Ample evidence for Clinton prosecution

WASHINGTON -- A final report by Independent Counsel Robert Ray concluded Wednesday that prosecutors had ample evidence for criminal charges against President Clinton in the scandal involving former White House intern Monica Lewinsky. \n"President Clinton's offenses had a significant adverse impact on the community, substantially affecting the public's view of the integrity of our legal system," stated the report. \n"The independent counsel's judgment that sufficient evidence existed to prosecute President Clinton was confirmed by President Clinton's admissions," the report stated. "President Clinton admitted he 'knowingly gave evasive and misleading answers"' about his sexual relationship with Lewinsky.\nIt wasn't until Clinton's next-to-last day in office that he finally put the investigation of allegations of perjury and obstruction in the Lewinsky matter behind him. \nThe president's lawyers cut a deal with Ray that spared Clinton from criminal charges in the Lewinsky controversy. The president admitted that he had made false statements under oath about his relationship with the former White House intern and surrendered his law license for five years. \nThe report stated that "President Clinton engaged in conduct that impeded the due administration of justice by testifying falsely under oath...that he could not recall ever being alone with Monica Lewinsky; and he had not had a sexual affair or engaged in sexual relations with Monica Lewinsky."\nIn response to the report, Clinton attorney David Kendall said, "The investigation of President Clinton from 1994 to 2001 was intense, expensive, partisan and long. There's still no Whitewater report, and there's nothing new in this report. It's time to move on."\nRep. Henry Hyde, who was chairman of the House Judiciary Committee when it recommended that Clinton be impeached, said he hoped the report was the final chapter of the Lewinsky matter. "It ought to be. I think we can hopefully put it behind us. I think that's where America wants it -- way back there"