[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1998, Book I)]
[January 21, 1998]
[Pages 99-100]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Excerpt of a Telephone Interview With Morton Kondracke and Ed Henry of Roll Call
January 21, 1998

    Mr. Henry. Hello, Mr. President, this is Ed Henry. How are you?
    The President. Hi, Ed.

Independent Counsel's Investigation

    Mr. Kondracke. A few questions about the breaking news. Do you think 
that this Monica Lewinsky story is going to overshadow your State of the 
Union Address?
    The President. Well, I hope not. But you guys will have to make that 
decision. The press will make that decision.
    Mr. Henry. Some Republicans have been talking about impeachment for 
months now. And even your former adviser George Stephanopoulos mentioned 
it this morning, that it could lead to that. What is your reaction to 
the suggestion that this may lead to impeachment?
    The President. Well, I don't believe it will. I'm going to cooperate 
with this investigation. And I made it very clear that the allegations 
are not true. I didn't ask anybody not to 
tell the truth. And I'll cooperate. So I think that there will be a lot 
of stirring and there will be a lot of speculation about how this all 
was done and what it means and what it portends, and you all will handle 
it however you will. I'm just going to go back to work and do the best I 
can.
    Mr. Kondracke. Do you think you have to refer to it in some way in 
the speech on Tuesday?
    The President. I've given no thought to that, no.
    Mr. Henry. Will this cloud your ability to get anything done with 
this Congress as you head into the new session?
    The President. Well, that will be up to them. I don't think so. It's 
election year; they'll want to get some things done, too. And we've got

[[Page 100]]

a lot to do. I'm going to give them the first balanced budget, 3 years 
ahead of time, and a great child care initiative and an important 
Medicare initiative. We've got a Medicare commission meeting. We're 
going to be able to actually see this budget balanced and start to run a 
little surplus. We've got a lot of things to do around the world, so I 
think this is quite important.
    Mr. Kondracke. Okay. Let me just ask you one more question about 
this. You said in a statement today that you had no improper 
relationship with this intern. What exactly was the nature of your 
relationship with her?
    The President. Well, let me say, the relationship's not improper, 
and I think that's important enough to say. But because the 
investigation is going on and because I don't know what is out--what's 
going to be asked of me, I think I need to cooperate, answer the 
questions, but I think it's important for me to make it clear what is 
not. And then, at the appropriate time, I'll try to answer what is. But 
let me answer, it is not an improper relationship, and I know what the 
word means. So let's just----
    Mr. Kondracke. Was it in any way sexual?
    The President. The relationship was not sexual. And I know what you 
mean, and the answer is no.

Note: The interview began at 4:26 p.m. The President spoke from the Oval 
Office at the White House.