What do you think?
Rate this book
Sellout: The Inside Story of President Clinton's Impeachment
One of the driving, behind-the-scenes figures in the Clinton impeachment trial was David Schippers, a Chicago prosecutor who made his name by prosecuting mobsters in the 1960s.
336 pages, Hardcover
First published August 1, 2000
1 person is currently reading
90 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
February 8, 2009
This book should turn most of you into Libertarians...
David Schippers was the Chief Investigative council for the House Judiciary Committee. His staff's task was to look at the Starr Report, investigate it, and prepare a presentation for the committee and recommend a course of action. He is also a lifelong Democrat. He comes from a family of Chicago Democrats and voted for Bill Clinton twice. That being said, this is not another "right-wing conspiracy" book designed to slam the President. It slams Republicans and Democrats. It also makes you wonder how such a sleazy, self-centered man was able to be elected President not just once, but twice.
One of the main reasons I feel Schippers wrote this book is the fact that there was a lot of evidence and information he wanted to present to the Senate and to his own committee that was not possible due to the unreasonable time constraints he was given. This was evident in there not being witnesses and them not presenting the Juanita Brodderick story, Filegate, and Chinagate.
One telling moment from the book goes something like this. The evidence they gathered was sealed in two rooms. There was a Republican room and a Democrat room. Committee members had to sign in and sign out to see any documents. Numerous Republicans went in and spent hours pouring over documents.
NOT ONE SINGLE Democrat looked at any of the evidence. Yet they were the first on television saying, "I haven't seen anything that warrants impeachment." Of course they hadn't seen it. They never looked.
So, the Democrats turned their back on the whole thing to save the Party.
The Republicans weren't much better.
The Senate Republicans did NOT want impeachment dumped in their laps. They ignored the pleas from Schippers and his staff to "do the right thing". They were afraid of looking like they were after the President. They bought into the spin that if they looked mean, they wouldn't get re-elected. They succumbed to poll watching and public opinion. They rushed through the entire impeachment to get the least amount of evidence out so there would be no way the President could get removed from office.
O.J. Simpson was a likeable guy who did a very bad thing. Bill Clinton was a likeable guy who did a whole slew of very bad things. The prosecution at the Simpson trial was given all the time they needed to present their case. They turned an entire country against a well established idol. Schippers and the House Managers could have done the same thing. But their own team never gave them the opportunity, while the opposition wore blinders.
David Schippers was the Chief Investigative council for the House Judiciary Committee. His staff's task was to look at the Starr Report, investigate it, and prepare a presentation for the committee and recommend a course of action. He is also a lifelong Democrat. He comes from a family of Chicago Democrats and voted for Bill Clinton twice. That being said, this is not another "right-wing conspiracy" book designed to slam the President. It slams Republicans and Democrats. It also makes you wonder how such a sleazy, self-centered man was able to be elected President not just once, but twice.
One of the main reasons I feel Schippers wrote this book is the fact that there was a lot of evidence and information he wanted to present to the Senate and to his own committee that was not possible due to the unreasonable time constraints he was given. This was evident in there not being witnesses and them not presenting the Juanita Brodderick story, Filegate, and Chinagate.
One telling moment from the book goes something like this. The evidence they gathered was sealed in two rooms. There was a Republican room and a Democrat room. Committee members had to sign in and sign out to see any documents. Numerous Republicans went in and spent hours pouring over documents.
NOT ONE SINGLE Democrat looked at any of the evidence. Yet they were the first on television saying, "I haven't seen anything that warrants impeachment." Of course they hadn't seen it. They never looked.
So, the Democrats turned their back on the whole thing to save the Party.
The Republicans weren't much better.
The Senate Republicans did NOT want impeachment dumped in their laps. They ignored the pleas from Schippers and his staff to "do the right thing". They were afraid of looking like they were after the President. They bought into the spin that if they looked mean, they wouldn't get re-elected. They succumbed to poll watching and public opinion. They rushed through the entire impeachment to get the least amount of evidence out so there would be no way the President could get removed from office.
O.J. Simpson was a likeable guy who did a very bad thing. Bill Clinton was a likeable guy who did a whole slew of very bad things. The prosecution at the Simpson trial was given all the time they needed to present their case. They turned an entire country against a well established idol. Schippers and the House Managers could have done the same thing. But their own team never gave them the opportunity, while the opposition wore blinders.
