Lincoln Bedroom for contributors controversy
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The Lincoln Bedroom for contributors controversy was an American
political controversy In politics, a political scandal is an action or event regarded as morally or legally wrong and causing general public outrage. Politicians, government officials, party officials and lobbyists can be accused of various illegal, corrupt, uneth ...
in the 1990s during 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 ...
. It refers to the alleged selling of overnight stays in the
Lincoln Bedroom The Lincoln Bedroom is a bedroom which is part of a guest suite located in the southeast corner of the second floor of the White House in Washington, D.C. The Lincoln Sitting Room makes up the other part of the suite. The room is named for Presid ...
in 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. ...
in return for political campaign contributions. It occurred in the context of the larger and somewhat separately focused
1996 United States campaign finance controversy The 1996 United States campaign finance controversy, or uncommonly referred to as Chinagate, was an effort by the People's Republic of China to influence domestic American politics prior to and during the Clinton administration and also inv ...
. Despite allegations of wrongdoing the justice department never opened an investigation or pressed criminal charges in connection to the Lincoln Bedroom matter.


Origins

In August 1996, the
Center for Public Integrity The Center for Public Integrity (CPI) is an American nonprofit investigative journalism organization whose stated mission is "to reveal abuses of power, corruption and dereliction of duty by powerful public and private institutions in order to c ...
released a 10-page report called "Fat Cat Hotel: How Democratic High-Rollers Are Rewarded with Overnight Stays at the White House". This report, written by Margaret Ebrahim, went on to win an award from the
Society of Professional Journalists The Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ), formerly known as Sigma Delta Chi, is the oldest organization representing journalists in the United States. It was established on April 17, 1909, at DePauw University,2009 SPJ Annual Report, letter ...
. The report was an examination of the connection between overnight stays in the Lincoln Bedroom during the
Presidency of Bill Clinton 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 ...
and financial contributions to the
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 ...
as well as to the
Bill Clinton presidential campaign, 1996 Bill Clinton, the 42nd president of the United States, announced his candidacy for re-election as president on April 14, 1995. On August 29, 1996, he again became the nominee of the Democratic Party for the 1996 presidential election. Alon ...
.


Revelations

In response, documents were released by the Clinton administration in February 1997. These showed that during the period 1993–96, there were 938 people who stayed overnight at the White House, of whom 821 were located in the Lincoln Bedroom. Of these, 128 were public officials and dignitaries of some kind and 67 were people from the arts and entertainment world. The latter group included the likes of
Steven Spielberg Steven Allan Spielberg (; born December 18, 1946) is an American director, writer, and producer. A major figure of the New Hollywood era and pioneer of the modern blockbuster, he is the most commercially successful director of all time. Spie ...
,
Jane Fonda Jane Seymour Fonda (born December 21, 1937) is an American actress, activist, and former fashion model. Recognized as a film icon, Fonda is the recipient of various accolades including two Academy Awards, two British Academy Film Awards, sev ...
,
Judy Collins Judith Marjorie Collins (born May 1, 1939) is an American singer-songwriter and musician with a career spanning seven decades. An Academy Award-nominated documentary director and a Grammy Award-winning recording artist, she is known for her ec ...
, and
Doris Kearns Goodwin Doris Helen Kearns Goodwin (born January 4, 1943) is an American biographer, historian, former sports journalist, and political commentator. She has written biographies of several U.S. presidents, including ''Lyndon Johnson and the American Dream ...
. Of the rest, most were friends of the Clintons, of which over half were from the couple's Arkansas days; the number of non-friends who were supporters was some fraction of 111. The one-term total of 938 compared to that of 284 overnight visitors during the four years of the
Presidency of George H.W. Bush George H. W. Bush's tenure as the 41st president of the United States began with his inauguration on January 20, 1989, and ended on January 20, 1993. Bush was a Republican from Texas and the incumbent vice president for two terms under pre ...
. One particular document was seen as potentially damning, a Clinton annotation on a
Democratic National Committee The Democratic National Committee (DNC) is the governing body of the United States Democratic Party. The committee coordinates strategy to support Democratic Party candidates throughout the country for local, state, and national office, as well a ...
memorandum from its finance chair
Terry McAuliffe Terence Richard McAuliffe (born February 9, 1957) is an American businessman and politician who served as the 72nd governor of Virginia from 2014 to 2018. A member of the Democratic Party, he was co-chairman of President Bill Clinton's 1996 ...
, written regarding names of people who had not been in touch since the
Bill Clinton presidential campaign, 1992 The 1992 presidential campaign of Bill Clinton, then the governor of Arkansas, was announced on October 3, 1991, at the Old State House in Little Rock, Arkansas. After winning a majority of delegates in the Democratic primaries of 1992, the c ...
: "Yes, pursue all 3 and promptly - and get other names of the 100,000 or more ollar contributors Ready to start overnights right away - give me the top 10 list back, along with the 100." A ''
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 ...
'' report stated that: "Clinton personally authorized a variety of perks for top party contributors, including golf games and morning jogs with him and overnight stays in the Lincoln Bedroom ..." McAuliffe would later refer to this sardonically as "the infamous Lincoln Bedroom Memo". A
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 ...
report said that just during the years 1995-96, some $5.4 million was given to the DNC by overnight stayers, with 24 of them giving over $100,000. There were also donations made in conjunction with a related perk, White House coffees. Two other benefits sometimes provided to Clintons friends and benefactors were morning jogs with the president and likewise rounds of golf. Some have asserted that using the Lincoln Bedroom for fundraising may broken the law due to the fact that federal law prohibits using government property for fundraising.


Responses

In response to the allegations, President Clinton said in February 1997, "I did not have any strangers here. The Lincoln Bedroom was never sold. That was one more false story we have had to endure, and the facts will show what the truth is." Senator
John McCain John Sidney McCain III (August 29, 1936 – August 25, 2018) was an American politician and United States Navy officer who served as a United States senator from Arizona from 1987 until his death in 2018. He previously served two terms ...
was not convinced, saying of the documents, "It does corroborate what we already suspected and what circumstantially was already known to us, and that is, that the president of the United States, in seeking to raise money for his re-election, was willing to use the Lincoln Bedroom, probably one of the more sacrosanct places in America, in order to gain those financial funds which he felt were necessary. And I'm deeply disappointed and I'm sure the American people will be too."


Investigations or not

Fellow Republican and Senate Majority Leader
Trent Lott Chester Trent Lott Sr. (born October 9, 1941) is an American lawyer, author, and politician. A former United States Senator from Mississippi, Lott served in numerous leadership positions in both the United States House of Representatives and the ...
called for the naming of an Independent Counsel to investigate the matter. However U.S. 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 ...
said despite the new revelations such a step was not called for. The matter became looked into by a probe by Congressional Republicans on the into fundraising matters at the White House. This investigation concluded that the overnights were "an important means by which the DNC raised funds from contributors." It may have been one issued on November 5, 1998 by the
United States House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform The Committee on Oversight and Reform is the main investigative committee of the United States House of Representatives. The committee's broad jurisdiction and legislative authority make it one of the most influential and powerful panels in the ...
. Making reference to legal proceedings,
Spencer Overton Spencer A. Overton (born August 11, 1968) is an American lawyer, President of the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, and law professor at George Washington University Law School. He is a leading election law scholar, and is a te ...
, as a lawyer at Debevoise & Plimpton, represented the Democratic National Committee in the Lincoln Bedroom matter before the Congressional investigators. No charges were ever brought by 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 ...
in connection with the matter. In the words of the ''
Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily compact newspaper published in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, and owned by Nine. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuously published newspaper i ...
'', the bedroom practice was "Unseemly, but not illegal and not entirely unusual."


Aftereffects

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 ...
's 2000 book '' An Invitation to the White House: At Home with History'' discussed the Lincoln Bedroom in terms of its decorating impact but made no mention of the contributors controversy. In any case, her campaign in the
United States Senate election in New York, 2000 In the United States Senate election held in the State of New York on November 7, 2000, Hillary Rodham Clinton, then First Lady of the United States and the first First Lady to run for political office, defeated U.S. Representative Rick Lazio. T ...
featured fundraisers who had partaken of the Lincoln Bedroom or similar accommodations. The matter came up in the
2000 United States presidential election The 2000 United States presidential election was the 54th quadrennial United States presidential election, presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 7, 2000. Republican Party (United States), Republican candidate George W. Bush, the gover ...
when the Republican nominee, the
Governor of Texas The governor of Texas heads the state government of Texas. The governor is the leader of the executive and legislative branch of the state government and is the commander in chief of the Texas Military. The current governor is Greg Abbott, who ...
George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...
, witicized during a general election debate, "I think they’ve moved that line the buck stops here’ from the Oval Office to … the Lincoln Bedroom." However as it happened Bush had engaged in a similar practice with visitors to the
Texas Governor's Mansion The Texas Governor's Mansion is a historic home for the governor of Texas in downtown Austin, Texas. Designed by prominent architect Abner Cook, it was built in 1854 and has been the home of every governor since 1856. Governor Greg Abbott and ...
. Furthermore the first year and a half of the
Presidency of George W. Bush George W. Bush's tenure as the 43rd president of the United States began with his first inauguration on January 20, 2001, and ended on January 20, 2009. Bush, a Republican from Texas, took office following a narrow victory over Democratic i ...
also saw some instances of big-money contributors staying over at the White House. When
Hillary 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 sen ...
ran for senator in 2000, her opponent,
Rick Lazio Enrico Anthony Lazio (; born March 13, 1958) is an American attorney and former four-term U.S. Representative from the State of New York. A Long Island native, Lazio became well-known during his bid for U.S. Senate in New York's 2000 Senate elec ...
, used the controversy to rebuke Clinton in a debate, saying "please, no lectures from Motel 1600 on campaign finance reform." During the
presidency of Barack Obama Barack Obama's tenure as the 44th president of the United States began with his first inauguration on January 20, 2009, and ended on January 20, 2017. A Democrat from Illinois, Obama took office following a decisive victory over Republican n ...
, however, the Lincoln Bedroom was off-limits to guests. First Lady
Michelle Obama Michelle LaVaughn Robinson Obama (born January 17, 1964) is an American attorney and author who served as first lady of the United States from 2009 to 2017. She was the first African-American woman to serve in this position. She is married t ...
said, "We don’t allow guests to stay in this room anymore.""He just does what he thinks is right"
The Wall Street Journal
Many of the original Lincoln Bedroom guests were also big contributors to the
Hillary Clinton presidential campaign, 2016 The 2016 presidential campaign of Hillary Clinton was announced in a YouTube video, on April 12, 2015. Hillary Clinton was the 67th United States Secretary of State and served during the first term of the Obama administration, 2009 to 2013. ...
.


References


External links


"Fat Cat Hotel", original 1996 report Center for Public Integrity




* ttps://www.publicintegrity.org/2002/08/22/3172/fat-cat-hotel-still-open-business "Fat Cat Hotel Still Open For Business" - CPI follow-up 2002 report {{Bill Clinton Clinton administration controversies White House 1996 controversies in the United States 1996 in American politics