Clinton revises timeline of Lewinsky affair
Book's account differs with grand jury testimony
(CNN) -- In his new memoir, former U.S. President Bill Clinton says his "inappropriate" encounters with Monica Lewinsky began when she claimed they did, during the government shutdown in November 1995.
That account contradicts his August 1998 testimony before a federal grand jury that investigated the case.
The discrepancy between testimony by Clinton and Lewinsky about the timing of the affair was one of the points that led the House to impeach Clinton for providing false testimony to the grand jury about "the nature and details of his relationship with a subordinate government employee."
In his 1998 testimony, the former president said, "When I was alone with Ms. Lewinsky on certain occasions in early 1996 and once in early 1997, I engaged in conduct that was wrong."
That timeline would have put the start of the affair after Lewinsky had completed her White House internship and had taken a staff job.
But on page 773 of his book, "My Life," Clinton said, "During the government shutdown in late 1995, when very few people were allowed to come to work in the White House and those who were there were working late, I'd had an inappropriate encounter with Monica Lewinsky and would do so again on other occasions between November and April, when she left the White House for the Pentagon."
"For the next 10 months, I didn't see her, although we talked on the phone from time to time," he said.
In her grand jury testimony, Lewinsky said their sexual relationship began on November 15, 1995, at a time when government officers were shut down because of a budget dispute between Clinton and the Republican Congress.
Independent counsel Ken Starr, in his report to Congress recommending impeachment, said the motive for Clinton to lie about the timing of the affair "appears to have been that the president was unwilling to admit sexual activity with a young 22-year-old White House intern in the Oval Office area."
The first of the two impeachment articles approved by the House accused Clinton of providing "perjurious, false and misleading testimony" to the grand jury.
During Clinton's trial in the Senate, House impeachment managers pointed to the conflicting testimony as evidence that Clinton lied.
The Senate, however, did not convict Clinton of any of the impeachment charges.