January 17, 2020
Since we are today in the throws of an impeachment, I thought it would be interesting to look back at the last time a President was impeached and compare the two proceedings. The Republicans, being the majority in the House and Senate, Chose a democrat (David Schippers) as their lead council. He was active in Illinois politics and his brother was the state chairman of the democratic party in Illinois. Clinton was clearly guilty of numerous impeachable crimes but the Senate refused to allow prosecution witnesses even though they had the majority. Sellout highlights the dishonesty and guile of the democrats and the blatant cowardice of many of the Republicans. The news media clearly sided with the President, spiking true stories that would be detrimental to his defense. Not much has changed. It was a very well written book with many pages of documentation. I found it very interesting to compare the positions of Biden, Waters, Lee, and other old timers to their positions today. What flaming hypocrites.
March 14, 2025
A self-serving description of the Clinton impeachment by the lead investigator for the Republican majority on the House Judiciary Committee. Schippers states early in the book the investigation was not about sex, but a large amount of the book describes investigation of alleged sexual activity, including instances going back to 1978, 15 years before Clinton was elected President. He clearly worships Kenneth Starr, ignoring the fact that two previous Independent Councils completed investigations of Clinton and Whitewater (the initial issue Starr was appointed to investigate) and determined there was no crime; that is never mentioned in Schippers' account. Neither is the fact the Republicans in the House (the ones Schippers worked for) refused to accept the decision of those investigations and demanded Starr be appointed. Instead, Schippers insists that the Republicans were the epitome of fairness while the Democrats were purely partisan. This is a waste of a book.
December 31, 2008
I read this book because I hoped to get an insider's account of the Clinton impeachment in the House and Senate. Schippers was the Chief Investigative Counsel for the House Judiciary Committee (and a loyal Democrat who voted for Bill Clinton in 1992 and 1996) so I figured if anyone knew the inner machinations and political maneuverings, it would be him.
I did learn a few things. For example, then-Senate Majority Trent Lott did not want to touch an impeachment trial. In fact, the Republican leadership, particularly in the Senate, caved to every Democrat demand, in the vain hope of appearing bipartisan. For all their trouble, Democrats still accused them of partisanship.
Most senators had no intention of exercising fair and impartial justice, as they promised to do when sworn in as jurors. Such a solemn oath meant nothing, not when preserving their sacred seat in the Senate was at risk. Few senators wanted a real trial, especially the Democrats, because if too much evidence emerged, then they could not legitimately vote for acquittal. Better to go in with a closed mind and conduct a sham trial (little more than Dueling Speeches) to keep the Presidency in Democrat hands.
Other than that, though, Schippers offers little new information. He includes his own speeches and testimony, which are several pages long, to make up for his lack of material. The whole book seems more like a vehicle to showcase David Schippers. He relates his own meaningless braggadocio, such as flippant and defiant remarks to the press, as if to tell the world what a big, bad, mean man he is.
There are better books about the Clinton impeachment.
I did learn a few things. For example, then-Senate Majority Trent Lott did not want to touch an impeachment trial. In fact, the Republican leadership, particularly in the Senate, caved to every Democrat demand, in the vain hope of appearing bipartisan. For all their trouble, Democrats still accused them of partisanship.
Most senators had no intention of exercising fair and impartial justice, as they promised to do when sworn in as jurors. Such a solemn oath meant nothing, not when preserving their sacred seat in the Senate was at risk. Few senators wanted a real trial, especially the Democrats, because if too much evidence emerged, then they could not legitimately vote for acquittal. Better to go in with a closed mind and conduct a sham trial (little more than Dueling Speeches) to keep the Presidency in Democrat hands.
Other than that, though, Schippers offers little new information. He includes his own speeches and testimony, which are several pages long, to make up for his lack of material. The whole book seems more like a vehicle to showcase David Schippers. He relates his own meaningless braggadocio, such as flippant and defiant remarks to the press, as if to tell the world what a big, bad, mean man he is.
There are better books about the Clinton impeachment.
September 24, 2007
The author begins by reminding us he is from Chicago which was notorious for political corruption and that he is a life-long Democrat. He was chosen to be the counsel for the Republicans during the Judiciary Commitee's hearings and Clinton's impeachment. His outrage and contempt for the fact that the rule of law in this case was brushed aside for political purposes and for the politicians on both sides that did the brushing shines through on every page. Eye-opening and thought-provoking rehash of the Clinton impeachment that will probably irritate readers from both sides of the political spectrum.
December 14, 2009
An impassioned protest against the lies, perjury, abuse of power, and obstruction of justice which Pres. Clinton used to stay in office; written by a lifetime Democrat who was hired by Henry Hyde to find out what happened and was appalled when he did. The entire Senate and especially Trent Lott, Ted Stevens, Joseph Biden and Pete Domenici come out looking bad indeed by the time this convincing book closes. NBC News is also taken to task for withholding the story of the rape of Juanita Broaddrick until after the Senate had aquitted Clinton.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews