Not high crimes: Clinton tells Senate to dismiss impeachment charges

WASHINGTON, Jan 11: President Bill Clinton told the Senate today that the impeachment charges against him should be dismissed because they do not rise to the level of high crimes and misdemeanors.

Clinton’s legal team submitted the President’s formal response to the senate’s summons for the first presidential trial in 130 years.

In a 13-page document, Clinton also denied the allegations in two articles of impeachment, which were approved by the House of Representatives last month and which set the stage for a Senate trial against him.

Clinton’s response to the Senate summons, sent to Capitol Hill in time for a noon deadline, said the President had acknowledged conduct with Monica Lewinsky `that was improper’, but added: “The charges in the articles do not rise to the level of `high crimes and misdemeanors’ as contemplated by the founding fathers, and they do not satisfy the rigorous constitutional standard applied through our nation’s history.”