Poll: Attorneys Think Clinton Lied About Lewinsky
WASHINGTON (AllPolitics, June 21) -- A poll of attorneys who
practice law in the United States indicates they think
President Bill Clinton is lying about the nature of his
relationship with former White House intern Monica Lewinsky.
But the attorneys surveyed also don't think Clinton should be
punished.
When asked, based on what they know, if Independent Counsel
Ken Starr should recommend, in his final report, that the
U.S. House of Representatives pursue impeaching the
president, 53 percent of the respondents said no. Only 7
percent said yes.
A majority of the 406 attorneys polled said they thought
Starr's Whitewater probe, which originally had a real estate
focus, should not have been extended to include the Lewinsky
matter.
Fifty-four percent of the attorneys said the investigation
should not have been extended; 37 percent said it should have
been extended; 9 percent said they were not sure.
The legal community also indicated it thinks Starr has
conducted a fair and impartial probe of Clinton's activities.
When asked if Starr was "out to get" the president, 52
percent of those polled said no, 23 percent said yes, 25
percent were not sure.
Clinton has repeatedly denied having an improper relationship
with Monica Lewinsky. He has never been charged in the
Whitewater investigation, which stems from a bad land deal,
made before Clinton became president, and the eventual
failure of an Arkansas bank.
The poll was conducted by Mason-Dixon Political/Media
Research of Columbia, Maryland, earlier this month, and was
published in the June 29 issue of The National Law Journal.
It has a margin of error of plus or minus 5 percent.
Here are more of the poll questions, and the respondents'
answers:
Did Clinton lie when he said he did not have an affair with
Lewinsky?
- Yes
| 50 % |
- No
| 8 % |
- Not sure
| 42 % |
Should Clinton be impeached for perjury if having a sexual
affair is all he lied about?
- Yes
| 15 % |
- No
| 74 % |
- Not sure
| 11 % |
Should Starr's final report recommend impeachment proceedings
against Clinton?
- Yes
| 7 % |
- No
| 53 % |
- Not sure
| 40 % |
Should the U.S. House of Representatives impeach Clinton?
- Yes
| 6 % |
- No
| 58 % |
- Not sure
| 36 % |
Should the U.S. Senate remove Clinton from office?
- Yes
| 1 % |
- No
| 66 % |
- Not sure
| 33 % |
If he lied about a sexual affair, should Clinton be
prosecuted for perjury after he leaves office?
- Yes
| 26 % |
- No
| 56 % |
- Not sure
| 18 % |
Did Clinton ask Lewinsky to give false testimony in either
the Paula Jones (sexual harassment lawsuit) case or Starr's
Whitewater investigation?
- Yes
| 15 % |
- No
| 46 % |
- Not sure
| 39 % |
Should a sitting president be subject to a grand jury
subpoena?
- Yes
| 38 % |
- No
| 48 % |
- Not sure
| 14 % |
Should a grand jury be able to indict a sitting president?
- Yes
| 58 % |
- No
| 27 % |
- Not sure
| 15 % |
|