Monica Lewinsky Affair Becomes Public as Clinton Issues Denial

News breaks that President Bill Clinton engaged in an extramarital affair with Monica Lewinsky, a 22-year-old White House intern, during 1995-1997. The scandal emerges during a sexual harassment civil suit by Paula Jones, when evidence surfaces that Clinton had an inappropriate relationship with Lewinsky and may have encouraged her to lie about it under oath. Clinton issues a public denial, stating “I did not have sexual relations with that woman, Miss Lewinsky.”

The affair came to light through Linda Tripp, a former White House employee who secretly recorded phone conversations with Lewinsky discussing the relationship. Tripp provided these recordings to Kenneth Starr, the independent counsel investigating the Clintons’ Whitewater investments. Starr became convinced that Clinton had lied in his deposition in the Jones lawsuit when he denied having sexual relations with Lewinsky, and that he had instructed others to obstruct justice by lying on his behalf.

On August 17, 1998, following testimony before a federal grand jury, Clinton acknowledged in a televised address his “inappropriate” conduct with Lewinsky and admitted he had misled the nation and embarrassed his family. The scandal raises fundamental questions about presidential accountability, abuse of power through workplace relationships with subordinates, and truthfulness under oath. While Clinton’s approval ratings remained high at approximately 70 percent, Americans gave him low marks for character and honesty, revealing a disconnect between job performance approval and personal integrity concerns.