I’m kind of the Forrest Gump of American scandals: Either via contact, expertise, bad luck, or strange happenstance, I’ve been involved in a very large number of ‘ em.
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Since the 1990s, I’ve worked closely with Kato Kaelin ( OJ Simpson scandal ). I’ve now written about the dueling incident I worked with Michael Vick. More recently, I got roped into the Gen. David Petraeus controversy. ( I do n’t know how to fact-check this, but I think I’m the only PR pro in my entire industry who’s ever had his media records ( including off-the-record conversations ) subpoenaed by the Obama administration. ) I’ve even had the unfortunate experience of getting caught up in small scandals, such as suddenly pursuing a lifelong dream and producing a film with National Lampoon just before its CEO was arrested for fraud.
( I once wondered if the government would come to the conclusion that the Pinsker guy is the common denominator in all these various scandals. ) Go get him, boys”! )
The Monica Lewinsky sexual scandal, however, was the catalyst for everything.
The whole thing happened in my neighborhood: I was attending law school at George Mason University in the Washington, D. C., area at the time. ( Antonin Scalia Law School is now known as the school. ) Initially, it was known as the” Antonin Scalia School of Law,” but it soon became apparent that the authorized profession’s use of the abbreviation for it was a little off.
Monica and I were just a year and a half apart, and I was a lot of dancing back then. Like, absolutely three or more times a year. I lived in a basement apartment in Arlington, Va. ( Rental price:$ 700 a month. ) Since it was closest to D. C., my Virginia friend would fall by my position, “pre-game” for a few days, and around 11 p. m., we’d do our own type of “bar evaluation” in the nation’s capital.  ,
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( And next, after all the good-looking female rejected us, we’d get household empty-handed and drown our sorrows in jalapeno popper or anything. Yessirree, some of the best days of my life! )
But right out of the gate, I had a heightened interest in Monica Lewinsky: We perhaps partied at the same venues. As far as I know, we’ve never met, but there’s a pretty good chance we partied together and did n’t even know it.
That was before George Mason University Law School’s course on prosecution for presidents. Due to our close proximity to Washington, D.C., we traveled there and had speakers who had key functions in the incident. And because we were legislation students in education and the media was not permitted to handle what we were doing, the speakers spoke freely and openly.
Among the people we met with: Greg Craig, who was Bill Clinton’s specific counsel during the impeachment trial and directed the government’s team of professionals. Sen. Orrin Hatch, who served on the criminal commission. The top clerk ( whose name, sadly, I can no longer recall ) to Chief Justice William Rehnquist, who presided over Clinton’s trial.
As well as Ken Starr, who was the independent lawyers and the creator of the Starr Report, which immediately led to Clinton’s prosecution.
Starr, Rehnquist, and Hatch have since died. Craig was eventually indicted for making false statements. ( He beat the charge and was acquitted. ) Oddly, he was indicted because of a unique government’s scandal: The Mueller analysis of Donald Trump, in which Craig, evidently, was caught in the constitutional crossfire.
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But this food: Rehnquist’s assistant admitted that the Chief Justice used to move around the country almost every weekend — without any security either! — and booked his personal hotel rooms under the super-secret title of” William Rehnquist”. Maybe, it was difficult to chase him down. ( Pre-cellphone days. ) I was absolutely shocked at his lack of protection. Finally, that’s no longer the case for Supreme Court Justices.
Hatch made it known that he wanted a head in the Oval Office. We met him in the Senate, and he made no bones about planning a 2000 run for president. That always seemed to become his principal problem: Clinton’s prosecution was merely full-contact politics. Hatt had a run for president in 2000, but he dropped out and supported George W. after finishing last in the Iowa caucus. Bush. )
Craig was a bright, well-spoken lawyer. If you met him, you’d completely understand why he’s so good at his work. His main argument was that President Clinton’s misconduct did not meet the requirements of the constitution for impeachment, and that removing him” only for sex” would lead to the creation of a parliamentary system where angry legislators could fabricate false impeachment accusations to remove unpopular president.
Starr, however, was the most intriguing.
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I questioned him about why he went into such obscene information about Lewinsky and Clinton’s physical relationship: Did we really need to understand about Clinton’s use of cigars or a soiled dress?  ,
Starr said that he really, truly wished he did n’t have to write about it, but Clinton’s legal strategy was to deny, deny, deny. They would n’t admit to anything. So, the only way to disprove them was through an overwhelming body of evidence, laying it out for everyone to examine. According to Starr, if Clinton simply admitted to having a sexual relationship with Lewinsky, all those details could’ve ( and would’ve ) been avoided.
I also questioned why he wore a towel all the way through the day to speak at press conferences. ( If you do n’t remember, media members used to stalk outside Starr’s home and ask him questions when he went outside to throw out the garbage. ) He claimed that he did n’t understand media relations very well and had n’t considered the pros and cons of holding TV interviews in front of garbage cans, but he also did n’t want to be rude. After all, those writers were simply carrying out their duties.
The last thing I asked him was whether or not he harbored any resentment toward Bill Clinton, or whether or not he believed it to be. He eagerly answered “no” to both.  ,
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Just like those writers, it was just a job. We each had a role to play.
He claimed that there was a pleasant time when Clinton and his eyes met during the prosecution hearing. Both men, in Starr’s opinion, nodded their heads and smiled graciously. In Starr’s head, this tested how he felt all along: The separate advisor had one route. The leader had another. Thus did the media.
Little individual. Only politics.