歷史今天:1998年克林頓承認性臭聞(8.17)

【英文原文】

The Lewinsky scandal was a political sex scandal emerging from a sexual relationship between United States President Bill CLinton and a 22-year-old White House intern, Monica Lewinsky. The news of this extra-marital affair and the resulting investigation eventually led to the impeachment of President Clinton in 1998 by the U.S. House of Representatives and his subsequent acquittal on all impeachment charges (of perjury and obstruction of justice) in a 21-day Senate trial.

In 1995, Monica Lewinsky, a graduate of Lewis & Clark College, was hired to work as an intern at the White House during Clinton's first term, and began a personal relationship with him later that year. As Lewinsky's relationship with Clinton became more distant and she left the White House to work at The Pentagon, Lewinsky confided details of her feelings and Clinton's behavior to her friend and Defense department co-worker Linda Tripp, who secretly recorded their telephone conversations. When Tripp discovered in January 1998 that Lewinsky had signed an affidavit in the Paula Jones case denying a relationship with Clinton, she delivered the tapes to Kenneth Starr, the Independent Counsel who was investigating Clinton on other matters, including the Whitewater scandal, Filegate, and Travelgate. During the grand jury testimony Clinton was guarded, and argued, "It depends on what the meaning of the word is is".

【中文譯文】

萊溫斯基醜聞指的是美國總統比爾克林頓和22歲的白宮實習生莫妮卡萊溫斯基之間的一幢政治性醜聞。這件婚外情事件和由此產生的調查最終導致美國國會衆議院於1998年彈劾克林頓，但在參議院21天的調查取證後，最終撤銷了對克林頓所有妨礙司法公正和作僞證的指控。

莫妮卡萊溫斯基，畢業於劉易斯與克拉克學院，1995年在克林頓的第一任期內被聘爲白宮實習生，並在當年晚些時候開始了與克林頓的個人關係。正當萊溫斯基和克林頓的關係變得疏遠的時候，萊溫斯基離開了白宮去了五角大樓工作，萊溫斯基向她的朋友——在國防部工作的琳達特里普傾訴了她與克林頓之間的感情問題，而琳達特里普祕密記錄了他們的電話交談內容。當特里普發現萊溫斯基於1998年1月在瓊斯案中籤署了一項否認與克林頓的關係的文件，她便向正在調查克林頓其他事項（包括白水醜聞，檔案門和旅行門）的律師肯尼思斯塔爾提供了錄音帶。在案件審理期間，克林頓十分謹慎，並且認爲， “這取決於什麼is這個詞的含義” 。