Clinton, Independent Counsel Strike Deal

WASHINGTON, Jan. 19, 2001 -- -- On his last full day in office, President Clinton today finally acknowledged he testified falsely about his affair with Monica Lewinsky, striking a deal with Independent Counsel Robert Ray that allows him to avoid criminal indictment.

"I tried to walk a fine line between acting lawfully and testifying falsely, but I now recognize that I did not fully accomplish this goal and that certain of my responses to questions about Ms. Lewinsky were false," Clinton said in a statement read today by White House spokesman Jake Siewert.

The statement marks the first time Clinton has admitted giving false testimony in the Paula Jones sexual harassment case three years ago, when he denied having had a relationship with Lewinsky.

"I hope my actions today will help bring closure and finality to these matters," Clinton said in the statement.

No Indictment

Shortly after Clinton's mea culpa was read, Ray announced he would decline to indict the outgoing president.

"President Clinton has acknowledged responsibility for his actions," Ray said. "He has admitted that he knowingly gave evasive and misleading answers."

"This matter is now concluded. May history and the American people conclude that it has been concluded justly," Ray said. "The nation's interests have been served, and therefore, I decline prosecution."

In ending the legal saga, the White House continued to carefully parse the president's words, insisting Clinton had not committed perjury. While he spoke untruths, aides say, he did not do so "intentionally." In effect, they say, he tried to speak the truth -- but failed.

"He did not lie. We have not admitted he lied," Clinton attorney David Kendall said.

In fact, each word of the president's official statement had been painstakingly hammered out in negotiations between Kendall and Ray that began several weeks ago.

Gives Up Law License for Five Years

In a separate deal with officials in Arkansas, Clinton agreed to relinquish his law license for five years and to admit that his false statements about Lewinsky broke the state bar's rules.

As a result of the separate deal worked out in Little Rock, Clinton also will avoid facing trial in an Arkansas disbarment case. The Arkansas Supreme Court Committee on Professional Conduct had filed suit, arguing Clinton should lose his license to practice law in his home state because of false and evasive testimony in the Jones case. A deal struck with the bar panel will cost the president his license for five years. He also will pay a fine.

Ray took over the independent counsel's office from Kenneth Starr in October. After clearing the president and first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton in the five-year, $50 million probe of the Whitewater land deal and the firing of White House travel office workers, Ray began beefing up his staff as a grand jury examined whether to indict Clinton for perjury in the Lewinsky case.

In his impeachment referral to Congress, Starr said he believed there was "substantial and credible information" Clinton lied under oath, both before a grand jury and in the Jones sexual harassment lawsuit. Starr also suspected Clinton obstructed justice in trying to cover up the Lewinsky affair.

Ray's office will spend the next couple months wrapping up the final reports on the Lewinsky and Whitewater investigations.

Ray telegraphed the possibility of cutting a deal earlier this week in an interview with USA Today, saying a prosecutor must consider the question, "Are there other adequate remedies short of federal criminal prosecution?"

"Has there been cooperation with the investigation and a full acknowledgment of responsibility?" Ray continued. "The long and short of it is that every sustainable case a prosecutor sees is not a case that a prosecutor brings."

The deal brings lets Clinton escape becoming the first president to be indicted, and gives him immunity from further prosecution for the matter. But the admission adds another indignity to the list of scandals that have tarnished his legacy.

Because of his false testimony about Lewinsky, Congress impeached Clinton and a federal judge found him in contempt of court for lying under oath — another first for a president. He was ordered to pay more than $90,000 for the contempt citation.Clinton also paid Jones $850,000 to drop her case. And today, he has agreed to pay a $25,000 fine and will agree not to sue the federal government to recover any of his legal fees.

Ari Fleischer, the incoming White House press secretary, said President-elect Bush was informed of the deal Thursday night and is looking forward to moving past this chapter in U.S. history.

ABCNEWS' Jackie Judd, Josh Gerstein, Chris Vlasto and Mark Halperin contributed to this report.