Bill Clinton: Former president, senior statesman, liar

William Jefferson Clinton, senior statesman of the Democratic Party, former president of the United States, influential friend of world leaders and ... and a liar.

Such is the legacy recounted in a new book, "Catching Our Flag: Behind the Scenes of a Presidential Impeachment," released today by former U.S. Rep. James E. Rogan and published by WND Books.

It's has been more than a decade since America was rattled by the wagging presidential finger, Monica Lewisky, the "blue dress" and the meaning of "is."

Find out the juicy, never-before-disclosed details about Clinton's impeachment hearings from the congressman who ran the proceedings. Get your personally autographed copy of "Catching Our Flag"

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Rogan, now a judge in the Superior Court of California, was a freshmen member of the House Judiciary Committee when he was chosen to help lead the prosecution of Clinton.

His new book is an archive of what really happened when a highly popular president was – reluctantly – impeached by the U.S. House of Representatives. He says that the issues involved were fundamental to the future of the nation, but most people get lost in the blue dress descriptions and parsing "is."

"Candidly, I didn't vote to impeach Clinton to police his personal life. Whether he had one affair or a thousand of them was of no moment to me," he writes in describing his book.

"However, as a former prosecutor and judge, I did care deeply about the precedent his conduct set for future chief executives who might later commit perjury or obstruct justice for reasons weightier than testosterone.

"Had the House failed to impeach Clinton just because of the tawdry subject matter, any future president committing perjury or obstructing justice for far more weighty and destructive motives could point to the Clinton Precedent and claim his conduct was not impeachable," he said.

"Yes, I know most of you out there in America hated Clinton's impeachment, and you hated us for doing it. But take this with you: because we impeached him, today you live in a country where every future president is on notice that perjury and obstruction of justice in a one-way White House eviction notice – as long as future Members of Congress have the spine to stand up to him."

His book is based on the notes he kept during the impeachment proceedings. He said he meticulously maintained them so there would be a complete and accurate chronicle of what really happened behind the scenes as the House impeached Clinton and the Senate refused to convict.

Instead of remembering Clinton as someone who defeated an impeachment process, Rogan said the historical facts argue that Clinton's White House tenure ended in a dishonorable failure.

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"President Clinton denied every impeachable allegation brought against him, and orchestrated the attempted destruction of anyone demanding his accountability to the rule of law," Rogan writes. "After their deck-stacked 'trial,' the Senate validated his denials by acquitting him of perjury and obstructing justice. But these 100 senators didn't write the last chapter in the Clinton impeachment saga; that came two years later, and it bears Bill Clinton's personal autograph."

He continued, "Soon after the Clinton Senate trial ended, the federal judge before whom Clinton testified in the Paula Jones case found him in contempt of court for lying during his deposition. Judge Susan Webber Wright castigated Clinton for giving 'intentionally false' testimony, saying, 'It simply is not acceptable to employ deceptions and falsehoods in an attempt to obstruct the judicial process' and that his conduct 'undermined the integrity of the judicial system.'"

Rogan recalled that the judge fined Clinton and ordered him to pay an extra $90,000 in legal expenses "resulting from the dishonesty."

"Later, on January 19, 2001, (his last day as president), in a deal with federal prosecutors to avoid criminal charges, William Jefferson Clinton signed a plea bargain in which he admitted giving false testimony in the Paula Jones case – the same charge for which most Americans believed his vehement denials during the impeachment investigation and trial," Rogan explained.

He noted that on the same evidence that 55 senators voted "not guilty," Clinton:

• accepted a five-year suspension of his Arkansas law license. This allowed him to avoid the stigma of having the Arkansas Supreme Court vote to disbar him, which they were about to do
• agreed to pay an additional $25,000 fine
• admitted he violated his ethical obligations as a lawyer under the Rules of Professional Conduct by giving false testimony
• admitted that his false testimony violated Judge Wright's discovery order in the Jones case

Writes Rogan: "After Clinton signed his criminal plea bargain, the United States Supreme Court suspended Clinton's law license to practice before their court. Clinton later resigned his U.S. Supreme Court law license to avoid the stigma of having our nation's highest court vote to disbar him, which they were about to do."

In fact, Rogan reports an indictment was being prepared against Clinton prior to his departure from the White House.

"Had Bill Clinton not committed multiple felonies, he wouldn't have that 'asterisk' after his name that galls him," Rogan wrote. "Neither Ken Starr nor the House Managers are to blame for that asterisk. "

Media interested in setting up interviews about the book should contact WND.