Senate on January 7, , and concluded with his acquittal on February House of Representatives on December 19, ; the articles of impeachment charged him with perjury and obstruction of justice. It was the second impeachment trial of a U. The charges for which Clinton was impeached stemmed from a sexual harassment lawsuit filed against Clinton by Paula Jones. During pre-trial discovery in the lawsuit, Clinton gave testimony denying that he had engaged in a sexual relationship with White House intern Monica Lewinsky.
The Starr Report included details outlining a sexual relationship between Clinton and Lewinsky. Under the U. Constitution , the House has the sole power of impeachment Article I, Section 2, Clause 5 , and after that action has been taken, the Senate has the sole power to hold the trial for all impeachments Article I, Section 3, Clause 6.
Clinton was the second U. An impeachment inquiry was opened into Clinton on October 8, He was formally impeached by the House on two charges perjury and obstruction of justice on December 19, These charges stemmed from a sexual harassment lawsuit filed against Clinton by Paula Jones and from Clinton's testimony denying that he had engaged in a sexual relationship with White House intern Monica Lewinsky.
Between December 20 and January 5, Republican and Democratic Senate leaders negotiated about the pending trial. This decision would ultimately not be made until after the opening arguments from the House impeachment managers and the White House defense team. There was some discussion about the possibility of censuring Clinton instead of holding a trial.
Rehnquist was a passive presiding officer, once commenting on his service as presiding officer of the trial, "I did nothing in particular, and I did it very well. One matter which Rehnquist did make a ruling on as presiding officer was to urge those arguing before the senate to refrain from referring to the senators as being a "jury". Senator Tom Harkin had objected to the use of the term "jurors". Agreeing with Harkin's position over the counter-position presented by the House impeachment managers prosecutors , Rehnquist ruled, "The chair is of the view that the senator from Iowa's objection is well taken, that the core - the Senate is not simply a jury.
