Nowhere in Judge Starr's referral does he advocate impeachment because the president had an affair with Ms. Lewinsky. However, as Democratic Sen. Joseph Liebermann noted recently, the Lewinsky scandal raises serious public issues of perjury, subornation of perjury, obstruction of justice and abuse of power. Any felony, including perjury, can be grounds for impeachment. President Clinton's Justice Department has successfully prosecuted other people for perjury committed in civil cases. A federal judge was impeached because he committed perjury.
Military personnel are court-martialed for lying during investigations.
But in his formal rebuttal to the Starr referral, the president maintains that he did not commit perjury. These charges alone constitute serious allegations against the president. However, the Starr referral does detail other activities that are just as serious. Criminal conduct aside, there is the problem of the president's lack of truthfulness, which does affect his moral authority to lead. President Clinton did not simply lie to the American people about his relationship with Ms. Lewinsky, he put taxpayer-paid lawyers, spin doctors, and even his own Cabinet members on the front lines for several months promoting a story which he knew was a lie.