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The new FX limited seriesImpeachment: American Crime Storythe third in atrue-crime anthologythat started withThe People v. O.J.
The Big Stuff
The major plot and character beats that shapeImpeachments narrative.
That did not happen.
Which is a pretty big leap.
Susan Carpenter-McMillan saw her at the hotel later and she was really upset.
So I think theyre trying to borrow from that here.
But thats still obviously a dramatic change.
She had been sitting through many of these depositions before.
She was prepared for the fact that [Clinton] would likely deny it.
In reality, while he did deny it, it was more like, I dont recall.
I meet thousands of people.
Theyre in the actual deposition, which took over six hours, including a lunch break.
And thats when Paula Joness attorney says to him, This will come to light shortly.
Thats from the transcript.
Lewinsky continuing to express interest in reaching out to Betty CurrieShe absolutely did.
And then, during this period, she was still hoping to contact her.
But soon as Bill Ginsburg came into the picture, he was very clear, Dont contact anyone.
And definitely dont contact Betty Currie, Vernon Jordan, Bill Clinton, or Frank Carter, the lawyer.
So he calls Betty Currie, who doesnt really say anything to him.
Because theyre frustrated that he already contacted Betty Currie.
And they ask him, hey do not contact Vernon Jordan for comment.
So thats one of the fundamental things that is obviously extremely frustrating for Isikoff.
Because he feels like he has it all there.
He knows other people are aware of this, and are also working on this story.
But they have this hard deadline for the magazine.
And so much to his chagrin, they end up saying, We cant do it this week.
She showed up at the Starr offices with Ginsburg and another lawyer.
And Ginsberg was like, I wont let you speak to her directly.
So she was in an office being, as she put it, babysat by various prosecutors.
And Ginsburg was in the other office negotiating.
That felt sort of invented to me.
For example, will she have to take a lie detector test?
So what if then, with her immunity, she just says it didnt happen again?
And then [the Starr team] would be missing their key witness at the center of everything.
So thats the main thing that theyre really focused on.
Whereas Bill Ginsburg does not want to allow that to happen.
Thats a main point of contention.
Both sides think the other side is being unprofessional and ridiculous.
Theres all kinds of accusations back and forth.
[Ginsberg] calls them all kinds of names, screams at them.
The Ginsberg side of the negotiationsHe wanted a deal where she got complete transactional immunity.
And he sees the Starr team as these huge villains.
And they put together an immunity deal that was signed by Lewinsky and Ginsburg.
But the prosecutors hadnt signed it yet.
They were frustrated by Ginsburgs whole approach.
And they thought it was a mistake not to make Lewinsky answer questions verbally.
This whole back-and-forth was the source of a lot of internal tensions in their office.
Lewinsky glued to the TV as the story was unfoldingYes.
She was watching basically everything.
But also just because, as they show in this episode, theres nothing else for them to do.
Theyve been forbidden from contacting anyone or speaking to anyone.
They literally dont even know what the weather is because they have the curtains closed.
Theyre just in this little bubble where they cant do anything.
So she watched tons and tons of TV.
Starr tearing up the immunity deal after seeing Ginsburg on TVThats a simplification of what was going on.
It definitely didnt help.
Talking about the deal in public was really annoying to them.
Part of what ends up blowing up the deal is this dislike of Ginsburg and his methods.
Thats part of it.
But that could be very frustrating to other members of the Starr team.
There were internal divisions.
[Emmick and Udall] prepared and faxed over this immunity deal, but hadnt themselves signed it.
Everything was fodder for jokes.
They were everywhere all the time.
They show that in the scene with her daughter where she talks about being teased growing up.
Thats something that she burrowed very deeply in her.
And wanted very much not to look like herself anymore as a result.
Clinton meeting with Betty Currie to get on the same pageThis happened.
Because one of the specific questions was, Were you alone together?
So he calls her and asks, Can you come in tomorrow?
And this is on a Sunday, which is very unusual.
He sits down with her and goes through these questions or these recollections to check that she agrees.
Clinton staffers feeling frustrated by his lack of responseIt was extremely chaotic.
They dont know whats going on.
A lot of them are frustrated because they feel in the dark about.
Like, Where did this come from?
What is the truth?
What are they supposed to be saying [to the press]?
Things really feel like theyre snowballing.
More and more bits of this story are trickling out.
First, you have the big story.
Then theres [news of] the taped conversations of Lewinsky talking about this.
And then a couple of days later, the story about the blue dress becomes public.
So it feels like things are just spiraling and getting worse and worse and worse.
There was a lot of talk that he would have to resign or be impeached at some point.
Also because they see him as an unsavory character.
Hes a Republican who has known Bill Clinton for a long time.
And Clinton really liked him and sought his help a lot.
But he didnt physically turn up at the White House the way that they show it here.
And he says, Yes.
The other key thing here is that he hasnt spoken to Monica super-recently.
But the last time they talked, she was pretty clear: I dont want to tell anyone anything.
I want this to be very private.
Clinton acting familiar with the judge in the depositionHe did know who she was.
It was a maritime-law class, which I did not know was a specialty of his.
And obviously he comes from the Little Rock legal community, which is not that big.
So he would know a lot of people.
