Watergate and Monicagate
by Peter Flaherty   

With the identification of Mark Felt as "Deep Throat," it is important to consider Watergate in an historical context. Since Watergate, the Washington Post has helped perpetuate a double standard on ethics. Far more serious abuses took place in the Clinton administration, yet Clinton finished his term.

It is useful to compare the Nixon and Clinton scandals:

Underlying Offense. The break-in at Democratic headquarters took place without Nixon’s knowledge or approval. The participants were former U.S. government agents who had conducted similar activities, both legal an illegal, under Democratic administrations. Mistakenly or not, they understood their task to be related to protecting our national security.

Bill Clinton had sex with a White House intern barely older than his daughter in the Oval Office. According to Lewinsky, Clinton did not know her name until the third encounter, calling her "Kiddo." Solely for his own self-gratification, Clinton recklessly endangered our national security. Clinton talked with Lewinsky on open telephone lines. Lewinsky told 11 individuals of the relationship.

Presidential Crimes. Clinton personally committed felonies by lying under oath in a civil deposition and to a grand jury. Nixon faced three Articles of Impeachment which held him responsible for the acts of subordinates of which he had no advance knowledge. The Articles do not accuse him of personally committing a felony.

Presidential Lying. One Article of Impeachment against Nixon was that he lied to the American people. Nixon was never accused of lying under oath. Clinton lied repeatedly to the American people. He was the first President in history to be accused of lying under oath.

Invasions of Privacy. Nixon aides went to prison for viewing the contents of a handful of FBI files. Clinton staffers pawed through hundreds. Evidence suggests that the First Lady may have initiated and/or orchestrated file invasions. Defense Department spokesman Kenneth Bacon got caught leaking Linda Tripp’s personnel file.

Misuse of the FBI and IRS. I believe that abuses have been far more extensive under Clinton, from the White House ordering the FBI to put out a press release accusing the innocent Billy Dale of crimes, to the IRS audits of dozens of conservative organizations. (After NLPC successfully filed suit to open the meetings of Hillary’s health care task force, our attorney Kent Brown was audited. For good measure, Brown, a Civil War scholar and author, was booted off a Gettysburg advisory committee.)

Assertions of Privilege. Nixon’s assertion of Executive Privilege led to charges of an "Imperial Presidency," but Clinton trumps Nixon on this one. First, Clinton asserted an attorney-client privilege to prevent government lawyers from handing over notes made in meetings with Hillary. Then Clinton fought for two years all the way to the Supreme Court (where he lost 9-0) to claim he was immune from the Paula Jones civil lawsuit. At one point, Clinton's lawyers even claimed that as Commander-in-Chief, Clinton was on "active military duty" and could not be sued. Clinton even sought to invent a new "protective privilege" to prevent Secret Service agents from talking to Ken Starr.

Impact on the Country. Richard Nixon’s forced resignation weakened the nation while it was at war in Vietnam. The 1974 elections resulted in a Congress that cut off aid to South Vietnam, unleashing a Communist bloodbath in Southeast Asia that claimed millions of lives.

While 1974 Impeachment Articles do not accuse Nixon of any specific crime, they do accuse him of violating his oath of office. They make a general case that Nixon brought disrepute to his office and that he was morally unfit to serve. By this standard, Clinton fares a lot worse. 

Nixon-haters cite the fact that the Judiciary Committee in 1974 dropped a count of income tax fraud against Nixon as evidence that crimes of a "personal" nature by the President are not grounds for Impeachment. The charge resulted from a simple question of interpretation as to the deductibility of donating his personal papers to the government. The "tax fraud" allegation was so unfair and far-fetched that even the partisan Judiciary Democrats dropped it.

In the end, we are told that Clinton's felonies are excusable because he only "lied about sex." Of course, the lies were in response to a sexual harassment lawsuit. If it is all right to lie about sex in a sexual harassment case, I don’t think laws against sexual harassment mean much. I don’t hear much angst about that from the Washington Post.

Peter Flaherty is president of the National Legal and Policy Center, a nonpartisan foundation promoting ethics in public life

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