federal_Bureau_of_Investigation.svg)
"Filegate" began on June 5, 1996, when Republican
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...
Congressman
William F. Clinger, Jr.
William Floyd Clinger Jr. (April 4, 1929 – May 28, 2021) was an American attorney and Republican politician who represented northwest and north-central Pennsylvania in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1979 to 1997.
Early life and educ ...
, chair of the
House Committee on Government Reform and Oversight, announced that the committee had found, during their ongoing "
Travelgate
The White House travel office controversy, sometimes referred to as Travelgate,
'' " investigations, that FBI background reports on Travelgate figure Billy Dale had been delivered to the White House.
[ Robert Ray]
"Final Report of the Independent Counsel ... of the Investigation In Re: Anthony Marceca"
United States Government Printing Office
The United States Government Publishing Office (USGPO or GPO; formerly the United States Government Printing Office) is an agency of the legislative branch of the United States Federal government. The office produces and distributes information ...
, March 16, 2000. The following day, the White House delivered to the committee hundreds of other such files related to White House employees of the
Reagan Administration
Ronald Reagan's tenure as the 40th president of the United States began with his first inauguration on January 20, 1981, and ended on January 20, 1989. Reagan, a Republican from California, took office following a landslide victory over D ...
and
George H. W. Bush Administration
George may refer to:
People
* George (given name)
* George (surname)
* George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George
* George Washington, First President of the United States
* George W. Bush, 43rd Presiden ...
,
for which Craig Livingstone, director of the
White House
The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in 1800. ...
's Office of Personnel Security,
[Eric Pooley]
"Man Behind the Mess"
''Time
Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...
'', June 24, 1996. Accessed June 5, 2007. had improperly requested and received background reports from the FBI in 1993 and 1994, without asking permission of the subject individuals.
["Untangling Whitewater"](_blank)
''The Washington Post
''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
'' special report, 2000. Accessed June 5, 2007.
Estimates ranged from 400 to 700 to 900 unauthorized file disclosures.
[Christopher Lee]
"Flops Are No Fluke in the Annals of Political Payback"
''The Washington Post
''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
'', September 19, 2005. Accessed June 7, 2007.["FBI Files Fiasco"](_blank)
CNN
CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by the M ...
, 1997. Accessed June 5, 2007.["Documents Suggest Hillary Knew Craig Livingstone"](_blank)
CNN
CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by the M ...
, July 25, 1997. Accessed June 5, 2007.["Independent counsel: No evidence to warrant prosecution against first lady in 'filegate'"](_blank)
, CNN
CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by the M ...
, June 3, 2000. Accessed June 5, 2007. The incident caused an intense burst of criticism because many of the files covered White House employees from previous
Republican
Republican can refer to:
Political ideology
* An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law.
** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...
administrations, including top figures such as
James Baker
James Addison Baker III (born April 28, 1930) is an American attorney, diplomat and statesman. A member of the Republican Party, he served as the 10th White House Chief of Staff and 67th United States Secretary of the Treasury under President ...
,
Brent Scowcroft
Brent Scowcroft (; March 19, 1925August 6, 2020) was a United States Air Force officer who was a two-time United States National Security Advisor, first under U.S. President Gerald Ford and then under George H. W. Bush. He served as Military Assi ...
, and
Marlin Fitzwater
Max Marlin Fitzwater (born November 24, 1942) is an American writer-journalist who served as White House Press Secretary for six years under U.S. Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush, making him one of the longest-serving press secreta ...
.
Initial White House explanations for what had happened varied,
["Investigation Into the White House and Department of Justice on Security of FBI Background Investigation Files – Interim Report"](_blank)
, September 24, 1996. but generally characterized it as a series of mistakes made without bad intent and offered apologies to those affected.
President Clinton said that, "It appears to have been a completely honest bureaucratic snafu."
