HARVEY Weinstein helped President Bill Clinton battle allegations that he lied about his affair with Monica Lewinsky during the height of the Lewinsky scandal in the late 1990s.
In 1998, The Washington Post reported that the powerful producer gave the maximum amount of $10,000 to Bill Clinton’s legal defence fund.
WHAT WAS THE LEWINKSY SCANDAL?
Bill Clinton and 22-year-old White House intern Monica Lewinsky started a sexual relationship in 1995.
Lewinsky claimed she had sexual encounters with the President on nine occasions, iuntil March 1997, and said Hillary Clinton was at the White House for a portion of those.
The affair first came to light on the Drudge Report in 1998 before reaching the mainstream press.
It was also claimed that Monica Lewinsky masturbated with a cigar while President Clinton watched and masturbated as well.
Mandatory Credit: Photo by CHARLES REX ARBOGAST/AP/REX/Shutterstock
Clinton was quick to deny the affair and even gave a White House press conference beside his wife stating that the allegations were false.
There were months of speculation but nothing could be definitely established as Lewinsky was unwilling to discuss the affair.
In July 1998, Lewinsky received total witness immunity in exchange for grand jury testament about her relationship with Clinton.
He was the second U.S. President to be impeached, this was based on two charges – one of perjury and one of obstruction of justice in connection with an extramarital affair with then 22-year-old Monica Lewinsky. The House of Representatives voted 228 to 206 in favour of the first charge, and 221 to 212 on the second.
At the time, Clinton’s approval rating as president was at 72%.
He became the first sitting president to testify before a grand jury and after questioning, he admitted he had engaged in an inappropriate relationship with Lewinsky on national television.
When the case reached trial at the Senate, it failed to reach the two-thirds majority backing needed to pass the order.
Mr Clinton was acquitted on February 12, 1999, and remained in office until January 2001.
The details give a rare insight into the longstanding financial relationship between the Clintons and Weinstein.
Hillary Clinton came under criticism for waiting five days to condemn Weinstein and it has been revealed that the Clinton Foundation wouldn’t return money donated by him.
In a CNN interview, she said she was “shocked and appalled” by the allegations against the producer.
In an interview with the BBC’s Andrew Marr, Clinton attempted to shift the focus onto President Trump.
“This kind of behaviour cannot be tolerated anywhere, whether it’s in entertainment, politics, after all, we have someone admitting to being a sexual assaulter in the Oval Office.” She said.
Marr responded by pointing out that Clinton has dismissed allegations made by women against her husband.
“That has all been litigated,” Clinton replied. “That was a subject of a huge investigation in the late ’90s and there were conclusions drawn. That was clearly in the past.”
SEE THE FULL 1998 REPORT ON THE LEWINSKY SCANDAL – SHOWING HILLARY’S HYPOCRISY
