Former White House Chief of Staff Leon Panetta said Saturday that President Bill Clinton had "more than paid the price" for his affair with Monica Lewinsky after New York Democrat Kirsten Gillibrand said he should have resigned.
"My own judgment with regards to President Clinton is that he more than paid the price for what he did," Panetta, who served under Clinton and later as Defense Secretary in the Obama White House, told Ana Cabrera on CNN.
"The fact that he went through an impeachment process as president of the United States, that the House of Representatives voted for articles of impeachment," he said. "The Senate did not.
"But the mere fact that he went through an impeachment process as president means there will always be a shadow on the legacy of his presidency.
"So, at least from my point of view," Panetta concluded, "I think he's more than paid the price."
Gillibrand told The New York Times Friday that Clinton should have left the White House after the scandal.
"Yes, I think that is the appropriate response," she said when asked about Clinton amid the groping allegations engulfing Minnesota Democratic Sen. Al Franken.
In response to Gillibrand's comments, Hillary Clinton — whose Senate seat Gillibrand now holds — said that her husband had been "held accountable."
"This was a painful time, not only in our marriage, but in our country, which I've written about," Clinton told WABC Radio host Rita Cosby on Friday. "But it was investigated fully, it was addressed at the time, he was held accountable.
"That is very different from what people seem to be remembering from that period, because you can go back and look at the history.
"I don't know exactly what [Gillibrand] was trying to say," Clinton added, "because her whole comment was somewhat contradictory.
"But I'll let her speak for herself."
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