[Brian Knowlton]
"White House Apologizes For Collecting FBI Reports: But Dole Cries Foul, And Republicans Call for Hearings"
''The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'', June 10, 1996. Accessed June 12, 2011. However, his Republican opponent in the ongoing
1996 presidential election, Senator
Bob Dole
Robert Joseph Dole (July 22, 1923 – December 5, 2021) was an American politician and attorney who represented Kansas in the United States Senate from 1969 to 1996. He was the Republican Leader of the Senate during the final 11 years of his te ...
, compared it to
the enemies list kept by the
Nixon administration
Richard Nixon's tenure as the List of presidents of the United States, 37th president of the United States began with First inauguration of Richard Nixon, his first inauguration on January 20, 1969, and ended when he resigned on August 9, 1974 ...
.
Republicans made other charges, including that the White House was trying to dig up damaging information about Republicans in general
and that the file transfer was motivated by a desire to slander Dale and other White House Travel Office officials in order to justify their dismissal.
[Gerald S. Greenberg, ''Historical Encyclopedia of U.S. Independent Counsel Investigations'', ]Greenwood Press
Greenwood Publishing Group, Inc. (GPG), also known as ABC-Clio/Greenwood (stylized ABC-CLIO/Greenwood), is an educational and academic publisher (middle school through university level) which is today part of ABC-Clio. Established in 1967 as Gr ...
, 2000. . pp 124-125.
On June 18, 1996, Attorney General
Janet Reno
Janet Wood Reno (July 21, 1938 – November 7, 2016) was an American lawyer who served as the 78th United States attorney general. She held the position from 1993 to 2001, making her the second-longest serving attorney general, behind only Wi ...
asked the FBI to look into it;
FBI Director
Louis Freeh
Louis Joseph Freeh (born January 6, 1950) is an American attorney and former judge who served as the fifth Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation from September 1993 to June 2001.
Graduated from Rutgers University and New York Universi ...
acknowledged that both the FBI and especially the White House had committed "egregious violations of privacy"
(in some cases the background reports contained information about extramarital affairs, trangressions with the law, and medical issues).
David Stout
David Stout (May 13, 1942 – February 11, 2020) was a journalist and author of mystery novels, two of which have been turned into TV movies, and of non-fiction about violent crime. For his first novel, ''Carolina Skeletons'', he won the Edgar A ...
"Starr Questions Hillary Clinton on F.B.I. Files"
''The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'', January 15, 1998. Accessed June 16, 2007. On June 21 Reno decided it was a conflict of interest for the
U.S. Department of Justice
The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a federal executive department of the United States government tasked with the enforcement of federal law and administration of justice in the United State ...
to further investigate the matter, and thus recommended that it be folded into the overall umbrella of
the Whitewater investigations, under charge of Independent Counsel
Kenneth Starr
Kenneth Winston Starr (July 21, 1946 – September 13, 2022) was an American lawyer and judge who authored the Starr Report, which led to the impeachment of Bill Clinton. He headed an investigation of members of the Clinton administration, kno ...
.
In any case, Starr had already begun looking into it.
[Neil A. Lewis]
"Whitewater Counsel Examining Use of F.B.I. to Get G.O.P. Files"
''The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'', June 11, 1996. Accessed June 12, 2011.
![BillClinger](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e1/BillClinger.jpg)
On June 26, 1996, Clinger's Government Reform and Oversight Committee held hearings on the matter.
[George Lardner Jr., Susan Schmidt]
"Livingstone Resigns, Denying Ill Intent"
''The Washington Post
''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
'', June 27, 1996. Accessed June 7, 2007. Livingstone, who announced his resignation at the start of his testimony that day, and his assistant, Anthony Marceca, insisted during the committee's hearings that the mishandled files were a result of a bureaucratic mixup and that no improper motivations were behind it.
They said that when the George H. W. Bush administrative staff left the White House in January 1993, they had taken all the files of the Office of Personnel Security with them for use in the Bush Library, as they were permitted to do under law. The OPS staff were trying to rebuild these records to include those of permanent White House employees who remained to work in the Clinton administration; Marceca, a civilian investigator for the
Army
An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...
, had been hired for this task.
In doing so, they received an outdated list from the Secret Service of White House employees, which included many names who were no longer employees. This list was then given to the FBI and the personnel background files returned as a result.
Lisa Wetzl, another assistant, testified that she discovered the mistake in mid-1994 and destroyed the request list.
Also called to testify were former
White House counsel
The White House counsel is a senior staff appointee of the president of the United States whose role is to advise the president on all legal issues concerning the president and their administration. The White House counsel also oversees the Of ...
Bernard Nussbaum
Bernard William Nussbaum (March 23, 1937 – March 13, 2022) was an American attorney, best known for having served as White House Counsel under President Bill Clinton.
Background
Nussbaum, the first child of Jewish immigrants from Poland, was ...
and former associate counsel
William H. Kennedy III.
Livingstone, Nussbaum, and Kennedy all offered apologies to those whose files had been obtained.
On September 24, 1996, the Government Reform and Oversight Committee approved, on party lines, an interim report on the affair, blasting the Clinton Administration for a "cavalier approach" towards sensitive security procedures and saying that further investigation was necessary to determine if the events surrounding the files handling were "a blunder, the result of colossal incompetence, or whether they are established to be more serious or even criminal."
[George Lardner Jr.]
"GOP Slams White House in FBI Files Report"
''The Washington Post
''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
'', September 25, 1996. Accessed June 9, 2007. The Committee does not seem to have ever issued a final report.
["House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform: Main Page"](_blank)
, United States Government Printing Office
The United States Government Publishing Office (USGPO or GPO; formerly the United States Government Printing Office) is an agency of the legislative branch of the United States Federal government. The office produces and distributes information ...
. Accessed June 9, 2007. A search of reports, prints, etc. turns up nothing further related to the Security of FBI Background Files matter.
The
Senate Judiciary Committee
The United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary, informally the Senate Judiciary Committee, is a standing committee of 22 U.S. senators whose role is to oversee the Department of Justice (DOJ), consider executive and judicial nominations, a ...
was also involved in investigating the matter, holding hearings beginning June 29, 1996,
[Francis X. Clines]
" Key Witness Asserts His Right to Silence In Inquiry on Files"
''The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'', June 29, 1996. Accessed April 6, 2008. and focussing on allegations that White House was engaged in a "dirty tricks" operation reminiscent of the
Nixon administration
Richard Nixon's tenure as the List of presidents of the United States, 37th president of the United States began with First inauguration of Richard Nixon, his first inauguration on January 20, 1969, and ended when he resigned on August 9, 1974 ...
.
Looking into accusations that senior White House officials or the First Lady may have inappropriately perused the files, in October 1996, Republican committee chair
Orrin Hatch
Orrin Grant Hatch (March 22, 1934 – April 23, 2022) was an American attorney and politician who served as a United States senator from Utah from 1977 to 2019. Hatch's 42-year Senate tenure made him the longest-serving Republican U.S. senator ...
requested that the FBI do a
fingerprint analysis
A fingerprint is an impression left by the friction ridges of a human finger. The recovery of partial fingerprints from a crime scene is an important method of forensic science. Moisture and grease on a finger result in fingerprints on surfac ...
of them.
[David Johnston]
" Tests Find No Proof First Lady or Top Aides Touched F.B.I. Files"
''The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'', November 3, 1996. Accessed July 15, 2007. On November 3, 1996, the FBI informed the committee that no fingerprints of either the First Lady or any other named senior official were on the files.
