Charles Ruff
Charles Ruff
Charles Frederick Carson "Chuck" Ruffwas a prominent American lawyer based in Washington, D.C., and was best known as the White House Counsel who defended President Bill Clinton during his impeachment trial in 1999...
compliance context counsel focus immediate issue needed understood
I understood that this was an issue that we needed to address, particularly in the context of the Independent Counsel subpoenas, ... My immediate focus was on the immediate compliance with the independent counsel's subpoenas.
bedrock context government legal less nature principle privilege relationship
The attorney-client privilege is the bedrock principle of our legal system, ... The confidential nature of the attorney-client relationship is no less important in government than in every other context where it exists.
accident christmas felt grand horrible jury knew loss memory mother remember terrible testify trying understand
I remember when I knew she was going to have to testify in the grand jury and I felt terrible because she'd been through the loss of her sister, this horrible accident at Christmas that killed her brother, and her mother was in the hospital. I was trying to make her understand that I didn't want her to be untruthful to the grand jury and if her memory was different than mine, it was fine, just go in there and tell them what she thought. So that's all I remember.
against began brought charges clinton commit guilty jefferson last william words
Our last words to you, which are the words I began with: William Jefferson Clinton is not guilty of the charges that have been brought against him, he did not commit perjury, he did not commit obstruction of justice, he must not be removed from office,
among both executive including president protected senior
that conversations both with the President and among senior advisors, including the First Lady, are protected by executive privilege.
basis belated house judgment needed product reach reject respond rush senate
What you have before you is nothing more than the product of a rush to judgment, ... How should you respond to the (House) managers' belated plea that more is needed to do justice? You should reject it. You have before you all that you need to reach this conclusion. There was no basis for the House to impeach. There is now, and never will be, any basis for the Senate to convict.
ability basis certainty conduct constrain difficult explore fair full hours however informed less minutes nature predict scope submit testimony understand unfairly
Because we have not been informed what the nature and scope of Mr. Starr's testimony will be, it is difficult to predict with any certainty just how long it will take to conduct a full an fair examination. I understand however that Mr. Starr has been allocated two hours for an uninterrupted presentation, ... We submit that anything less than 90 minutes would unfairly constrain our ability to explore the basis for Mr. Starr's testimony and for any conclusions he may proffer.
touch
I did not do those things. I did not touch those parts.
alleged civil deprive distress elements emotional endure evidence expected ferguson herself hostile issues motions nature presented president prove quo reasonable relevance severe sexual suffered victim whatever whether work
Whatever relevance such evidence may have to prove other elements of plaintiff's case, it does not have anything to do with the issues presented by the president's and Ferguson's motions for summary judgment. I.e., whether plaintiff herself was the victim of alleged quid pro quo or a hostile work environment, sexual harassment, whether the president and Ferguson conspired to deprive her of her civil rights, or whether she suffered emotional distress so severe in nature that no reasonable person could be expected to endure it.
basis beginning report whatever
Whatever is in that report ... there is no basis for beginning an impeachment proceeding.
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Give the course that these hearings have followed ... and given the special relationship between the legislative and executive branches embodied in our Constitution and our nation's history, we do not believe that it would be appropriate for the president to appear before the committee,
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Having admitted that he did wrong, there's still the critical question, 'Do we want to launch the single most serious constitutional process that our system contemplates?' And the answer to that, in my view, is no.
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Now you have heard the managers' vision ... But I believe their vision to be too dark... I believe it to be a vision more focused on retribution, more designed to achieve partisan ends, ... Our vision, I think, is quite different, but it is not naive. We know the pain the president has caused our society and his family and his friends, but we know, too, how much the president has done for this country.
conduct drastic government merits remedy system unable
The only conduct that merits the drastic remedy of impeachment is that which subverts our system of government or renders the president unfit or unable to govern.