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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.
Tripp actually being present at the hotelThis is often described as the result of poor planning or confusion.
And I think the intensity of Monicas immediate reaction kind of threw [Starrs team].
And then theyre like, Okay get Tripp out of here.
Obviously it was very distracting that she was there at all.
He asked something like, Could we have a woman come?
Or Why arent there any women?
And he was told that none were available that day to do this.
The absence of any women is a very striking detail.
He was someone who was thought to be better to make this first approach than someone like Jackie Bennett.
They thought that this would potentially go down very quickly and she would agree to cooperate.
Lewinskys deflected requests for a lawyerThis whole episode draws very heavily on Lewinskys recollections.
Obviously, shes the person this is happening to.
Being rebuffed in different ways.
She said later she felt like she couldnt leave, even if they didnt say that explicitly.
The independent counsels office was very clear afterward: We never told her she couldnt speak to a lawyer.
Theres a lot of legalistic distinctions here.
From their perspective, too, Vernon Jordan got her that lawyer.
So whos to say that the lawyers not also implicated here?
And then this guy also got her a lawyer to file this false affidavit?
Thats part of what their thinking was about.
So that was a contentious issue here too.
She definitely worried very quickly about feeling like her life was over.
She doesnt know that theyre probably not going to prosecute her.
Its super rare to prosecute perjury in a civil case, especially when youre not the one being sued.
But shes not a lawyer.
She doesnt know how ridiculous it was to suggest this kind of time for what she did.
Which, of course, does not help in the panic department at all.
Monica did confront her very angrily when they were both taken up to those rooms.
And she realized what was happening, and that Linda is responsible for this happening to her.
And apparently Linda again said to her during that run-in, They did the same thing to me.
So they actually had an exchange then, too.
Jackie Bennetts interrogation styleHes definitely described as the bad cop coming in.
Monica said later, It completely changed the tenor of the room as soon as he entered.
He took a much more upfront and aggressive approach, totally different personality and style.
I think they were probably just thinking like, This is taking so long.
Lets try a different approach.
Which also ends up not working.
Lewinsky and Emmicks shopping tripThey did go to Crate & Barrel first.
They apparently just made a lot of small talk, maybe about a decanter, I dont know.
Then they did get dinner at Mozzarellas American Grill, where they have the conversation pretty much as depicted.
She asked, Okay, can you walk me through?
Where are you getting the number of years in prison from?
And What are the charges youre talking about here?
She apparently paid for her own dinner because she did not want to owe them anything.
And she basically said, Tell them everything.
Put this behind you.
We have to be thinking about you here and your future.
And the tenor of the conversation was basically the same as on the show.
Ginsburg swore a lot and called Emmick names and was very skeptical of everything he was telling him.
They have this whole back and forth about, like, Can you get this in writing?
and Why cant you?
Ginsberg calling their bluff about not having access to a fax machine.
He apparently asked whether they could handwrite the immunity deal instead, which was not a suggestion they accepted.
There was also some disagreement about whether they could actually give her transactional immunity in that moment at all.
So Ginsburg eventually tells Lewinsky something like, All right, Im pulling the plug.
Dont tell them anything.
And then its finally over.
This is a two-party consent state.
So thats a crime, she really didnt like that lawyer.
She thought that he was not looking out for her interests.
And thats the best thing for you because then these tapes dont become relevant.
You wont be charged.
Which is good legal advice.
But she didnt like that advice.
She was thinking, Okay.
So she gets a new lawyer.
And its through him that [Coulter] gets the tapes.
The way that Coulter remembers this is different than the way they show it here.
We got to listen to these.
Can we come over?
Because Ann Coulter is a huge Deadhead and had an amazing speaker system.
The tapes being boringThere are certain incriminating things that are on the tapes.
But its a really mammoth task to listen through all these hours of tape to find those little bits.
Plus theyre mostly interested in whether she incriminated Clinton, not whether she incriminated herself.
And a lot of its really mundane.
And what if there are like, plotlines about witnesses or cops acting in bad faith or something?
So they changed the channel until they found an Ethel Merman movie.
And thats what they watched together.
Because that felt, I guess, like that wasnt going to interfere with their investigation.
So she couldve had a cameo in this episode.