Who hired Livingstone issue
![Hrcgarden](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ac/Hrcgarden.jpg)
A secondary question of the Filegate controversy revolved around what the Office of Personnel Security was, who had authorized the hiring of Livingstone, and whether he was qualified for the job. The Office was not responsible for actual White House security, as that was the charge of the
United States Secret Service
The United States Secret Service (USSS or Secret Service) is a federal law enforcement agency under the Department of Homeland Security charged with conducting criminal investigations and protecting U.S. political leaders, their families, and ...
,
nor did it perform background checks on potential White House employees, a task done by the FBI,
[ Online News Hour]
"FBI files hearing heats up"
, PBS
The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcasting, public broadcaster and Non-commercial activity, non-commercial, Terrestrial television, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly fu ...
, June 26, 1996. Accessed June 7, 2007. nor did it keep the regular personnel files of employees, which were held in a different office within the White House.
Rather, its role was to keep track of who was employed by the White House, make sure their security clearances were up to date, and give security briefings to new hires.
Hillary Rodham Clinton
Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, diplomat, and former lawyer who served as the 67th United States Secretary of State for President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, as a United States senat ...
, ''Living History
Living history is an activity that incorporates historical tools, activities and dress into an interactive presentation that seeks to give observers and participants a sense of stepping back in time. Although it does not necessarily seek to ree ...
'', Simon & Schuster
Simon & Schuster () is an American publishing company and a subsidiary of Paramount Global. It was founded in New York City on January 2, 1924 by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. As of 2016, Simon & Schuster was the third largest publ ...
, 2003, , pp. 371–372.
Nevertheless, Livingstone seemed to lack qualifications for even this position; he had worked on a number of
Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to:
*Democratic Party (United States)
Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to:
Active parties Africa
*Botswana Democratic Party
*Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea
*Gabonese Democratic Party
*Demo ...
campaigns and transitions,
including being an advance man for the Clinton-Gore 1992 campaign,
and his only prior job in the "security" field was that of a local
bar
Bar or BAR may refer to:
Food and drink
* Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages
* Candy bar
* Chocolate bar
Science and technology
* Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment
* Bar (tropical cyclone), a layer of cloud
* Bar (u ...
bouncer
A bouncer (also known as a doorman or door supervisor) is a type of security guard, employed at venues such as bars, nightclubs, cabaret clubs, stripclubs, casinos, hotels, billiard halls, restaurants, sporting events, schools, concerts, or m ...
at a
Washington, D.C.
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
,
night club
A nightclub (music club, discothèque, disco club, or simply club) is an entertainment venue during nighttime comprising a dance floor, lightshow, and a stage for live music or a disc jockey (DJ) who plays recorded music.
Nightclubs gener ...
. (At the congressional hearings, Livingstone objected to "false and unfair caricatures of who I am.
..I have worked hard for little or no pay in political campaigns for candidates who I felt would make this country a better place to live."
) Initially, White House officials could not explain why Livingstone was hired, nor who had hired him.
After a week of uncertainty, Clinton aide
George Stephanopoulos
George Robert Stephanopoulos ( el, Γεώργιος Στεφανόπουλος ; born February 10, 1961) is an American television host, political commentator, and former Democratic advisor. Stephanopoulos currently is a coanchor with Robin Robe ...
told
ABC News
ABC News is the news division of the American broadcast network ABC. Its flagship program is the daily evening newscast ''ABC World News Tonight, ABC World News Tonight with David Muir''; other programs include Breakfast television, morning ...
that White House deputy counsel
Vince Foster
Vincent Walker Foster Jr. (January 15, 1945 – July 20, 1993) was an American attorney who served as deputy White House counsel during the first six months of the Clinton administration.
Foster had been a partner at Rose Law Firm in Littl ...
had initially hired Livingstone on a temporary basis, and that after Foster's death, associate counsel Kennedy had taken Livingstone on.
An FBI document suggested that Livingstone had been given his position because First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton was a friend of Livingstone's mother and recommended him. Hillary Clinton stated that while she was once photographed with the mother in a large group, she did not know her.
Hillary Clinton was briefly deposed at the White House by the Independent Counsel regarding this matter on January 14, 1998.
[ Ken Gormley, ''The Death of American Virtue: Clinton vs. Starr'', ]Crown Publishers
The Crown Publishing Group is a subsidiary of Penguin Random House that publishes across several fiction and non-fiction categories. Originally founded in 1933 as a remaindered books wholesaler called Outlet Book Company, the firm expanded into ...
(New York), 2010. . pp. 324–325, 658. (That same day, the same
Office of the Independent Counsel
The Office of Special Counsel was an office of the United States Department of Justice established by provisions in the Ethics in Government Act that expired in 1999. The provisions were replaced by Department of Justice regulation 28 CFR Part ...
staff were listening to taped conversations of
Linda Tripp
Linda Rose Tripp (née Carotenuto; November 24, 1949 – April 8, 2020) was an American civil servant who played a prominent role in the Clinton–Lewinsky scandal of 1998. Tripp's action in illegally and secretly recording Monica Lewinsky's con ...
and
Monica Lewinsky
Monica Samille Lewinsky (born July 23, 1973) is an American activist and writer. President Bill Clinton admitted to having an affair with Lewinsky while she worked at the White House as an intern in 1995 and 1996. The affair, and its repercus ...
; the
Lewinsky scandal
Monica Samille Lewinsky (born July 23, 1973) is an American activist and writer. President Bill Clinton admitted to having an affair with Lewinsky while she worked at the White House as an intern in 1995 and 1996. The affair, and its repercus ...
was soon to break.
) In 1999, Clinton gave a sworn statement that she had nothing to do with Livingstone's hiring.
Livingstone also stated under oath there was no truth to the supposed hiring relationship.
Hillary Clinton would later refer to the whole files matter as a "pseudoscandal".
Official findings
![Kenneth W](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b4/Kenneth_W._Starr.jpg)
On November 19, 1998, Independent Counsel Starr testified before the
House Judiciary Committee
The U.S. House Committee on the Judiciary, also called the House Judiciary Committee, is a standing committee of the United States House of Representatives. It is charged with overseeing the administration of justice within the federal courts, a ...
in connection with the
Impeachment of Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton, the List of Presidents of the United States, 42nd president of the United States, was Federal impeachment in the United States, impeached by the United States House of Representatives of the 105th United States Congress on Decem ...
over charges related to the Lewinsky scandal. Here, for the first time, Starr exonerated both President Clinton and the First Lady of complicity in the FBI files matter, saying "while there are outstanding issues that we are attempting to resolve with respect to one individual
efound no evidence that anyone higher
han Livingstone or Marcecawas in any way involved in ordering the files from the FBI. Second, we have found no evidence that information contained in the files of former officials was used for an improper purpose."
[Ruth Marcus, Peter Baker]
"Clinton 'Thwarted' Probe, Starr to Say"
''The Washington Post
''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
'', November 19, 1998. Accessed June 12, 2007. (Starr also chose this occasion to clear President Clinton in the Travelgate matter, and to say that he had not committed impeachable wrongdoing in the Whitewater matter; Democrats on the committee immediately criticized Starr for withholding all these findings until after the
1998 Congressional elections.
Don Van Natta, Jr.
Don Van Natta Jr. (born July 22, 1964) is an American journalist, writer and broadcaster. He is an investigative reporter for ESPN, since January 2012, and the host and executive producer of “Backstory,” an ESPN docuseries. He previously worke ...
"Democrats Challenge Starr on Delayed Exoneration"
''The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'', November 20, 1998. Accessed June 12, 2007.)
In March 2000, Independent Counsel
Robert Ray, Starr's successor, issued the office's final report on the matter, as part of a concerted effort to wrap up all Whitewater-related cases before the end of Bill Clinton's term.
Ray determined that there was no credible evidence of any criminal activity by any individual in the matter.
[Neil A. Lewis]
"Report Clears White House In Inquiry Over F.B.I. Files"
''The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'', March 17, 2000. Accessed June 9, 2007. It attributed the improper collection of the files by Marceca due to his having an outdated Secret Service list of White House passes, as Marceca had originally claimed.
It stated that even though Marceca's statements were sometimes "contradictory and misleading",
they were "sufficiently transparent"
and there was insufficient evidence to prove that Anthony Marceca had made false statements to Congress during his testimony.
The report ascribed the FBI files matter to "a failure of process at many levels," saying that the Secret Service had provided critically erroneous data,
and that this was compounded by the White House's informal process of requesting sensitive information by "inexperienced, untrained, and unsupervised personnel with backgrounds as political operatives."
Based on an investigation that included the prior fingerprint analysis,
the report further stated that:
Ray's report also concluded that there was no credible evidence that Bernard Nussbaum testified falsely about not having discussed Livingstone's hiring with the First Lady, and found as well that there was no personal relationship between the First Lady and Livingstone that had formed the basis for his hiring.
Judicial Watch lawsuit
![Royce Lamberth Official Photo 2009](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/ff/Royce_Lamberth_Official_Photo_2009.jpg)
Separately from the Independent Counsel investigation,
Judicial Watch
Judicial Watch (JW) is an American conservative activist group that files Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuits to investigate claimed misconduct by government officials. Founded in 1994, JW has primarily targeted Democrats, in particula ...
, a conservative watchdog group, engaged in long-running litigation over the White House personnel file controversy.
["Alexander, et al. v. FBI, et al."](_blank)
Judicial Watch
Judicial Watch (JW) is an American conservative activist group that files Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuits to investigate claimed misconduct by government officials. Founded in 1994, JW has primarily targeted Democrats, in particula ...
. Accessed June 8, 2011. It was initially filed in September 1996 and sought $90 million in damages.
["Ex-White House Employees Sue Hillary Clinton, FBI Over Files"](_blank)
Associated Press
The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. newspa ...
, ''Los Angeles Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...
'', September 14, 1996. Accessed September 7, 2019. Judicial Watch's ''Cara Leslie Alexander et al. vs. Federal Bureau of Investigation et al.''
class action
A class action, also known as a class-action lawsuit, class suit, or representative action, is a type of lawsuit where one of the parties is a group of people who are represented collectively by a member or members of that group. The class actio ...
lawsuit, filed on behalf of five low-level former members
of the Reagan and George H. W. Bush Administrations,
["Alexander et al. v. FBI, et al."](_blank)
Judicial Watch
Judicial Watch (JW) is an American conservative activist group that files Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuits to investigate claimed misconduct by government officials. Founded in 1994, JW has primarily targeted Democrats, in particula ...
. Accessed June 9, 2007. Archived August 30, 2010 and accessed there June 12, 2011. alleged that Livingstone, along with Anthony Marceca and William Kennedy, obtained the files and then rifled through them. Judicial Watch in particular alleged that Kennedy had abused the FBI background report process. Judicial Watch founder and Clintons antagonist suprême
Larry Klayman
Larry Elliot Klayman (born July 20, 1951) is an American attorney, right-wing activist, and former U.S. Justice Department prosecutor. He founded both Judicial Watch and Freedom Watch.
In addition to his numerous lawsuits against the Clinton adm ...
attracted enough attention with the case to have the recurring
Larry Claypool character modeled after him on the television series ''
The West Wing
''The West Wing'' is an American serial (radio and television), serial political drama television series created by Aaron Sorkin that was originally broadcast on NBC from September 22, 1999, to May 14, 2006. The series is set primarily in the ...
''.
As late as January 2000, Judicial Watch was filing affidavits in the
United States District Court for the District of Columbia
The United States District Court for the District of Columbia (in case citations, D.D.C.) is a federal district court in the District of Columbia. It also occasionally handles (jointly with the United States District Court for the District of ...
under Judge
Royce C. Lamberth related to the case.
Robert Novak
Robert David Sanders Novak (February 26, 1931 – August 18, 2009) was an American syndicated columnist, journalist, television personality, author, and conservative political commentator. After working for two newspapers before serving in the ...
, "Clintons Still Haunted by FBI Files Scandal", ''Chicago Sun-Times
The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has the second largest circulation among Chicago newspapers, after the ''Chicago T ...
'', January 20, 2000. Accessed June 5, 2007. In December 2002 Judicial Watch obtained a ruling from Judge Lamberth that recently uncovered White House
e-mail
Electronic mail (email or e-mail) is a method of exchanging messages ("mail") between people using electronic devices. Email was thus conceived as the electronic ( digital) version of, or counterpart to, mail, at a time when "mail" meant ...
s be searched for possible evidence in the lawsuit.
["Clinton-Gore White House E-mail Ordered Searched by Federal Judge"](_blank)
Judicial Watch
Judicial Watch (JW) is an American conservative activist group that files Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuits to investigate claimed misconduct by government officials. Founded in 1994, JW has primarily targeted Democrats, in particula ...
, December 16, 2002. Accessed June 9, 2007. Archived August 30, 2010 and accessed there June 12, 2011. Klayman said, "Hillary Clinton was the mastermind of Filegate. She will not escape justice."
Klayman and Judicial Watch had a severe falling out in 2003,
["Saving Judicial Watch" home page](_blank)
Accessed June 9, 2007. however, and several years went by with little or nothing happening in the lawsuit.
On March 9, 2010, Judge Lamberth dismissed the case.
[Al Kamen]
''The Washington Post
''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
'', March 9, 2010. Accessed March 9, 2010. The judge asserted that the plaintiffs, despite years of opportunity, had failed to provide any evidence that the affair was a grand conspiracy rather than a bureaucratic mistake, and said that "this court is left to conclude that with the lawsuit, to quote Gertrude Stein, 'there's no there there.
Nussbaum, one of the defendants, derisively said "No kidding" when informed of the dismissal.
[Jordan Weissman]
"Filegate Suits Against Clinton White House Finally Dismissed"
''Legal Times
ALM (formerly American Lawyer Media) is a media company headquartered in the Socony–Mobil Building in New York City, and is a provider of specialized business news and information, focused primarily on the legal, insurance, and commercial real ...
'', March 9, 2010. Accessed March 13, 2010. Media reports concluded that, fourteen years after the initial events were set in motion, Filegate was finally over.
[Josh Gerstein]
"Judge kills off Filegate suits, 14 years on"
''The Politico
''Politico'' (stylized in all caps), known originally as ''The Politico'', is an American, German-owned political journalism newspaper company based in Arlington County, Virginia, that covers politics and policy in the United States and intern ...
'', March 9, 2010. Accessed March 13, 2010. In May 2010, Judicial Watch filed an appeal of the dismissal with the
, but the Court of Appeals affirmed the dismissal on November 14, 2011,
"Alexander v. Federal Bureau of Investigation, 10-5140 (D.C. CIR. 11-14-2011)"
Casetext. November 14, 2011. Accessed May 31, 2016. thereby bringing the case to an end.
References
External links
{{Portal, United States, Politics, 1990s
* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20091103174455/http://icreport.access.gpo.gov/marceca.html Final Report of the Independent Counsel ... of the Investigation In Re: Anthony Marceca March 2000
Final Report of the Independent Counsel ... of the Investigation In Re: Bernard Nussbaum March 2000
''Cara Leslie Alexander et al. v. Federal Bureau of Investigation et al.'' March 2010 ruling by the United States District Court for the District of Columbia
1996 in American politics
Clinton administration controversies
Presidential scandals in the United States
Hillary Clinton controversies
1996 scandals
1996 controversies in the United States