Impeachment is hell — and not just for the president

America has been through this trauma before. Almost 20 years ago to the day, the parallels between Clinton and Trump are worrying.

Hillary Rodham Clinton watches on as then-president Bill Clinton thanks those Democratic members of the House of Representatives who voted against impeachment in this December 19, 1998 photo. Picture: AP

With the White House Christmas lights twinkling in the background, the president emerged after the vote to begin impeachment proceedings and solemnly vowed to serve “until the last hour of the last day” of his term. “We must get rid of the poisonous venom of excessive partisanship, obsessive animosity and uncontrolled anger. That is not what America deserves,” he said.

That was Bill Clinton 20 years ago. It all sounds terribly familiar, with impeachment again in the air and Washington very much in the grip of partisanship and anger.

There are uncanny parallels, not least a controversial inquiry into presidential dealings that unearthed the unrelated cover-up of sexual transgressions. Mr Clinton was investigated over real estate allegations but it was his affair with Monica Lewinsky that became the focus of the impeachment charges.

In President Trump’s case, the Russia election inquiry has led to claims that he directed hush-money payments to a Playboy model and a porn actress to keep quiet about sexual affairs, which he denies.

Then-president Bill Clinton holds hands with wife First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton before a press conference about vote to impeach him on 19 Dec 1998.

Some Democrats want to use the recent recapture of the House of Representatives to impeach Mr Trump.

Mr Clinton’s impeachment ended in the Senate eight weeks later with acquittal on charges of perjury and obstruction. However, those who played leading roles on both sides of the drama have been reflecting on the lessons for today’s generation.

“Impeachment is hell,” Ken Starr, 72, the independent counsel who led the inquiry, told USA Today. He said that the process damaged the careers of many people involved, not least his own: he believes it prevented him being considered for a seat on the Supreme Court.

He says that, given the powerful divisive forces the process unleashed, “the better call would have been a resolution of censure”.

The prosecution of Mr Clinton led to a campaign by the porn baron Larry Flynt which exposed the infidelities of several Republican members of Congress.

Another prominent casualty of the process was Newt Gingrich, the House Speaker in 1998 who pushed for impeachment but ended up resigning when midterm voters punished the Republicans and turned an anticipated 30-seat gain into a five-seat loss. Mr Gingrich’s designated replacement Bob Livingston then announced his resignation from Congress after his own marital infidelity came to light. Mr Clinton’s popularity soared.

Perhaps predictably, Mr Gingrich, a committed Trump supporter, is making the case against his impeachment, arguing that “the elites in Washington get excited about things which are totally irrelevant to normal people”.

A 2015 full-page newspaper advertisement in the Washington Post offering $10 million for information leading to the impeachment and removal from office of US President Donald Trump.

It is not just prominent Republicans from the Clinton era who are wary of impeaching Mr Trump, however. Jerry Nadler, 71, a congressman from New York, was one of Mr Clinton’s strongest defenders in the House and referred to his impeachment as an attempted coup. He is now poised to take the chair of the judiciary committee which would consider any articles of impeachment once the Democrats take control of the House. He has said that they need to consider whether Mr Trump’s behaviour will “rise to the gravity where it’s worth putting the country through the trauma of impeachment”.

Mr Clinton survived easily because the 45 Senate Democrats all stuck with him and it was impossible to achieve the two-thirds majority, 67 votes, required to convict him. From January the Senate will have a 53-to-47 Republican majority.

“You don’t want half the country to say to the other half for the next 30 years, ‘We won the election. You stole it from us’,” Mr Nadler said.

Impeachment must transcend party lines “because you don’t want to tear the country apart”.

- The Times